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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of The Leader from the Marvel Cinematic film series. The mainstream version can be found here: The Leader (Marvel). |
| “ | I don't know what you've got inside you already. The mixture could be… an abomination. I didn't say I was unwilling. I just need informed consent. And you've given it. | „ |
| ~ Samuel Sterns to Emil Blonsky. |
| “ | Black Widow: Dr. Samuel Sterns? The Leader: I think perhaps once I was… but shall now become much more. |
„ |
| ~ Black Widow to the Leader. |
| “ | We share the same world, don't we? This world you would die to save? It's coming. I've seen it, the probabilities, seen it plain as day. All you heroes protecting this world… do you think you're the only ones? Do you think this is the only world? We'll see what happens when you have to protect this place from the others. | „ |
| ~ The Leader to Sam Wilson, foreshadowing the multiversal incursions. |
Dr. Samuel Sterns, also known as the Leader, is a supporting character in the 2008 Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film The Incredible Hulk and the main antagonist of the 2025 film Captain America: Brave New World, the fourth installment of the Captain America film series.
He is a scientist and professor at Grayburn College who initially assists Dr. Bruce Banner when he was being hunted down by Thunderbolt Ross and Emil Blonsky in trying to cure him from the Gamma Radiation that turned him in the Hulk. However, after being forced by Blonsky to mutate him and getting Banner's blood on his head, Sterns loses his sanity and becomes a dangerous genius with a god complex.
He was portrayed by Tim Blake Nelson, who also played Dr. Pendanski in Holes, Jonathan Jacobo in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Officer LeFlore in Meet the Fockers, Harvey Allen in Fantastic Four and Martin Kirby in Angel Has Fallen.
History[]
The Incredible Hulk[]
A professor in charge of Grayburn College's Department of Cellular Biology of New York City by 2010, Dr. Samuel Sterns contacts Dr. Bruce Banner through online correspondence once he is given his contact while on Tibet as he is on the run from Thunderbolt Ross and the U.S. military due to his gamma rays experiments to make a new Super Soldier Serum turning him into the dangerous beast known as the Hulk. From that point onwards, even as Banner moves on to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to lay low, Sterns and Banner keep in touch as "Mr. Blue" and "Mr. Green" respectively.
One day, Sterns chats with Banner after Banner informs him that he has found a Corablanca flower, with Sterns advising him to use a high dose of it on himself to see if it can cure him. Banner tries but the attempt to create an antidote to his condition fails, so he informs Sterns that he failed. As such, Sterns proposes for the two to meet up, and while Banner doesn't want because of the dangers it may pose, Sterns reminds him that living with gamma poisoning isn't safe either and to send him a blood sample if he wishes for his help, so Banner relents and sends a blood sample of his in a package to Sterns. Sterns experiments with the blood sample and tells Banner that he may be able to cure him, but needs more data like exposure levels, gamma concentration and cell saturation to work with.
Later on in the film, Sterns finally appears when Bruce Banner and Betty Ross come across him at his workplace after sending him an email with all the data he required beforehand. Excited at the prospect of working with them, Sterns explains that he has worked on an antidote and that they should incite an episode for the Hulk to come out so they can either gather enough gamma blood to create a long-lasting suppressant or a cure capable of supressing that side of Banner's personality, even though the toxicity levels could kill Banner, but Bruce and Betty accept because it's the best option.
Sterns takes them to his private laboratory, carries out the test to extract Bruce Banner's blood, applies his antidote and the experiments seemingly ends up a success. Sterns celebrates it, but while explaining to Betty and Bruce what happened in the test, he accidentally slips that he has tested his blood before with animals, leading him to take Bruce and Betty to a room full of blood samples Sterns synthesized with the one that Bruce sent him previously, wondering that they can mass produce suppressants with the blood capable of creating vaccines, making humanity immune to diseases or even win a Nobel Prize. Banner tells him that they must incinerate the samples as the Hulk's power is too dangerous and uncontrollable for others in regards to the U.S. army, because of their plans to weaponize it, but before they can keep arguing, the Strategic Operations Command Center finds them and neutralizes Banner.
While Bruce and Betty are taken away, Sterns is interrogated by Major Kathleen Sparr, who asks him if he can replicate the Hulk, but as Sterns explains that he can't yet replicate the Hulk despite his collected blood samples, Emil Blonsky knocks Sparr out and orders Sterns to experiment with him, as he had already been enhanced with a low dose of the Super Soldier Serum the army and Banner had worked in. Sterns expresses his concerns that the combination of Super Soldier Serum formula and the Hulk's blood could have "abominating" results, but Blonsky forces him to comply by physically threatening him. With no time to lose, Sterns administers Banner's blood and a gamma charge to Blonsky, turning him into the Abomination. Concerned for his safety, Sterns tries to talk Abomination into letting him reverse the process, but Blonsky smacks him against his own machinery, simultaneously causing a cut on his forehead. Incidentally, the impact makes a canister filled with the Hulk's blood leak a few blood drops that fall into Sterns' open wound, rapidly expanding his cranium and brain as he maniacally grins while Abomination escapes to go on a rampage over Harlem.
