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Warning: SPOILERS for Captain America: Brave New World are ahead!
If you were following along with the Captain America: Brave New World news cycle back when it was still on the upcoming Marvel movies schedule, you’re likely aware of the flick’s not-insignificant reshoots. While not on the level of what Justice League went through back in 2017, the 35th of the Marvel movies in order did change in some pretty notable ways. This was most reflected in the addition of Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder as part of the overhaul of the Serpent Society (and not for the better, in my opinion).
However, shortly after I saw Brave New World, I realized something: a funeral scene was scrapped. Through a combination of writing movie news for a living and being a big fan of the MCU, I often find myself watching trailers for this franchise’s projects multiple times, and that included the second Brave New World trailer. So I quickly remembered that that preview showed a few shots of a funeral that was never included in the final movie. I’m almost 100% positive I know who it was meant to be for in Brave New World, and not only that, there are alleged details online about what would have led to this scene.
Why I Think Thunderbolt Ross Was Originally Supposed To Die
Before I get into said details, I’ll just discuss my immediate takeaway when I left the theater: Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolts” Ross was originally supposed to die in Captain America: Brave New World. Frankly, the few clues provided in the aforementioned trailer make it extremely unlikely to be anyone else. Had the movie been released as originally conceived, we would’ve bid farewell to Ross, who was previously played by the late William Hurt.
For one thing, the funeral was well attended, as one would expect for the passing of a United States president. What also caught my eye was the 21-gun salute, an honor reserved for people who’ve held that very office. Ross, of course, was a general in the United States Army before he made the jump to politics, though we only ever saw him carrying out military actions in the MCU in The Incredible Hulk.
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Harrison Ford claps while smiling a bit oddly in Captain America: Brave New World.
But if all that isn’t enough evidence for you, consider these two points that spring to mind after seeing Captain America: Brave New World. First, Ross revealed to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson that he’s dying of heart failure, and the only reason he’s still alive is because of pills that were created by the super intelligent Samuel Sterns. He’d been held captive by Ross ever since the events of The Incredible Hulk, and even though Ross promised to free Sterns if he used his calculating mind to win the presidency, he reneged on that promise out of fear that the gamma-powered scientist would stop making the pills. It’s not a stretch to think that Ross’ heart might have given out at the end of his battle with Sam after his rampage as Red Hulk was over.
My most touching piece of evidence, however, is the presence of cherry blossoms at this funeral. Ross mentioned in the movie that he took his daughter Betty to see the cherry blossoms when she was a child, and when he called her shortly before he transformed into Red Hulk, he suggested they do the same at some point to begin the reconciliation process, which she agreed to do. Cherry blossoms at the funeral make for a fitting callback, no?
Finally, on the subject of Betty, in addition to lending her voice for the aforementioned phone call, Liv Tyler cameoed on camera as the character at the end of the movie, when she went to visit her father at The Raft. However, it’s reasonable to assume that originally the plan was for Tyler’s Betty to cameo during the funeral for Ross. They may not have reconciled while he was alive, but she would have at least said goodbye to him at this event.
There Are Alleged Details About This Captain America: Brave New World Scrapped Funeral
All of the above is purely what I came up with on my own in the 24 hours after seeing Captain America: Brave New World, but upon doing some digging, it seems like I was right on the money… well, mostly.
According to scooper @CanWeGetSomeToast (via Reddit), in the original version of Brave New World, adamantium was supposed to be able to absorb gamma radiation. Sam Wilson would have used this metal mined from the petrified Celestial Tiamut during his battle with Red Hulk to drain the radiation out of the crimson behemoth, though it seems this move would have killed Harrison Ford’s character. I was also reminded that leaked set photos showed Liv Tyler present for the funeral shoot alongside Anthony Mackie and Xosha Roquemore, who played Secret Service agent Leila Taylor.
However, it’s also been alleged by an unidentified individual who saw a cut of Brave New World from before the reshoots that the original post-credits scene showed Betty Ross finding fiery footsteps in her backyard, followed by Red Hulk’s glowing eyes shown watching her from afar before he departed. Meaning, Ross actually survived his battle with Captain America, and the funeral was just a coverup for the public, though it sounds like he may have now been stuck in his Red Hulk form.
But none of that happened. Instead, Sam Wilson was able to calm the Hulked-out Thunderbolt Ross down by reminding him of those fond cherry blossom memories with Betty. That combined with the exhaustion from the fight caused Ross to revert back to normal. As mentioned earlier, he was put in The Raft after resigning from office, though this was more to keep everyone else safe since he still had the capability to turn into Red Hulk.
I can’t say at this point whether I would’ve preferred the original plan for Thunderbolt Ross over what we got, but I would certainly like to see the funeral footage as one of the deleted scenes included on Captain America: Brave New World’s home release and to stream with a Disney+ subscription. If that ends up happening, we’ll let you know.
