If the Leader doesn't speak to you, it's because at the time, he wasn't known by that name. Besides, during the 1h58 of Captain America: Brave New World, he is never called as such. But under his civilian name, Samuel Sterns. A doctor by profession, a scientist above all (a cellular biologist and professor precisely), the attendant was introduced for the first time in the MCU in... 2008, in The Incredible Hulk.
A rather comic book accurate villain
He's the famous Mr. Blue, the man with whom Bruce Banner talks throughout the film and who represents hope for him, because he is able to make an antidote to eradicate Hulk from his body. Spoiler alert: obviously the said antidote won't work — well, yes, but temporarily. Above all, under the threat of a vengeful Emil Blonsky who wants to get the upper hand on the Hulk, Sterns will find himself forced to give life to the Abomination, another monstrous creation born from Banner's blood.
The story could have ended there. But it is by being knocked out by Abomination that Sterns will change his destiny. And the Leader is born. A drop of Banner's blood introduced into a gaping wound on the scientist's skull will upset the doctor's metabolism, which will mutate and see his brain capacity develop at high speed. If, in the comics, the Leader is not born this way - it is the explosion of radioactive products that he was moving that will irradiate him with gamma rays, not Banner's blood - the MCU has given him a very comics accurate look, less close to the versions where his skull points upwards but with a larger than normal head, ribbed and veined, showing a real deformation of his skull and his brain which protrudes from it in places.
Mind control and king of probabilities
The same goes for his powers. In the comics, The Leader can control beings irradiated with gamma rays, subjugate the weakest minds to his will, accurately anticipate the future through calculations and probabilities, allowing him to have a continuous head start on his enemies and to be able to predict their next move. Brave New World did not keep everything and mainly focused on offering a more realistic and contemporary version of the character. Mind control is there, but in the form of flashes of light and the broadcast of music, Mr Blue, which inevitably echoes his nickname in The Incredible Hulk.
But it is ultimately in the calculation aspect that the Leader is successful and important for the MCU. The latter, we suspected before going to see the film, is the REAL mastermind of the events of Brave New World. Warning, spoilers: he's the one who hires the Serpent Society, he's the one who transforms President Thaddeus Ross into Red Hulk without his knowledge, using the statesman to harm him, just as the latter used his intelligence to gain access to the White House. And he's the one who announces an important truth to Sam Wilson during the post-credits scene: the world is not ready for what's coming, mentioning the arrival of other people. We can easily imagine that the Leader saw the potential dangers to come and therefore the main stakes of Secret Wars.
Back in the MCU in Secret Wars?
This prediction, as much to link Brave New World to the sequel as to "hyper" the audience, cannot (must) be insignificant. Left behind for... 17 years in the cellar of the MCU, it's hard to see how The Leader could not reappear soon. Even if in the end, only Captain America, via the post-credits scene, has already been made official for the sequel, with the famous “Captain America will return”.
First, because he's not dead. Then, because he seems to know a lot and this knowledge will inevitably be useful, at one time or another. Avengers: Secret Wars is supposed to boost the Marvel universe in terms of the story and offer us a large-scale battle, it would be a shame to do without such talent, however evil he may be at the time of the grand finale, right? Finally, the last reason for a possible return is the use of the Leader in Captain America: Brave New World. Brought to pull the strings in the shadows, Sterns never really comes out of it in two hours of debate and without, either, displaying a monstrous charisma. A shame for a master of manipulation. And a shot to correct, who knows, for the MCU.
0 Comments