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Reports Seem to Indicate That Harrison Ford Is Thunderbolt Ross in ‘Thunderbolts’

Harrison Ford waving at a premiere

Harrison Ford, it seems, is taking a leap into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Deadline has confirmed that the actor will replace the late William Hurt as the MCU’s General Thunderbolt Ross, albeit in the upcoming Captain America sequel Captain America: New World Order. That just leaves the question of whether or not he’ll show up in the Thunderbolts movie.

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Harrison Ford has been the love of my life for as long as I can remember, thanks to the movie Air Force One and my parents’ inability to find a babysitter in time for their screening. I saw him take on terrorists as President James Marshall, and the rest was history. I’ve seen every movie he’s done, and I will continue to do so because I do think that Ford is one of our last movie stars, and he’s still cranking out films at the age of 80.

That’s why I was so excited when rumors began swirling that he might be tacking on another franchise—rumors from one source that doesn’t have the best reputation, so we took it with a grain of salt. The whole shaker, if you want. Jeff Sneider, who often shares “scoops” that may or may not be true (Remember that time he locked a Twitter account and had people pay him to follow it so they could see his scoops? Because I do!), claimed via Twitter, from The Hot Mic podcast with John Rocha and himself, that Ford may have been on the way to Thunderbolts.

The “scoop” was talked about on the show and said that Ford was the actor Marvel maybe wanted to be in the upcoming film Thunderbolts to take over the role of General Thunderbolt Ross, and it was unclear where that left things (whether Ford passed or they were still in talks), if any of this was even true at all.

Afterward, /Film claimed to independently confirm Ford’s role as Ross, but has stopped short of confirming whether he’ll appear in the Thunderbolts movie, even after Deadline’s report that he’ll play the character in New World Order.

Harrison Ford in the MCU is a dream come true for me

Harrison Ford is no stranger to franchises. They make up his career. When you think of iconic Ford roles, you think of Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, Rick Deckard, and … you get it, right? He’s been in a lot of franchise as well as other films like Witness, which got him his one Oscar nomination. He’s been through the ringer. If anything, he’s one of the first actors to do most major franchises and continues to be a draw for the films he’s in.

So, having him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as General Thunderbolt Ross (given the passing of William Hurt) would be a gift to me personally, because if there’s anything I love as much as Star Wars and Indiana Jones, it is the MCU.

It would mean Ford signing up for a new franchise, but as a character that is already established and not that much of a commitment. Ross shows up on occasion, yells at the Avengers, and carries on. So, it wouldn’t be that aggressive of a workload for Ford and would give me my dream. Or it could be just for the Thunderbolts movie and that’s it! We don’t know, but what I’m saying is that I wouldn’t hate if this were true.

Still, I don’t think there’s truth to it, and I don’t really know how much we can trust a source that is seemingly just himself and a “just trust me” attitude, but at the end of the day, if Marvel’s Kevin Feige wanted to put Harrison Ford in one movie as Harrison Ford, well, I’d also take that as a win. With Disney owning both Star Wars and Marvel, it’s not the wildest idea that they’d have Ford hop from one to the other. Having him in Thunderbolts opposite Florence Pugh, though? A dream!

(featured image: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

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Author
Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh.

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