Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World

Marvel fans have felt the rug pulled from beneath their feet before thanks to some cleverly deceptive marketing, and it seems that the studio with a penchant for going to great lengths to make sure some things remain secret until opening night have done it again – although this time it wasn’t really intentional. Captain America: Brave New World

has shown plenty of Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk in its trailers (practically all of his scenes, actually) but missing from almost every bit of promotional material has been Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns aka The Leader. And the one clear image of him was not what he actually looks like in the movie.
Although there was a very brief shot of Sterns seen in the final trailer, with the character mostly in shadow, the images of the character seen on toys and other merchandise showed him with a small beard and big, bulbous head. However, for those who have seen the movie during its opening days, The Leader’s appearance is much more grotesque than anything on any marketing items.
While Marvel Studios has steered several MCU character designs closer to their comic book counterparts, The Leader’s exaggerated but often domed head that comic fans know is replaced in Brave New World with a visibly mutated brain sitting on top of Sterns’ gamma tainted head. This much more detailed and gruesome appearance is clearly the reason why so little of the character was seen ahead of the film’s release this weekend. But was that just to preserve some surprises, or was it because there was a real fear of fan backlash against the new look of the character?
‘Brave New World’ Takes a Gamble In Changing The Leader’s Classic Design

Samuel Sterns made his first MCU appearance in The Incredible Hulk in 2008, and he was last seen being exposed to the gamma radiation flowing through Bruce Banner’s blood. Fans have waited for 16 years to see that moment paid off in Captain America: Brave New World. From a single image of the character from a toy release, and a Funko Pop! figure, fans fully expected to see a faithful rendition of the mastermind with the bulbous head typically associated with the comics. By switching this up in the actual movie, Marvel Studios ran the risk of disappointing audiences.
It seems that for some, they have done just that. In reactions on X/Twitter, @MrMaxMarriner said, “I have liked The Leader since childhood (I was a big Hulk fan) and what this movie does to him is unforgivable.” Another user, @WilliamD1123, added, “The design of The Leader in Brave New World ironically looks like something that Marvel would’ve done in phase 1 when they were too afraid to go completely comic accurate.” A third user, @SammyJReacts, was also not satisfied with the lack of head, commenting, “Biggest complaint for Captain America Brave New World is that The Leader’s head just isn’t big enough. Physically and metaphorically not big enough. We needed more head!”
However, others were more than happy with the new design of The Leader, and the movie as a whole. @TheEricGoldman said of the changed design, “The redesign of The Leader in Brave New World was a good idea, even as it is quite funny the merch is the old design. He’s inherently always somewhat goofy, but the much creepier final version was the right call and the look in the movie evokes his second comic book look much more.”

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Even though Marvel Studios has become well known for putting out purposeful misdirects ahead of a new movie’s release, this time around it seems all down to the many changes Brave New World went through during its long production. The images of The Leader seen in toy lines associated with the movie were all seemingly based on the original, more comic-accurate design of the character, but when the tone of the movie was darkened, it seems that The Leader’s appearance was one of the big changes made.
Whether Marvel Studios purposely chose to keep the old designs out there to keep the truth hidden or not, it seems that the appearance of The Leader is just as divisive as many of the opinions on the movie itself. The days of people having a unanimous view of Marvel offers is long gone, but that has not stopped Captain America: Brave New World from putting in an impressive opening day performance, which has set it on the way to a $100 million four-day domestic haul.

Captain America: Brave New World

3.5
/5

Release Date

February 14, 2025

Director

Julius Onah

Franchise(s)

Captain America, Marvel Cinematic Universe