"So says....The Leader!!!" The Official Tim Blake Nelson/The Leader Thread

[TheVileOne]

Spoiler

That’s what I assumed re: killing the admiral in his home too but I don’t think it was ever explicitly confirmed.

Sterns turning himself in to Sam in front of Walter Reed hospital was…jarring. I suppose he wanted to turn himself in so he could expose the truth, but how did he talk to reporters after being arrested? Surely he would have been taken straight to a military black site. Alternatively, if he spoke to reporters / leaked his story prior to turning himself in, why turn himself in at all?

And was Sam waiting for him? All of the sudden, without call or signal, military forces are there and waiting on Sam’s command to arrest Sterns.

Honestly, it probably would have worked better if, after killing Dunphy to hide the truth about the gamma pills, Sterns personally attends President Ross’s press conference (hidden amongst the gathered press) to ensure the truth comes to light and Ross ruins his career; especially after the failure in the Indian Ocean.

Sam, who’s watching the conference live, suits up to fight Red Hulk. While he fights him, Ruth takes down Sterns before he can sip away again.

Spoiler

I guess he arguably could've leaked things to the media deliberately since he was temporarily free and evading authorities. I think the problem is that the movie didn't really clue the audience in and just skipped a few too many steps. Like maybe we could've seen photos in the admiral's home showing the admiral with Ross, and it was like a case of Sterns killing Ross' close friends or advisors. But like we can infer that or maybe interpret that, but the movie obfuscates it a bit too much.

 

[TheVileOne]

Considering how long ago we set The Leader up before coming back to him, it's hard not to find his "grand plan" disappointing and underwhelming.

Spoiler

You would think he would have an ulterior plan and that getting Ross to become the Hulk would merely serve as a distraction or help further his ultimate plan of achieving something. Like you bake the revenge motif and wanting to get back at Ross with also using that time when Cap is distracted to do something else which was the plan all along.

But no he really just wanted to see Harrison Ford hulk out.

Spoiler

I agree that was a weak motivation. It would've made more sense if Sterns wanted to install a new puppet as Ross' replacement so he could be the new ruler and be "THE LEADER" of all men. Like by disgracing Ross, someone he wanted to become president would be put into power. Like who is Ross' Vice President?

But anyway, not only does he ruin and disgrace Ross, but he also becomes the new shadow ruler of the US in his goal of world domination. Sterns would believe he's the only one who can rule now since he can anticipate every eventuality.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Spoiler

In retrospect, Secret Invasion and Cap 4 should've been combined into an Avengers movie. Maybe scrap Thunderbolts and do Dark Avengers as part one, with Ross putting together his Dark Avengers team, with The Leader being used as a think tank to predict The Skrull invaders movements and who might be a Skrull, etc, and the return of The Avengers in part two where Sam reforms a proper Avengers team to clean up Ross's mess (with help from Nick Fury and Maria Hill). You could keep the Celestial island full of Adamantium as a plot point, with the Skrull invaders want it for their plans of global conquest).

 

[TheVileOne]

Doing Secret Invasion as a standalone miniseries functionally doesn't work.

 

[psylockolussus]

When I heard the Secret Invasion story before, I didn't think of it as something that should be adapted to a series. Secret Invasion is a known Marvel storyline that involves the who's who of Marvel Universe. The one we got in Disney+ limited it to Fury, Rhodey, Maria Hill and tv characters I'm forgetting.

But I also think Kevin Feige probably wasn't interested in that storyline to be adapted in the movies, hence why it was sent to Disney+.

 

[BobJM]

Spoiler

I agree that was a weak motivation. It would've made more sense if Sterns wanted to install a new puppet as Ross' replacement so he could be the new ruler and be "THE LEADER" of all men. Like by disgracing Ross, someone he wanted to become president would be put into power. Like who is Ross' Vice President?

But anyway, not only does he ruin and disgrace Ross, but he also becomes the new shadow ruler of the US in his goal of world domination. Sterns would believe he's the only one who can rule now since he can anticipate every eventuality.

But we already got evil Vice President in Iron Man Three, so I am happy they didn't re-use that beat. But I get what you're going for

 

[Iceman]

When I heard the Secret Invasion story before, I didn't think of it as something that should be adapted to a series. Secret Invasion is a known Marvel storyline that involves the who's who of Marvel Universe. The one we got in Disney+ limited it to Fury, Rhodey, Maria Hill and tv characters I'm forgetting.

But I also think Kevin Feige probably wasn't interested in that storyline to be adapted in the movies, hence why it was sent to Disney+.

A waste of a big Marvel event that could have been handled much better. It could have been its own phase.

 

[Mike Murdock]

I thought the Leader was fine in this movie. It's just such an oddball choice that this wasn't a Hulk film, lol

At first, I thought it was weird. It felt like they didn't have confidence in Sam Wilson as Captain America. After watching the film, I get it. The link is Ross. Sam Wilson has the Sokovia Accords. Sterns has his own interactions.

Spoiler

A lot of the focus was on his look and the change from the comics. I think it did a good job to emphasize the tortured aspect to add credibility to his revenge plot. For being a genius, he didn't really have an ambitious goal. But the collateral damage of his goal was real nonetheless.

Anyway, his voice sounded cool throughout most of the movie, so I'm going to rate him highly based on that.

 

[psylockolussus]

To me, the movie just feels like a middle episode of a Sam Wilson series rather than a Sam Wilson movie. Red Hulk/Leader are the guest stars - the case of the week, hence why they got more backstory than Sam. While Sam and his two friends were somehow involved in the middle of it.

 

[legendkillin]

Brain needed to be bigger.

 

[Lily Adler]

Was it so hard to try this:

 

[psylockolussus]

Looks like an inflated balloon!

 

[Lily Adler]

Looks like an inflated balloon!

Still better than whatever the nonsense in this film was.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Was it so hard to try this:

View attachment 125251

I like the film design more than this.

 

[Lily Adler]

I like the film design more than this.

I know you do.

 

[Venom 1988]

 

[psylockolussus]

Captain America 4: See How The Leader Was Originally Supposed To Look In New Photos - Comic Book Movies and Superhero Movie News - SuperHeroHype

The original character design for Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns/The Leader in Captain America 4 has been revealed.

www.superherohype.com

 

[psylockolussus]

Captain America 4 Leader Concept Art Shows Totally Different Design

A new Captain America 4 concept art has been released, featuring a different character design for The Leader.

www.superherohype.com