Captain America: Civil War is going to be crowded. The last we counted, there are 17 rather important characters in the blockbuster that will need to be dealt with. And now directors Anthony and Joe Russo have confirmed that one of these characters is going to be drastically different from the last time we saw him, as the filmmaking brethren discussed their plans for William Hurt’s General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross.
Anthony and Joe Russo made this revelation while talking to Comic Book Movie, admitting that Ross has become a much smarter power player since the last time that we saw him in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. In particular, Joe Russo said the following pertaining to William Hurt’s character:
He’s cornering the Avengers [because] superheroes have always been a [problem] to him; he’s not a fan of them. So now he’s come at them strategically by aligning the world against them. So, he’s gotten much savvier and I think you’ll find that he’s grown as a character, he’s different than he was in The Incredible Hulk. And he’s a more formidable and political opponent to them.
That’s good to hear, because the last time that we saw the former U.S. Army general, now Secretary Of State, he was intent on capturing the Hulk, but failing miserably to do just that. In fact, Ross's final scene in The Incredible Hulk saw him in a bar alongside Robert Downy Jr.’s Tony Stark, where the superhero pretty much asked the military man where he could find Bruce Banner.
Does that mean that the two are in cahoots? Will General Ross be assisting Tony Stark in Iron Man’s plight against Captain America? Obviously, the Russo Brothers didn’t provide anymore information on the subject, but that would certainly make sense. This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard that General Ross is going to be a much more imposing foe in Captain America: Civil War than he was in The Incredible Hulk. In the past William Hurt himself has insisted that it’s basically a brand new version of the character.
While fans were originally taken aback when it was confirmed that William Hurt’s Ross would be returning in Captain America: Civil War, the more that we hear about it the more it makes complete and utter sense. Not just because of the alterations that have been made to the character, but because of the fact that any movie is immediately made umpteen times better with the presence of William Hurt. The man is an acting behemoth. Hopefully he’ll be able to strut his impressive stuff when Captain America: Civil War is released on May 6, 2016. He’s going to have to work very hard to find room though.
