The first trailer for Black Widow has arrived. One thing we learned from it was that William Hurt will reprise Thunderbolt Ross. There were already rumors that he was going to appear. But most thought this was for a post-credit scene that would introduce one of the Thunderbolt teams. But by this trailer, it looks as though he’ll have a slightly bigger part.
De-Aged William Hurt (Thunderbolt Ross) in a backlot…Hungary? pic.twitter.com/lzdIxqJo6N
— The Marvelous Da7e Gonzales (@Da7e) December 3, 2019
In Captain America: Civil War, Hurt returned to the role long after his last appearance in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Robert Downey Jr was in the second MCU installment. But since Edward Norton was recast with Mark Ruffalo, it was uncertain if any of the other actors from the film would stay in the MCU.
The film will take place between Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Given the timeframe, Ross would still be Secretary of State in Black Widow. His role in Civil War was an important one. He informed the team of the Sokovia Accords, and then enforced them. When he returned in Infinity War and Endgame, those were more or less cameos.
His role will likely be important in Black Widow. But what his plot entails is still uncertain. He may still try to recruit his team. There was an attempt at Red Hulk in Endgame. But that was Bruce just changing his shade. And Kevin Feige went on record to say if you can’t do something justice at the moment, they try again in the future. With all the red in this movie, could he become blasted with Gamma rays in this?
There were many Thunderbolt teams in Marvel’s history. Originally, it was a team of villains masquerading as heroes. Kind of like DC’s Suicide Squad. But you knew the intentions of the DC team and why they were forced to do what they did. Baron Zemo led the original villainous team. Daniel Bruhl will reprise Zemo in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But given that Ross’s Red Hulk wasn’t part of Zemo’s Thunderbolts, they probably won’t share the team in the MCU. However, Black Widow wasn’t in Ross’s team either. Red Hulk joined Elektra, Deadpool, Agent Venom, and Ghost Rider. Though, if MCU went this route, they could just use an all-star cast from different iterations.
Marvel Studios has always done a good job of filling in the gaps. Whatever Ross’s intentions are, I’m sure it will be something that will blow our minds. ComicBook.com reported Feige’s thoughts on the film and the importance of a prequel.
“There’s a method to the madness. There’s always a method and doing things in an unexpected way is something we find fun. There are ways to do prequels that are less informative or answer questions you didn’t necessarily have, and then there are ways to do prequels where you learn all sorts of things you never knew before.”
Black Widow will arrive in theaters on May 1st, 2020. Surely, we’ll know more about Hurt’s character the closer we get to that release date. When we learn more developments, as well as others in the MCU, Screen Geek will let you know.