‘Holy Fucking Shit, He Nailed It’

Over a career spanning almost five decades, Harrison Ford has given us some of the most iconic characters in film history. Two of them, Han Solo and Indiana Jones, occupy Top 3 spots in our very own list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. And now, after spending the last couple of years lighting up the tiny screen with brilliant turns in Taylor Sheridan’s Western epic 1923 and Apple TV+ therapist comedy Shrinking, it looks like Ford is about to add another icon to his repertoire as he unleashes his Red Hulk — aka General turned US President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross — upon us in Julius Onah’s upcoming MCU movie Captain America: Brave New World.

For Harrison Ford, stepping into the shoes of the delayed, great William Hurt to continue Thunderbolt Ross’ Marvel story was a large deal. “I was a little concerned about taking over from Bill Hurt, who was a wonderful actor,” admits Ford, talking to Empire over Zoom for our world-exclusive Captain America: Brave New World issue. “I was ambitious to find the right way of assuming this character after the audience had seen other people doing it. I’m only slightly familiar with the Marvel Universe — I live in another universe — but I have watched a number of Marvel films with wonderful actors, apparently having a good time. And I thought, ‘Well, why not me?’”

Why not indeed. As director Julius Onah — who describes Ford’s work in the movie as “mind-blowing” — attests, Marvel’s recent Thaddeus Ross was more than up to the job of honouring Hurt’s performance… and, y’know, Hulking out. “All of us on set were like, ‘Holy fucking shit, he nailed it,’” says Onah. “It’s really great to get back to a Hulk that is just fucking breaking shit, and a rage monster.”

But if channelling all that rage and destruction — which, if the trailers for the movie are anything to go by, seems to be quite out of President Ross’ control — sounds like a lot to ask of an 80-something-year-old living legend, just don’t let the man himself hear you saying that. The way Ford sees it, it was all “just another day at the office”. “I tried to understand the ambition of the filmmakers, and to be useful to them,” states the Blade Runner star. “I just didn’t sit home at night and say, ‘Oh, what do I want to do when I turn into the Hulk?’ It didn’t seem to me to be a terribly difficult acting proposition.” Well, try telling that to Edward Norton.

Read our full Captain America: Brave New World world-exclusive feature — speaking to Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, director Julius Onah and more — in Empire‘s February 2025 issue, on sale Thursday 19 December. Pre-order a copy online here. Captain America: Brave New World hits UK cinemas on 14 February.