Captain America: Brave New World Trailer Addresses Its Biggest Recast Role Right Away

There's a brand new status quo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, courtesy of our newest Captain America. For those who didn't end up keeping tabs on 2021's "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" series on Disney+, it's been a long wait to see a payoff to the tease in "Avengers: Endgame," in which Chris Evans' Steve Rogers officially retired from the role of Captain America and passed the mantle down to Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson. That moment has finally arrived with the first teaser for the next film in the series, fittingly titled "Captain America: Brave New World."

That's not the only noteworthy highlight included in the footage today, however. Among the many teases of high-flying action for the superhero formerly known as Falcon, the addition of Giancarlo Esposito as a mysterious villain, and even a certain Red Hulk getting into the action, the murky politics of this fourth "Captain America" film take centerstage with the tenuous alliance between Sam Wilson and presidential candidate Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. And, in a continuation of franchise tradition, the studio wasted no time directly addressing one of the more talked-about recasting scenarios in the entire shared universe.

Back in 2022, /Film confirmed the news that the role of Thaddeus Ross (previously portrayed by the late, great character actor William Hurt) would undergo a major recasting for "Brave New World" in the form of legendary film icon Harrison Ford, adding a burst of star power for Sam Wilson's first big-screen debut in the stars and stripes. But this is hardly the first time that Marvel President Kevin Feige has been forced to take a detour and make the best of an unfortunate behind-the-scenes situation. True to form, the new trailer dipped into a familiar bag of tricks to highlight the elephant in the room.

There's one thing that every Marvel fan knows about the character of Thunderbolt Ross: The military general who first made his name hunting down Bruce Banner in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk" is not to be trifled with and doesn't go down without a fight. For quite some time, it seemed as if Marvel was content to pretend that the divisively-received movie simply never happened in the first place — not least of all because the Hulk himself had undergone a recasting of his own, with Mark Ruffalo taking over the role for original actor Ed Norton in 2012's "The Avengers." Over the years, however, the MCU has taken several steps towards reintegrating the franchise's redheaded stepchild into the overall property, first by having Hurt reprise his role as Ross in "Captain America: Civil War" and followed by various other appearances down the line (including bringing back Tim Roth's villainous Abomination in both "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and the Disney+ series "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law").

Now, Ross is gearing up to make his biggest and most permanent mark on the MCU yet as President of the United States in "Captain America: Brave New World" ... but sans his trademark mustache, this time around. Marvel wisely opted not to force Harrison Ford to grow out a 'stache of his own or, worse, sport a fake one that would distract viewers every second that he was on screen. Instead, "Brave New World" director Julius Onah and his creative team opted for a more comedic approach: Have Sam Wilson hang a lampshade on the recasting. "I have to admit I'm still getting used to the new look," he states wryly. "They said, 'Gotta lose the mustache or lose the election,'" Ross deadpans in response.

If it worked before, why not try it all over again? That seems to have been the thought process behind getting fans used to the idea of seeing Harrison Ford step into the shoes of Thunderbolt Ross for the first time in the series. Even before Marvel hired Mark Ruffalo to take over for Ed Norton, the studio faced an even more difficult decision in 2010 for "Iron Man 2." The original actor to play Colonel James Rhodes/War Machine in the first "Iron Man," Terrence Howard, infamously parted ways with the franchise over disputes over his pay for the bigger-budgeted sequel. When Don Cheadle was brought on board to put his own spin on the character for the film and beyond, director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey, Jr. decided to handle the somewhat awkward passing of the torch with a comedic touch.

"Look, it's me. I'm here, deal with it. Let's move on ... drop it." Now that's how you put an unpleasant bit of business behind you as fast as humanly possible. The context surrounding "Brave New World" isn't nearly as fraught as what plagued much of "Iron Man 2," of course, but it's easy to see why the decisionmakers would take their cues from one of the franchise's more mixed efforts in order to add a moment of lightness and humor early on in "Brave New World." After all, it was certainly worth it to see Harrison Ford channel his unique sense of self-deprecating charm with his quip about the missing mustache. If anyone had to fill in for Hurt as Ross, Marvel clearly picked the best man for the job.

"Captain America: Brave New World" hits theaters February 14, 2025.