When an actor dies in a major role in a series or franchise, people question whether or not they will be recast. Slash Film has confirmed that Harrison Ford will be the new Thaddeus Ross for Thunderbolts, replacing the late William Hurt.
You cannot have a Thunderbolts movie without “Thunderbolt” Ross, so the recasting with Harrison Ford makes sense. As the character played minor and major roles across the MCU with The Incredible Hulk, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, and Black Widow, he would play a larger role in the upcoming movie. However, that won’t be the debut of the Indiana Jones and Star Wars actor in the role. It is reported that he will make his debut in the fourth Captain America movie, New World Order, joining Anthony Mackie for his first standalone big-screen adventure.
Marvel Studios is the most secretive movie studio in the business. With that, there are no details on what the plans are for the character. He could be replaced to fill a needed role for the story or could play a larger part as the character becomes Red Hulk in the comics.
Harrison Ford replaces William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross for Thunderbolts
During the Marvel panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the studio announced Thunderbolts, but no word on Harrison Ford or Ross. We still got the roster of who will make up the squad in the team-up movie. Its stacked cast has major players in the MCU, new stars coming in hot, and some surprise roles that may have seemed to be a blip in the franchise. It stars Florence Pugh as Yelena, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov, aka Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr, aka Ghost, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, aka U.S. Agent, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov, aka Taskmaster, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
The film is set for a July 26, 2024 release. It will be directed by Jake Schreier (Paper Towns). It is being written by Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok) and for his feature-length writing debut, Kurt Busiek.