Big Brain Time : It's the little things... (MCU Sam Sterns analyzis)

In my small Captain America Brave New World review I said I didn't want to talk about MCU Sam (Sterns) too much because I wanted to keep that for a whole post. You'll soon understand, through the length of this post, why I kept that for later haha. There's a lot of problems with MCU Sam's writing. His screentime and writing were both very and painfully obviously reduced. But it's still here, if you pay a good attention you can see all the care they initially gave to this character. So today that's what we're gonna do, today we're going to analyzis Sam and dig up his potential and the very fascinating and deep care the whole team was initially bringing to him and understand why it was removed.

(beware for obvious heavy spoilers, torture mention and abusive relationship)

PLEASE keep in mind that I only saw the movie twice in theater when I wrote this (one month after my first watch to have time to think it properly) so I might be missing a few things or I might be wrong about quotes.

There's 3 huge things I will talk about here. I could make a different post for each of them but ultimatly they're all connected to the same thing : Sam's humanity.

1) I want to talk about his surounding, his prison, where he spent 16 years of his life

2) I'll talk about his design, his look, his writing

3) I wanna explore his relationship with Ross

So let's dive in :

I - Sam's safe space

First of all, I want to talk about his prison, because it will be the base for everything else. So let's take a look at it :

The first interesting detail is the (first) door they use to keep him caged. It's not like any other cell, this one has a very heavy lock, for obvious reasons.

Camp Echo One reminds me of the Shadow Base he's locked in in Hulkverine. In the first page they explain how no objects are allowed because he could just break free and hurt with everything (and it will be proven because he will kill two guy and break free with a simple piece of paper).

Hulkverine 1 (2019) writing by Greg Pak, pencil by Ario Anindito

That's how dangerous Sam is through his intelligence and that's what this lock represents, of course. (And if you saw the post credit scene, you know understand it's an homage to this very specific and famous comics panel).

But the reason I'm showing this isn't because of such trivial information, it's because of how the lock is shaped. It looks like an eye. It could have a lot of meaning, it could be the Eye of Providence and so representing how Sam sees everything because it's a symbol of truth and knowledge. But it's also largely used in pop culture to represent conspiracy.

Now the third meaning I wanna talk about is the eye of Horus. Long story short Horus (a Falcon God, I'm mentionning it for obvious purpose) lost his left eye to Seth, it was restored, giving this very famous eye that is meant to protect from curses. That's the 3rd meaning, a protection against Sam, immediatly framing him as a devil entity. Now keep all these meaning in mind and let's take a quick look at Sam (we will go back to his design later) :

His left eye is blind. Of course it's an homage to McFarlane's design in which both his eyes are white (like I said we'll go back to that later) but to me it's also a physical representation of the price he paid for knowledge. Like Horus, his eye was teared away. But the difference is it wasn't return and in exchange he got knowledge. So, kind of a mix of all these mythes.

But keep Horus in mind, again, for later. Let's go back to his prison for now.

It's different from the one we quickly see.

It's an open cell with nothing but a bench (a very uncomfortable bed) and a light, similar to the ones in his own cell. It's also visibly small. It's hard to say if it's the only other cell with Sam's or if there's several like this one, it was probably used to show that there's nobody but Sam here but also how "special" of a prisoner he is. Was Camp Echo One build just for him or was it always here, hosting more prisoners but eventually it was emptied for Sam, to keep him a secret and maybe to avoid having him use the other prisoners? It's hard to say but given the appearence I would say it's older than him and they rehabilited it for him.

I personally think he ended up in this kind of small empty cell and then got his bigger one, thus Ross saying he did a lot of things for him. I also strongly believe Camp Echo One was meant to be way more important and a longer segment because of the INSANE (in a positive way) amount of care they brought to every single details. It's proven through trailers that they remove a few shots from that moment and I wouldn't be surprised is it was supposed to be way longer.

Sam's cell has 3 "rooms" :

So you have the lab, the "computer room" and the "bedroom".

The lab is visually very hostil, from the red lights (reprenting both danger and also hinting at Red Hulk I supposed), the lack of natural light to the tools hanging everywhere and of course the torture beds and chair.

Especially the chair, in fact, in most shot it gets your attention :

Here because it's under a different opposite color (cold blue)

Here of course, through Joaquin's stare and how it's in the center of the shot. Of course you have the moment Sam sit on it and make it obvious that it was the chair he was tied to while Ross injected him more gamma (probably through the cloned Bruce blood). In fact when Sam talks about his mutation you have an injection bag showing up (I'd suggest to click each pictures to properly see them, as they're very dark since the movie isn't officially out yet, making it difficult to properly see unless you click) which is an obvious enough hint at how it happened (through injections).

The chair is visibly painful. The marks on it make you think about rust and so cold, rough (in a violent way) and of course unsafe (rust being often see has "dirty" or abandonned things) and painful. It also looks like a liquid dripped on it and you will inconsciously think about blood. This chair alone is enough to guess and understand the kind of pain and torture Sam went through, you have these visible metal handcuff to hold Sam still but also this kind of buckle (on this right, near Sam's left shoulder) probably used to add a strap and to tie him in harder. Given the lot of way they had to hold Sam still, you can only imagine how painful it was and how violently his body reacted to these.

But let's make it worst. Remember in Incredible Hulk when Sam kind of "awaken" the gamma in Bruce? He uses an electric choc. This chair was clearly designed after electric chairs, if anything the metal thing near his head is enough to have you do the connexion without even having to think about it. It's a modern electric chair.

Again, keep that eletric choc in mind, we'll go back to that later (I know, I know, but I'm trying to keep this post slightly organized lol).

