With so much attention given to Red Hulk's first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Captain America: Brave New World, it can be easy to overlook the return of another character who made their one and only appearance back in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. The character in question is Samuel Sterns, known in Marvel Comics as The Leader, who will once again be portrayed by veteran actor and musician Tim Blake Nelson in only his second MCU outing.
Despite such limited exposure in the MCU, The Leader has a long history in the comics as one of the Hulk's most consistent, cunning, and dangerous villains.
Mr. Blue
Before getting into the comic side of the character's history, it is worth looking back at Samuel Sterns' place inside of the MCU.
Audiences are first introduced to the character not as Sterns, but by the alias Mr. Blue in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. He is first shown to be a mysterious benefactor aiding Bruce Banner, who has been on the run since his gamma exposure and first transformations, with trying to find a cure for the gamma and getting rid of the Hulk once and for all. This involves the pair messaging each other on secure lines and sending materials back and forth until Banner is ultimately discovered by ‘Thunderbolt' Ross to be hiding in Brazil.
Mr. Blue is later revealed as Sterns, a cellular biologist working at the Harlem-based Grayburn College who had been working to synthesize a potential cure using the samples of blood Banner sent him. The procedure first appears to be a success as the cure is able to halt Banner's transformation halfway through and seemingly eliminated the Hulk. However, Sterns then reveals he had been working to synthesize more than just a “Hulk cure” for Banner and had been testing the blood samples to see what else it could be applied to. Despite Sterns' excitement, Banner says the samples have to be destroyed to keep them out of military and government hands when he, Sterns, and Betty Ross are interrupted by ‘Thunderbolt' Ross' forces and Emil Blonsky.
As Banner and Ross are taken away, Blonsky forces Sterns at gunpoint to inject him with Banner's blood and replicate the gamma experiment that turn Banner into the Hulk. The combination of gamma, Banner's blood, and the ‘Thunderbolt' Ross' take on the super soldier serum already coursing through Blonsky's veins transforms him into the Abomination. Sterns is thrown to the side as his lab is all but destroyed, but not before drops of Banner's blood can be seen falling into an open wound on Sterns' head. It momentarily shows Sterns' head beginning to transform before cutting away, making that the last moment Sterns had been seen in the MCU.
It is not quite as clear what his role will be in Captain America: Brave New World, but given Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has already referred to the character as The Leader multiple times at expos and presentations, it would not be surprising if Sterns plays a key role in setting the film's events in motion.
A More Humble Beginning
Sterns may have been presented as a brilliant scientist in his one and only MCU outing ahead of Captain America: Brave New World, but his comic book roots are much more humble.
First introduced in 1964's Tales to Astonish #2, Sterns' was originally a janitor and driver from Boise, Idaho, working at a chemical plant where his brilliant brother Philip worked as a researched. This caused Sterns to form a subconscious desire within him to be smarter than his brother, and he would ultimately get his wish.
At one point, Sterns was tasked with transporting some of the plant's radioactive materials when an accident caused the materials to explode. The explosion resulted in Sterns being exposed to a dangerous amount of gamma radiation, The resulting exposure caused his skin to turn green, much like the Hulk, and enlarged his brain and cranium to boost his intelligence astronomically in a matter of seconds, fulfilling his subconscious wish. He would also develop powers including telepathy, telekinesis, and psionic blasts over time to better combat Hulk and various other heroes.
A Leader is Born
In the aftermath of the accident, Sterns would begin calling himself The Leader and begin forming his own worldwide espionage ring to assert his will anywhere and everywhere he can. The ultimate goal of this was to overthrow the U.S. government and take its secrets for himself on his path to global domination.
The Leader's quest for world dominance would pit him against The Hulk time and time again, with The Leader becoming more interested in The Hulk's gamma-based powers and finding a way to harness it for himself. However, he and his forces would be defeated by the Hulk regularly, despite any new weapons or strategies The Leader formulates to try and give himself the upper-hand.
His affiliations with various villainous groups would also bring The Leader into conflict with plenty of other heroes including Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and many more.
