Captain America 4: Tim Blake Nelson Was ‘Glad’ His MCU Return Didn’t Happen Until Now

The Incredible Hulk actor Tim Blake Nelson didn’t mind having to wait over a decade to reprise the role of Samuel Sterns/The Leader in Captain America: Brave New World .

Nelson first appeared as Samuel Sterns in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, which is notable for being the second installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe . While the superhero movie teased the character’s transformation into the villainous Leader , The Incredible Hulk’s poor box office performance — as well as Universal holding distribution rights for the Green Goliath — meant that a sequel was put on the backburner at Marvel .

However, in September 2022 at the D23 Expo, Marvel announced that Nelson would be reprising the role of Samuel Sterns in the fourth Captain America movie. While speaking with Screen Rant at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, Nelson opened up about returning as The Leader and how his decade-plus away from the role was actually a blessing in disguise.

“I have to say that I had given up on coming back as well, and not without a tremendous amount of despair. But I’m glad it took this long because the character I [play], actually, I think demands my own life experience over the past 18 years,” he teased. “Because there’s a real depth and rage and pathos to this guy, and I needed 18 more years of life experience to try and pull that off.”

Captain America: Brave New World features several The Incredible Hulk characters

While Captain America: Brave New World is first and foremost a sequel to the Disney+ limited series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), the forthcoming superhero movie could also be viewed as a stealth sequel to The Incredible Hulk. In addition to picking up the dangling Leader plotline from the 2008 movie, Brave New World will bring back two other Incredible Hulk characters: Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and Betty Ross. Harrison Ford will portray the former, succeeding the late William Hurt in the role, while Liv Tyler is reprising her role from The Incredible Hulk as the latter.

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Other cast members for Captain America: Brave New World include Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Flacon, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph/Sabra , and Giancarlo Esposito as Seth Voelker/Sidewinder. Anthony Mackie leads Brave New World as Sam Wilson/Captain America, marking the first time the actor has headlined a MCU project.

Directed by Julius Onah , Captain America: Brave New World is set to hit theaters on February 14, 2025.