Harrison Ford Is The Best Part Of Captain America: Brave New World – And The MCU Needs More Of Him

Let's cut to the chase: "Captain America: Brave New World" is bad. The story is paper-thin, the action is repetitive and too reminiscent of previous "Captain America" movies, and the villain's plot is uninspired. The worst sin this movie commits is being safe and forgettable, having nothing to say despite plenty of opportunities to be topical.

The film follows Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as he finds himself in the middle of an international incident where he must unravel a conspiracy to start an international war and discover the President's secrets before he unleashes a red monster on the world.

There is, however, one aspect of the film that's good: Harrison Ford's President Thaddeus Ross. Despite the trailers already spoiling the big, red, hulking surprise of the film, it doesn't diminish the fact that Ross is a complex and interesting character, the Red Hulk transformation is thrilling, and his fight scenes are well-executed, while all of this hinging on Harrison Ford's performance.

Ford, of course, is already doing some career-best work on TV in "Shrinking," but it's his performance in "Captain America: Brave New World" that's the biggest reminder of Ford's status as a proper, genuine, bona fide movie star. He's not just the best reason for watching this movie, but Marvel needs more of him.

The moment Harrison Ford's Ross walks on screen in the movie, he immediately commands the whole thing. He is not here to be a funny cameo or a big-name guest star, but rather to deliver a movie star performance with enough presence to ground the entire film.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always attracted famous and acclaimed actors, but in recent years, we've seen them mostly be used for either funny cameos, post-credit scene surprises that never panned out (remember Charlize Theron in the second "Doctor Strange?"), or the occasional villain. Think Russell Crowe in "Thor: Love and Thunder," Bill Murray in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Jake Gyllenhaal in "Spider-Man: Far From Home," or Cate Blanchett in "Thor: Ragnarok." Still, even when we have A-list actors as villains, as in the case of Blanchett, there is still a level of campiness and tongue-in-cheek tone that they give their performances.

That's not Harrison Ford. He is not here to play a sarcastic character, or to wink and smile at his enemies. Ross is as big a no-nonsense character as you get in the Marvel universe, and Ford gives the role incredible gravitas — even when the role gets goofy. Indeed, Ford is the dramatic anchor of "Captain America: Brave New World," the person who keeps it grounded even as the movie hulks out. In a way, he is the one human actor in a Muppet movie.

Will Harrison Ford return to the MCU? Probably not. As much as Ford made a terrible character great for once, it doesn't seem like Ford is very interested in pulling a Hugh Jackman and playing the same character until he's 90 (well, at least not this character ... he came close with Indiana Jones). On top of that, there's the fact that "Captain America: Brave New World" ends without much of a definitive tease for Ross to return, as he ends his part in the movie rather definitively in the Raft, a floating prison.

Of course, the "Secret Wars" of it all can easily change things, and two Hulks are better than one (well, technically three, since there's also Hulk's son from "She-Hulk"). Still, as of now, there doesn't seem to be an easy method or reason for Ford to return, and after this movie, it's very clear that the MCU could use Ford, or at least a return to the times when Academy Award-winning acting legends would join for a movie or two. Think of when Jeff Bridges was in the first "Iron Man," or Hugo Weaving played Red Skull, or Robert Redford appeared in "The Winter Soldier."

It seems the MCU is currently only interested in looking backward when it comes to casting for new movies, with Doctor Doom being played by Robert Downey Jr. in the future and Hugh Jackman heavily rumored to continue to play Logan in the MCU going forward. Could Ford's former president Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross make an appearance in this year's "Thunderbolts*"? We'll find out on May 3, 2025.