The long absence of lead actor Samuel Stern in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Moving into the audiovisual world, the lives of comic characters tend to be much shorter than cartoon characters, either because the actors who play them get bored of playing these roles, or because it’s decided to be in the movie. , or the series in question, the character must die. However, there are other cases where viewers disappear without explanation, as happened with the leader in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But who gave us this text?
The origin of the leader in the comics
The leader’s first appearance took place in the adventure Enter… Chameleon, the second of the stories published in the comic Tales to Astonish #62 (1964), by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. In his civilian identity, he is a simple janitor for Samuel Stern, who turns his skin color green after a gamma ray accident, in addition to possessing super-intelligence. However, in an effort to increase its potential to a higher level, Samuel Stern made a second change to give him the oversized skull shown in the main photo of this article. He is one of the Hulk’s main antagonists.
The leader’s debut in the audiovisual world
However, in the audiovisual world, the leader has had a great journey so far, since we haven’t seen Samuel Stern on the big screen since Tim Blake Nelson played him in the second film, The Incredible Hulk (2008). Movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In this film, Samuel Stern will be seen as a scientist who tries to help Bruce Banner get rid of the Hulk. However, the creation of the military complicates matters, particularly when Samuel Stern, a former special operations agent of the British Royal Navy, is inadvertently exposed to chemicals that affect his chemical makeup. And we last saw it in 2008.
Not to forget the fact that at the time, the rights to the Hulk were owned by Universal Studios, which would have benefited if the MCU decided to make a movie with the name Emerald Colossus in it. Topic for example: So giving the Hulk his own second film where he could appear as the main villain was a no-profit option for Marvel Studios, forcing the Hulk to be secondary to other films. MCU characters.
However, to be fair, it should be noted that the aforementioned Emil Blonsky, played by Tim Roth, had a better chance than the villainous Emerald Colossus in the aforementioned The Incredible Hulk. He appeared in other projects such as the film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) or the series She-Hulk: Lawyer Hulka (2022).
The leader returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Now that Marvel Studios has recovered the rights to Bruce Banner’s alter ego, the character can once again live solo adventures, serving as an excuse to bring back the leader. However, it doesn’t look like there will be any need to wait that long as the Marvel Cinematic Universe plans to make him the main villain in Captain America: Brave New World (which premieres in 2025).
In fact, the fourth film of this beloved character since The House of Ideas (where Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson picked up the mantle left by Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers) due to unforeseen reasons, such as a director’s strike and actors’ strike, meant changes to the calendar, so El Leader gave life to the new Captain America. He hasn’t had a chance to complicate it yet.
This means that it took no less than seventeen years for the leader to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fortunately, in 2010, He will be played by an actor who gave his life in 2008, which may not happen, because a lot has happened in almost two decades and there are various reasons why Tim Blake Nelson is not present.
It remains to be seen if the leader’s return to Marvel Studios is just for this film, or if the MCU’s recurring villain will be what fans want to see face-to-face with the Hulk in the character’s next film. Unfortunately, we still have to wait a long time to find out.