Harrison Ford Kept ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Cast Together Amid Filming ‘Drama’

Harrison Ford put his body through the wringer for his first Marvel role in Captain America: Brave New World, but he also had his hands full keeping the cast together and solving numerous production challenges, an on-set insider tells Closer exclusively.

“It’s no secret that Captain America: Brave New World has gone through multiple rounds of extensive reshoots leading to its release early next year, and the movie has had an overall chaotic production,” the insider explains about the film, due out in theaters on February 14, 2025.

“Thankfully, during all that drama around the story they’re telling, and the changes made to the plot, the leads Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford kept their bond and friendship strong,” the source shares. “Harrison especially proved to be a calming influence on a film that took almost two years to complete from the first shooting day to the last one, and on additional reshoots just a few weeks ago.”

While the Star Wars icon, 82, has been open about how he took the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross for a big paycheck, he had to work hard for the money while taking on a part made famous by someone else.

William Hurt originated the role, playing Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross in previous Marvel films, including 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2018’s Avengers: Civil War, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and 2021’s Black Widow. The actor died on March 13, 2022, after a battle with prostate cancer.

Captain America: Brave New World sees Ross elected president and mutates into the Red Hulk after surviving an assassination attempt, making the role much more physical.

“It’s almost an accident that Harrison wound up in this movie and the production asked a lot of him for his enormous salary,” the source explains. “He had to do stunts, he had to deal with special effects, and he had to keep going back for reshoots months after he thought he was done filming.”

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“It’s been a troubled movie, but nobody is saying Harrison and Anthony didn’t earn their paychecks on this one. It’s going to be up to audiences to decide if they delivered the goods, but nobody is blaming them for the problems the production had. Harrison was a good sport through that entire process even when nobody expected him to be,” the source adds.

Harrison half-joked about why he joined the MCU while at San Diego Comic-Con on August 1.

“What did it take? It took not caring. It took being an idiot for money, which I’ve done before,” he said about taking the role.

He went on to elaborate, “I don’t mean to disparage it. I’m just saying you have to do certain things that normally your mother would not want you to do — or your acting coach, if you had one. But it’s fun, and I enjoyed it. I had a great time, and I’m delighted at the response that we got with the trailer.”

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The Indiana Jones star was the one who sought out the role, the film’s producer Nate Moore told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published on December 20.

He explained that it was a “surprise” after William passed away. “You figure out if it’s worth proceeding with the story you have or trying something else. It just so happened that Harrison Ford reached out to [Marvel Studios President] Kevin Feige about potentially playing in the Marvel sandbox.”

“We didn’t assume anybody would be game,” Nate continued. “Harrison saw it, I think, as an opportunity both to honor William’s work and to continue that character arc, which Harrison thought was really interesting in the other movies.”