Fury's Big Week[]
Sometime before Abomination's rampage, Black Widow is dispatched by S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury's orders to check on what Bruce Banner did at Grayburn College, leading Black Widow to go to Samuel Sterns' laboratory as Ross takes Banner into custody and witnesses Abomination's escape, leaving her and Sterns behind. She approaches Sterns to make sure he is okay, but instead finds him with his now mutated cranium and brain even bigger, with Sterns responding to her inquiry by saying that perhaps he once was Samuel Sterns, but now is something more. Black Widow calls for medical assistance, but Sterns instead asks for her own assistance to his plans, envisioning a future of power and influence for himself that he is willing to share with her if she lies to the authorities about his condition and helps him gather his work. Sterns tries to persuade her by deducing her Russian origins due to identifying the faint traces of her accent as coming from Stalingrad, promising to give her anything that she has been denied to if she serves him, but given how this possibly triggers her traumatic memories about General Dreykov, Black Widow simply shoots Sterns in the leg and calls for the "cleanup team" to come for him as a vengeful Sterns promises retribution. Afterwards, S.H.I.E.L.D. takes Sterns into custody and studies him inside a containment tank, referring to the study as "Project Mr. Blue".
Captain America: Brave New World[]
Samuel Sterns developed a new hypnosis technology that allowed him to plant programs in a target's brain, which is triggered by the song Mr. Blue.
President Thaddeus Ross undertook his presentation about the unilateral distribution of a metal stronger than vibranium, dubbed "adamantium," which can be harvested from the partially surfaced corpse of the celestial Tiamut, but before he could finish, five random individuals - including formerly forgotten super soldier Isaiah Bradley - are activated into undertaking an assassination attempt. Ross survived and the five apparent assassins are apprehended.
Sam Wilson aka Captain America determined that Isaiah was brainwashed, thus begins searching for the mastermind. The hunt leads to a secret military base called Camp Echo. Sterns revealed himself, but also the fact he had every soldier of the facility under his control, thereby keeping the heroes at bay while revealing his motivation. He explained that his brain had become a highly accurate prediction generator, allowing him to foresee all future possibilities and know their statistical likelihood of occurring, with then-General Ross keeping him locked up in Camp Echo One, so Sterns could create advanced weaponry and tech for the US military, as well as calculate how to help Ross win the Presidential election; Sterns agreed to the arrangement because Ross promised to free Sterns once President, yet due to reneging on the deal, Sterns felt provoked to enact vengeance to destroy Ross's legacy.
Captain America makes a deal with captured mercenary Sidewinder for more information on Sterns; he explained that Banner's Gamma radiated blood began a mutation in Sterns that Ross escalated by bombarding more Gamma radiation into Sterns; it deformed him, but vastly enhanced his existing genius intellect and turned his brain into a living super computer.
Ross had made another deal with Sterns, which was a cure for his heart condition, hence the primary reason he kept the scientist imprisoned was due to fear of his own death if the medication was cut off; however, Ross wasn't merely motivated by selfishness, but a sincere desire to eventually redeem himself in the eyes of his daughter, Betty, after the debacles with the hunt for the Hulk and the disruption caused by the Sokovia Accords. Due to his mind's predictive powers, Sterns calculated that Ross might betray him, so had been spiking the heart pills with Gamma radiation, building up in Ross's body over the decade of consuming them.
The Gamma and his own inherently wrathful nature drove Ross to almost commence war with Japan over access to the adamantium in Celestial Island; during a phone call, Sterns taunted Ross about his dark legacy and how Betty would never forgive him. However, thanks to Captain America and Falcon, the aerial dogfights were ended without casualties and one of Ross's aides managed to calm him down.
While Sterns surrendered to the authorities, he revealed to Sam that he had a contingency plan that would finally expose Ross as the monster he believed he always was and will be; Sterns established a playback of his phone conversation with Ross during the brush with war near Celestial Island for the collected press and world to learn. The revelations about his unethical deeds and near-war distress Ross enough that the Gamma triggered a transformation, turning him into the Red Hulk. Captain America fights Red Hulk to lure him away from civilians; despite a capable battle, Sam was unable to physically best a Hulk, thus relied on his psychology skills, which he used to appeal to Ross's earnest desire to reform from his old militaristic ways, therefore he returned to his human form.
Despite nobody being killed by Red Hulk, Ross's reputation was tarnished as Sterns wanted; however, Ross took responsibility for his past mistakes, resigned from the presidency, and was imprisoned in the supermax prison of the Raft.
Sam later visited Sterns in his cell on a different level of the Raft; Sterns shares an ominous warning about an immense danger, seeming to allude to a multiversal threat, and proclaimed that everyone on Earth are on the same side in this conflict, thereby invited Sam to join him in preparation to prevent a far greater calamity.
