Captain America: Brave New World revisits the events of The Incredible Hulk and, over a decade and a half after that movie was released, we finally catch up with Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns, a.k.a. The Leader.
Last month, promo art for the movie revealed a full look at his costume and character design. Wearing a trenchcoat and rocking a massive comic-accurate head - with hair and a goatee - the villain looks like the evil mastermind most fans expected and hoped to see.
However, if you've watched Captain America: Brave New World, then you'll know that the artwork is nothing like what ended up in the final cut.
In that, The Leader is horribly deformed after years of Gamma exposure; his head has taken on a brain-like shape and he looks almost zombified. Honestly, it's hard to describe but a closer look has leaked online which you can see here.
Why did Marvel Studios make such a massive change to the character? These versions of The Leader look like completely different characters, so we'd imagine the previous iteration was more of the stereotypical baddie who manipulated events - including outfitting the Serpent Society with their tech - before finally unleashing Red Hulk.
The current iteration of Sterns is a more sympathetic villain, transformed by President Ross against his will and embarking on a quest for revenge to make the Commandor in Chief pay for his actions.
We also can't discount the possibility that, in live-action, the original design linked above simply didn't work! Either way, fans are divided on social media. Some argue that the new horror-based design is an improvement and others can't believe Marvel Studios went with that over what might have been.
In Captain America: Brave New World, after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Sam Wilson finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
The movie stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. The movie is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.
"Flawed but functional, Captain America: Brave New World's many problems are largely forgotten any time Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford electrify the screen," we said in our review. "And when Red Hulk shows up, the movie reaches new heights of awesome."
Captain America: Brave New World opens in U.S. theaters on February 14, 2025.