4) Secretary Of State Ross As An Overarching Antagonist
In Civil War, William Hurt’s General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is given a significant upgrade. Where in The Incredible Hulk he was the military man attempting to bring down Ed Norton’s big green guy, in Civil War Ross reappears as Secretary of State – the Russo brothers bringing him out of the shadowy government operations and into the spotlight with much more power at his finger tips.
Civil War stars Hurt as a more pragmatic kind of bad guy, armed with political power, but he’s just as ardently anti-superhero as ever. Rather than taking Avengers on using force, Civil War‘s Ross now uses his new position as one of the most powerful men in the free world to shut Marvel’s heroes down. The suggestion is that this new version of the character will be here to stay for a few more films to come, working in the background and using the law as his weapon of choice.