AfterCaptain America: Brave New Worldreinvented a wild villain in theMCU, I really hope Marvel Studios brings back one wasted villainous organization from Phase 4 to give them a comic-accurate makeover. 17 years after he made his first appearance in 2008’sThe Incredible Hulk, Tim Blake Nelson reprised the role ofSamuel Sterns inBrave New World. Breaking out of the shadows after transforming Thaddeus Ross into the Red Hulk, Samuel Sterns' Leader was a real threat inBrave New World, and I’d love him to continue to be a danger in the MCU’s future.
Tim Blake Nelson’s Leader is quite different from his Marvel Comics counterpart, though they share many of the same gifts, including an enhanced intellect due to exposure to gamma radiation. Even thoughCaptain America: Brave New Worldended with Samuel Sterns incarcerated in the Raft, alongside the likes of Thaddeus Ross, Baron Zemo, Trish Walker and Willis Stryker, I would still love to see theLeader return in the MCU’s future. I reckon this could complete his transformation into a bona fide villain - not just someone seeking vengeance - which could benefit onevillainous organization from the MCU’s past.
Captain America: Brave New World Could Have Made Intelligencia More Comic-Accurate
Samuel Sterns Was The Leader Of Intelligencia In Marvel Comics
When bringing the Leader back to the MCU 17 years after his debut inThe Incredible Hulk, I wanted Marvel Studios to establish a connection between Samuel Sterns and theIntelligencia from 2022’sShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law. In Phase 4, we saw the Intelligencia introduced as a group comprising misogynists and criminals, founded by Todd Phelps.The group schemed to kill She-Hulk and steal Jennifer Walters' gamma-irradiated blood, hoping to enhance Phelps himself into a new Hulk, HulkKing, believing him to be more worthy of powers than a female hero.
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This was a very different origin story for the Intelligencia to that of their Marvel Comics inspiration, as the Intelligencia from the comics comprisedactualvillains who pulled off many evil feats under the leadership of Samuel Sterns' Leader.I would have loved for Marvel Studios to at least mention a connection between Intelligencia and the Leader inCaptain America: Brave New World, and I was quite surprised this didn’t happen. This could have opened the door for a much more comic-accurateversion of Intelligencia to appear in the MCU.
Marvel Comics' Intelligencia debuted in 2009’sFall of the Hulks: Alpha #1, which brought together six iconic supervillains to form the powerful team. A number of these villains have already appeared in the MCU, but Marvel has still neglected to connect them as a comic-accurate Intelligencia. Instead, the formidable villain group has been made a joke in the MCU, butI think there’s still a chance that, afterCaptain America: Brave New World, the Intelligencia can be redeemed. This could change the shape of the MCU forever and make some of the weirdest villains much more significant.
I Want The Leader & Other MCU Villains To Form A New Intelligencia
Marvel Has Already Introduced Several Possible Intelligencia Members To The MCU
Whether it be connecting these villains to the pre-existing version of Intelligencia fromShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law, or bringing them together to form a new iteration of the villainous group, I’d love to see a comic-accurate Intelligencia debut in the MCU.We’ve already seen two of the original members of Marvel Comics Intelligencia in live-action: the Leader andDarren Cross' MODOK fromAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.Founding member Red Ghost has also been speculated to appear in 2025’sThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, which could strengthen the case for Intelligencia to form.
Ant-Man and the Wasp(2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania(2023)
Possibly John Malkovich
The Fantastic Four: First Steps(2025)
Wizard and Mad Thinker were also featured as foundingmembers of Marvel Comics' Intelligencia, but they haven’t yet appeared in the MCU. However,the comics' Intelligencia team did, at times, include Klaw, Doctor Doom, Egghead and Wizard, all of whom have been introduced in some form in the MCU. This makes me think an Intelligencia team comprised of some of the MCU’s weirdest and most dangerous villains could still appear in live-action, and I think this could have a serious, world-changing impact on the franchise.
Why The Real Intelligencia’s Debut Would Be Great For The MCU
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law’s Intelligencia Was A Disappointment
While I found thatShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law’sversion of Intelligencia was an embarrassment, I think it would be fantastic to see an honest-to-goodness, comic-accurate iteration of Intelligencia debut in the MCU.The Intelligencia is seriously powerful and terrifying in the comics, and has a hand in devising some of the most threatening schemes in Marvel’s history. The group was behindThaddeus Ross' transformation into the Red Hulk, which we have already seen take place in the MCU, while the group also transformed many other Hulk allies into Hulk-like villains, including Betty Ross, Richard Jones and Amadeus Cho.
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She-Hulk: Attorney at Law introduced a new villain group to the MCU, but the Intelligencia has actually been causing trouble since the MCU’s Phase 2.
More recently, the Intelligencia built the Zero Cannon, which led to the demise of the Winter Guard, and the New Intelligencia also formed to try and harness Kid Kaiju’s monster-summoning powers.Introducing these storylines to the MCU would contribute to the franchise’s most cinematic and visually-spectacular moments, which I would love to see, and would help the real Intelligencia to prove itself a serious threat. While I think it’s a shame thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldneglected to connect theLeader and the Intelligencia, the former’s survival means this evolution could still take place, which I’m very excited about.