The Leader and Hulk's first string of conflicts would culminated with the Leader tricking Hulk into stealing the “Ultimate Machine,” a device belonging to Uatu The Watcher believed to contain all knowledge in the known universe. The Leader would get his wish, but exposure to the device appeared to kill him from shock at the sheer magnitude of the knowledge held in the device.
This would not be the end of The Leader, though, as he had a backup plan in the event of his death. Using a special unit from powerful androids dubbed Humanoids, The Leader was resurrected using what was dubbed the Revivo-Beam and continue his quest to defeat the Hulk and, ultimately, world dominance.
A Gamma Utopia
One step toward The Leader's goal of world domination was the establishment of the independent city of Freehold beneath the Columbia Ice Fields of Alberta, Canada. The hidden city would become emblematic of The Leader's ultimate goals by creating a haven of intelligence and gamma-affected that could survive any apocalypse and, ultimately, inherit the Earth.
Freehold would largely be populated by some of the world's most brilliant scientists and thinks, along with plenty of radiation exposure victims and people mutated as a result of gamma exposure, much like The Leader. It was these gamma victims, or Gamma Mutates as the become known, who would also form the backbone of Freehold's protective forces while aiding The Leader in his nefarious schemes.
The most notable was a group of Gamma Mutates known as the Riot Squad. Most of the team was comprised of Gamma Mutates created as a result of a gamma bomb The Leader detonated in Middletown, Arizona. Six of the strongest mutates would comprise the team alongside ‘Thunderbolt' Ross, who piloted a powerful suit of armor called the Redeemer in order to battle the Hulk.
Creating a Red Menace
While The Leader would be responsible for the creation of plenty of Gamma Mutates during his lifetime, his most infamous work would result in the creation of Red Hulk.
Red Hulk's creation came about as part of an criminal think-tank involving The Leader known as the Intelligencia, with MODOK leading up efforts through his terrorist organization AIM. The group is also aided by Doc Samson's villainous alternate personality to create their own “Hulked out” agents that can match Hulk's power, potentially defeat him, and ultimately help the group take over the world.
The group's efforts results in the Red Hulk, a merciless and tactically brilliant being that very quickly kills several of Hulk's foes, destroy's SHIELD's Helicarrier, and causes a massive earthquake in San Francisco. It would take multiple heroes to finally subdue the Red Hulk, with Thor and Hulk leading the charge, but would continue to menace Hulk for several years with no clue as to its true identity.
Red Hulk is ultimately revealed to be ‘Thunderbolt' Ross, who was believed dead after a life-model decoy was killed in his place. Ross did so to better combat Hulk as his obsession with defeating and taking Bruce Banner's power became greater. The process also led to the creations of the second Harpy and Red She-Hulk to aid in these efforts.
However, this would ultimately backfire on The Leader and Intelligencia after Ross learned the identity of Red She-Hulk was none other than his own daughter, Betty Ross. This led Ross, in his Red Hulk form, to completely destroy the Intelligencia's facility where he was turned into Red Hulk and completely drain the gamma radiation from The Leader's body, transforming him back to Samuel Sterns.
Ross would also begin to sympathize more with Banner's condition as a result of becoming Red Hulk, putting him on a more heroic path to clean up the messes he has caused during his military career and chase for the Hulk. He would even be recruited to The Avengers by Captain America at Bruce Banner's suggestion.
Sterns would later regain a portion of his intelligence thanks to a dose of red gamma from Ross, transforming into The Red Leader to serve as an intelligence agent for Ross. Sterns would go along with it for a time before finally escaping thanks to a pact with Mephisto and eventually restored his original green form, intelligence, and powers.
Leading Captain America's ‘Brave New World'?
While The Leader will continue to be a threat to Hulk in the comics, his future inside the MCU has far more questions surrounding it.
Red Hulk has already been teased as having a key part to play in the next Captain America film between the quick tease at the end of Brave New World's first trailer and the first poster showing Red Hulk's hand tightly gripping Captain America's shield. Given The Leader's role in creating Red Hulk in the comics, it stands to reason that the same could happen in Captain America: Brave New World.
Given the film appears to be leaning into a tone similar to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as well, some fans may not be surprised to see The Leader in command of a new global espionage ring that could serve as a replacement for Hydra inside the MCU.
Captain America: Brave New World is scheduled to release in theater on February 14, 2025.
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