Personality[]
Samuel Sterns was an eccentric and enthusiastic scientist; he had little social skills, yet didn't seem aware of that fact. He held an admiration for unusual and exceptional power, hence his interest in the Hulk and willingness to commit treason to help Dr. Bruce Banner in handling his condition; unlike Banner, however, Sterns saw the Hulk as an extraordinary gift and desired to harness the power of the Gamma beast. While seeking to replicate the power, his original intentions were altruistic, as he believed the medical and military advancements far outweighed the risks; thinking like that, as well as his almost religious admiration of the Hulk's powers, hinted at a darker side of his personality. Sterns used numerous animal test subjects and felt no regret that they all died, since he believed the ends justified the means, but also due to an underlying sociopathy.
Upon being mutated by Hulk's blood and further Gamma radiation blasts, Sterns lost all semblance of morality and developed a deranged god complex. Due to being wronged by General-then-President Ross, he enacted a revenge scheme that destroyed multiple other innocent lives and risked igniting world war; despite the potential for millions of deaths, Sterns felt no guilt nor hesitation, as his desire to destroy Ross's legacy displayed his old ends justifying the means, but on a global scale, and no longer holding any of his original humanitarianism. Along with mind-control and potential war, Sterns would also personally kill people without any mercy, yet sometimes delusionally claim that he was in the right as a "hero" avenging himself against the military that wronged him - even though he'd also murder completely unrelated individuals lower in the hierarchy.
Sterns developed a sense of theatricality, as he chose the song Mr. Blue as the trigger for his brainwashed soldiers, as a sardonic reference to his old alias when communicating with Banner years ago. He also allowed Sam and Joaquim to find him in Base Echo One just to gloat about his plans, and allow them to resist merely to flaunt his intellectual superiority over them. His initial end goal was to have Ross transform into the Red Hulk to incite war between America and Japan, however, lost his usual composure in a furious roar when Captain America foiled this first desired "ending." Regardless, he held no fear in surrendering back to the authorities - even with his revenge provoked just for that very reason. He still surrendered just to ensure that he could destroy Ross, even if in a contingency, thus showing a dark pragmatism; when arrested, he again chose to dramatically taunt Sam, as his own genius left him arrogant despite his desired war being averted.
Gallery[]
Appearance[]
Originally a slightly below average height Caucasian man. After Hulk's blood infiltrated his head wound and he endured further Gamma radiation treatment due to General Ross's orders, his skin changed to a sickly green hue, his right eye turned green and appeared bioluminescent, his left eye was milky white as if blinded, and his brain had expanded to become visibly pressed up against his scalp.
Quotes[]
| “ | It was glorious - godlike. | „ |
| ~ Sterns agreeing with Blonsky's awe of the Hulk's power. |
| “ | Isn't it obvious? I'm the hero. | „ |
| ~ Sterns expressing his delusional self-image |
| “ | Captain America! If I'm right about Ross, you are going to die! You're gonna DIE! | „ |
| ~ Sterns yell at Wilson as Wilson prepare to fight Red Hulk |
Trivia[]
- The Leader is so far the only Marvel Cinematic Universe who appeared in Phase One and did not reappear again until Phase Five, marking one of the longest intervals between portrayals of a character by the same actor in the MCU history. This is partly because The Incredible Hulk never got any sequel as originally planned due to several issues, such as Edward Norton's recasting with Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk from The Avengers onwards, Marvel's acquisition by The Walt Disney Company and Universal Pictures keeping the Hulk's film rights, hence why a solo Hulk film hasn't been made since then.
- Samuel Sterns was intended to become The Leader in a planned The Incredible Hulk sequel according to director Louis Leterrier, who included the scene of Sterns mutating with the Hulk's blood in the film with the intentions of setting The Leader up as the sequel's main antagonist. Tim Blake Nelson even signed on to reprise the role in two more films.
- Kevin Feige teased on his Reddit AMA in 2019 that Marvel Studios could possibly bring The Leader back in the future, expressing his enjoyment at bringing forgotten characters back when people least expect it. This was indeed confirmed three years later with the announcement that The Leader would return in Captain America: Brave New World.
- The Leader is Tim Blake Nelson's first role in a Marvel Comics live-action film, later playing Harvey Allen in the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot.
- In Captain America: Brave New World, Sterns has parallels to prior MCU antagonists.
- Like Arnim Zola,
- He was kept in a secret military base to develop weapons and technology for the US government, yet actually working on his own agenda.
- Like Zemo,
- He is aiming for revenge for suffering caused by a notable character(s).
- He used mind control through hypnosis and trigger words (although, Zemo used the Winter Soldier program developed by Hydra, whereas Sterns created his own version).
- He doesn't directly battle the heroes, rather manipulated allies into fighting each other.
- He ultimately allowed himself to be captured and ends up imprisoned in the Raft.
- Like He Who Remains,
- He attempts to recruit the protagonist in order to counter a greater oncoming danger.
- Like Arnim Zola,
- Originally in Captain America: Brave New World, the Leader was going to have his comic-like appearance, as shown in promotional art and marketing.
- It was revealed that Tim Blake Nelson signed a contract to appear in three Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, the first being The Incredible Hulk and the second Captain America: Brave New World, so his third appearance could be Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars. Since both films will have multiversal wars.
External Links[]
- The Leader on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
- The Leader on the Marvel Wiki
- The Leader on the Marvel Movies Wiki
- The Leader on the Disney Wiki
