A new report gaining steam claims that Harrison Ford has signed with Marvel Studios, and he will debut in Phase Five.

Only a day after the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law finale hinted at Red Hulk's arrival, new reports indicate that Harrison Ford will play his human alter-ego.

According to The Direct, Ford will play Thunderbolt Ross beginning with Captain America: New World Order. Nothing has been made official, but the news does come with a fair amount of credibility. Other sites claim to have verified the report with their Marvel contacts, though not everyone is getting precisely the same information. SlasherFilm says that insiders told them Ford will first appear in Thunderbolts

Until Kevin Feige makes the official announcement, take all these reports with a grain of salt. While it’s all gossip at this point, the Ford news seems likely. Of course, this has been a popular rumor for weeks. With the speculation that Red Hulk is coming to the MCU, it had theorists pondering how that would be done without William Hurt in the role of Thunderbolt Ross. If the scuttlebutt is to be believed, the answer should be coming soon.

SHE-HULK AND THE ARRIVAL OF RED HULK

This is the third round of news for Red Hulk in recent days. It began last week with the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law post-credits scene in which Jennifer Walters teased the coming of a new Hulk, one that could be red. While that did not transpire in the season finale, there was a cleverly placed Easter egg that many theorists speculate is a clear nod to Red Hulk. 

Adding someone as iconic as Ford into the mix is worth getting excited for. Putting him in the Thunderbolt role makes sense, especially given the actor’s age. Since he won’t have to do much in the way of physical acting for the CGI Red Hulk, it seems like an easy shot on goal with no defender in sight.

After famed actor William Hurt passed away earlier this year, it led to questions of whether or not Feige would recast the part. Since he didn’t budge on T’Challa after Chadwick Boseman’s death, many fans wondered if any role would be recast after an actor’s death. While it would appear that’s not the case for Thunderbolt, there is an alternative.

In the comics, Ross was the first but not the only Red Hulk.'

Debuting in 2017’s U.S. Avengers #1, Robert Maverick would assume the mantle but as a full-fledged hero. Although far less popular than his predecessor, Maverick did keep his mustache intact when he transformed unlike Ross, whose 'stache mysteriously vanished when he became a Hulk. That’s a joke Feige wouldn’t dare ignore. In fact, Ford could be cast as the Maverick Red Hulk just for that one joke and some epic CGI facial hair. No doubt, that would make for some great Justice League and Superman’s CGI upper lip trolling.

ALL PART OF THE PLAN

As tight control as Feige keeps on all things MCU, I doubt anything actually “leaks” from the Marvel headquarters. With so much steam behind the Ford reports, it is likely that the Marvel chief himself okayed the information in order to quietly hype Phase Five. It’s suspicious that the unofficial confirmation occurred just after the She-Hulk season finale with the aforementioned Red Hulk allusion. If Ford is indeed announced in the coming days, then we can rest assured that it was all part of the plan from the beginning.

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