Marvel had no choice but to spoil the appearance of Red Hulk in trailers for Captain America: Brave New World, the film’s director has insisted — despite many fans believing the villain should have been kept under wraps.
Red Hulk, the angry alter ego of Harrison Ford’s character President Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, only appears late in the film’s final act, following a lengthy build-up and moments where it feels like Ross will keep his gamma radiation-fueled temper under control.
Among plenty of other criticsm for Brave New World — widely-considered a pretty bland MCU entry — fans have said Red Hulk’s inclusion within trailers not only spoiled the surprise of his appearance, but also oversold the character’s presence in the film.
Now, however, Brave New World director Julius Onah said Marvel had to show Red Hulk ahead of the film’s release, as the villain’s appearance would have leaked regardless.
“When you’re making a movie like this, an announcement goes out that Harrison Ford is going to play Thaddeus Ross, and you have a fandom as massive and as passionate as the MCU fandom is, you’re toast at that point, you know?” Onah told Empire.
“In a perfect-case scenario, it would have been awesome [if ] that [had been] an in-theatre surprise, but I think it would have been very difficult,” he continued. “Somewhere along the way, a toy would have been found, or somebody would have leaked a trailer. It’s just so hard to keep anything secret in today’s day and age.”
While it’s true that Marvel film productions face constant pressure around leaks, and merchandise such as toys have been the source of story spoilers in the past, the reasoning here around the decision to show Red Hulk doesn’t necessarily tally with how other Marvel movies have teased villains in the past.
Take, for instance, the upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps. We know from trailers that giant-sized baddie Galactus will appear in the film at some point, but Marvel has been cautious to only show a glimpse at the villain, teasing his appearance while keeping the full reveal back for the film itself.
Of course, the full look at Galactus still leaked — via a Snapple promotion, of all things — while another character completely absent from trailers so far has appeared as a Funko Pop toy. But these spoilers will only be seen by a fraction of the film’s overall audience. What matters to most fans is what’s in official trailers — and what’s not.
There’s a definite sense among Marvel fans that too much of Red Hulk was shown, perhaps to ramp up excitement around a film that otherwise felt underwhelming.
Next up for Captain America will be an appearance in Avengers: Doomsday, after Thunderbolts*/New Avengers confirmed Sam Wilson had begun rebuilding his own version of Marvel’s big team.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
