Liv Tyler Has Been Missing From The MCU For Years. Now, Captain America: Brave New World’s Director Explained Why Bringing Her Back Was A 'No-Brainer'

Remember Betty Ross, the daughter of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross? I won’t blame you if you don’t, as she hasn’t been seen since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, just the second of the Marvel movies in order. But 17 years later, Liv Tyler is finally returning to the superhero franchise for Captain America: Brave New World, and the upcoming Marvel movie’s director, Julius Onah, explained why was a “no-brainer”to bring her character back now.

Onah stopped by the The Official Marvel Podcast to discuss his work on Captain America: Brave New World, and during the conversation, he addressed why it was worth including Betty Ross in the story with these words:

Thunderbolt Ross also had a fairly-lengthy hiatus from the MCU, with the late William Hurt first reprising the role eight years after The Incredible Hulk’s release in Captain America: Civil War. Hurt played the character three more times for Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow, and now Harrison Ford has taken over the role. In Captain America: Brave New World, Ross is now President of the United States, and as has been frequently shown in marketing and advertising, we’ll see him transform into Red Hulk under mysterious circumstances.

While the specific reason for Betty Ross showing up in the next Captain America movie remains a secret, as Julius Onah explained, it seemed like an obvious move to have Liv Tyler reprise the role given Thunderbolt Ross’ prominent role in the story. When we left off with Betty at the end of The Incredible Hulk, she was lamenting having once again lost Bruce Banner from her life. It’s never been mentioned in any of Bruce’s post-Incredible Hulk appearances (i.e. for the entire time Mark Ruffalo has played the character), so I’d be lying if I said it’s a shame that the two of them won’t be back onscreen together. Maybe that’ll change if that rumored World War Hulk movie moves forward.

That aside, it’ll be good to see Liv Tyler back in the MCU, and hopefully Brave New World will touch on what she’s been up to all these years. I also can’t help but worry about Julius Onah’s phrasing about Thunderbolt Ross towards the end. Between the Red Hulk transformation and the other machinations at play, there seems to be a decent chance that he could be dead by the time the movie’s over. If that happens, it’ll be heartbreaking to see Betty’s reaction to this, because even if they’re not on the best of terms, that’s still her father.

Betty Ross isn’t the only The Incredible Hulk character who’s also making a long-awaited return in Captain America: Brave New World. Tim Blake Nelson is also back as Samuel Sterns, who was last seen smiling as a sample of Bruce Banner’s blood dripped into his open head wound. Now The Leader, this gamma-infused baddie appears to be the puppet master pulling the strings behind what goes down in the movie, and I’m also keen to learn what he’s been doing all this time.

There’s just one week to go until Captain America: Brave New World starts playing in theaters. As such I recommend firing up your Disney+ subscription to revisit both The Incredible Hulk and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as those projects will catch you up to speed before the movie’s release.