The world was saddened to hear of the passing of a truly prolific actor when William Hurt, aged 71, died on March 13th, just one week before his 72nd birthday. Unfortunately, the news didn't come as too much of a shock as the actor had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer nearly four years prior in May of 2018. Even so, the world still mourns the loss of a man who gifted audiences everywhere with Academy Award-winning performances and on-screen moments that will never be forgotten by his beloved fans.

Among Hurt's most loyal fans are those of the MCU, a franchise that Hurt helped establish with his memorable performance as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross in The Incredible Hulk. His performance was so great that despite the film being considered one of the MCU's rare flops, they decided to bring Hurt back for four more movies over the course of the next decade and a half. In fact, Ross' character has become a much more prominent and key player in the MCU as of late with his rendering of the Sokovia Accords and being the man who tried to arrest Captain America. He's by no means a "main character," but if he simply vanished from the MCU without any explanation, fans would undeniably have questions.

So, that leaves the MCU with a tough decision to make. Should they replace Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross? Let's explore the studio's options.

Recasting the Character

MCU's General Thaddeus E Thunderbolt Ross played by William Hurt
Marvel Studios

The first option is the most obvious (but also the least appealing), and that would be to recast a new actor as Thunderbolt and continue as if nothing ever happened. That might be the simplest way to go about things, but it would certainly leave a sour taste in many fans' mouths. It would also seem a disrespectful way to honor the death of Hurt. It also wouldn't fit the bill with what the MCU has done in the past when they've tragically had other actors pass away in the middle of the franchise.

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Such actors include Chadwick Boseman, Stan Lee, and Garry Shandling, and the MCU hasn't recast any of them, so it's safe to assume that they won't start that pattern here. That being said, if the MCU did choose to go down this route, it would also be safe to assume that fans would protest to the point of making the MCU change their minds. Either way, a recast just doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Big-Budget CGI Effectsmcu replace thunderbolt cgi effects Cropped

If the MCU chooses not to recast Hurt (as they should), they're always left with the option of trying to create a CGI version of the character for any future cameos they had planned for Thunderbolt. This option has worked well for big-budget movies in the past that have had actors pass away in the middle of shooting, and the MCU certainly has the budget to pull it off. They could attempt to CGI Hurt's face onto an actor that resembles him (Hurt's son, Alex, is an actor) like the Fast and Furious franchise did with Paul Walker's brother for Fast and Furious 7, or they could try to CGI Hurt's entire character like the Star Wars franchise did with Carrie Fisher in The Last Jedi.

Either option would still pose challenges, but the MCU has the budget and capability to pull them off if they want to. The final result might not be the most satisfactory ending for Thunderbolt fans as a computer could never capture Hurt's raw human emotion. However, it would still be preferable to seeing Hurt recast entirely.

Given the Character an Honorable Deathmcu replace thunderbolt honorable death Cropped

While killing off a character in any other circumstance is usually tragic for an actor portraying a role, this is the only exception where it might be considered the best-case scenario. Thunderbolt has become a minor role-player in the MCU over the past five years with appearances in Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, and Black Widow, and it's been rumored that Ross may be making an appearance in the upcoming She-Hulk series set to debut later this year on Disney+. In fact, She-Hulk was rumored to debut in June but was replaced by the Ms. Marvel series. Perhaps Marvel knew of Ross's declining condition and decided to do some quick re-shoots for She-Hulk to give Thunderbolt's character an honorable death?

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Even if rumors are wrong and Ross isn't in the She-Hulk series, the MCU still has plenty of other upcoming projects they've already started filming for that Thunderbolt could easily make an appearance in. The MCU has quickly proven that there's no limit to which characters will turn up at any given moment for the remainder of the franchise, so it might be their safest bet to take whatever role they had planned for Ross's next appearance and try to re-shoot it so that he goes out with an honorable, well-deserved, MCU send-off.