There's also these torture bed that I assumed were for his own victims but now that we know he mind controlled people through light and at distance it's hard to tell. It could either be for his victims or for himself. After all Ross' goal was to create more gamma irradiated, he has one he can study, so maybe the torture didn't stop to these gamma injections and the isolation.

You then have two rooms. A room with computers and shit, the "tech" part of his lab kindan the place where he works and study. I don't have much to say 'cause it's just a bunch of computer shit and what seems to be Ross' pills, it's probobably where he was making them, there's nothing very relevant to say because it was kind of cut off but initially you had this "RESET AMERICA RESET ROSS" message also, so I guess it was supposed to be a more important room with more details but we can only speculate.

The most interesting one is the second room. It's a "bedroom", his very personal space.

First of all, it's the only room with no red light and the only one with "normal" kind of lights.

There's A LOT to say about this shot alone so let me break this down for you

(I wrote sink but the more I look at it, the more I think it might be a toilet, it's one or the other and the difference isn't very important, it's a common prison thing, it's not related to Sam) Now before I overly analyze this and find meaning in everything let's just repost this picture from Incredible Hulk of Sam's work space, also divided in 3 part. His very messy desk, which basically looks like my bedroom with piece of works everywhere, it's a mess of things he loves. Science, books, plants, with a very specific kinda academia aesthetic. It's the reflect of his mind, a metaphor for his overly cluttered and very messy, quick and "loud" mind (he's ADHD and yes it will be important for later, AGAIN). But as messy as it is, it's laso full of light and somewhat "bothering but comforting", like him.

Then you have the room where he injects Bruce with the antidode, Blonsky with Bruce's blood and where he gets gamma poisonned too :

You can see that the place they were talking is right behind Bruce and Betty because of the two lamps.

And then the place he stores Bruce's blood.

That's what you need to understand. His prison is build like his favorite place.

It's the same aesthetic as his bedroom for his main place, same as his computer room for anything computer and same as the lab for the lab. But in a way darker and gloomy way.

Basically Sam tried to rebuilt his comfort zone in his prison (tried is the important part of this sentence lol). Which is only natural, of course, he tried to make his space as "acceptable" as possible for his own mental health (which is of course still not acceptable, thus the reason he became the person he is now). But it's a good way to show how Sam clings to his past life and to himself. Trying to bring everything he loves to keep them near him, to keep his humanity near him, to keep his sanity and most importantly to keep his HOPE.

Look at all the details in his bedroom. A rug so the ground is less cold. A fan near his bed which is covered with a few blankets and a few pillows, hinting at how uncomfortable Summer and Winter must be. I think there's also a mug near the bed, it's hard to see tbh. You have the whole tea set of course, a shit tons of books, busts (I assume from philosophes), all his certificates (there's a lot, damn), calm landscape paintings, plants.

The lamps and furnitures aren't exactly the same as the one he had in his workspace, I guess it's because they couldn't 100% reproduce every single prompt from his Incredible Hulk lab (and it makes sense, in the way that Ross probably couldn't bring everything back since he probably started building his place after years of emprisonnement already) but it's the same aesthethic. Except for the chair, the chair is the same :

All these details are just Sam, I mean the Sam he used to be, trying to stay the man he was.

But more than that, it's all very relaxing. Relaxing painting, books, tea. He just wanted to try to feel at home. And all these details become instantly incredibly sad in this context. Specifically the remains of his scientist career, which is what he loved the most and what led him here. His passion for science is what led him here, but he kept it and if you're as passionate as him (or me) you understand how this is the fuel that keeps him alive.

But the most heartbreaking part for me is the flowers he's cultivating. If you look very closely the very specific shape and bright red color will remind you of anthuriums. Of course I might be wrong, it's a very blurry detail on a few second shot, but let's pretend I'm right here.

Anthuriums are known for being a very good natural air purificator but also and mostly because of how they symbolize hospitality. It's said they are able to bring happiness, that's why they're very often used in work space and living room, to brighten the place and make it comfortable but also welcoming. So basically it's a plant you put in a room to make it comfy and joyful.

Sam being Sam he probably cultivated them for their very pragmatic purpose (I'm pretty sure the quality of air isn't TIP TOP given the huge somewhat worn out fans everywhere) but also their symbols. And again, you have this very sad clue of how Sam tried to find comfort and cling to hope and his joyful personality.

Sam seems to be into plants, in fact, from these anthurium to the one on his desk (with the trunk base), the tea set and this whole plant space in his previous life behind Betty and Bruce :

And also, of course, how the first time you "see" (or rather read) him in the MCU is when Bruce experiment with a flower that he told him to get. Seems like plants are one of Sam's speciality and I would love if it's used against if they bring him back. It matches him, I can easily see him create poisons and shit through them. It makes so much sense to the Leader that I always had this headcanon of Sam loving flowers and using them in both his work but also personal life. That's how I developped my habit to sneak flowers in most of my big composition in fact lol because I enjoyed drawing him with flowers and slowly I just started adding them everywhere.

Another sad detail is his "personal" computer background :

It's the college were he apparently studied given the certificate but most important the place where he worked as a teacher (where Bruce and Betty meet him, also). His computer is full of video of his classes.

That's what Sam misses the most, that's what his passion was about. Learning and teaching. It would be a mistake to think his love is just about science. What he loves is learning about it and teaching about it. When you think about it, it's the rawest form of passion, the desire for more but also the desire to share about it.

It's been 16 years but he still keep this background. Everything is about Sam's regrets, when Sam Wilson open a video of him teaching about brain, to serve the story of course, Sam himself says "wasn't half bad looking was I", which is enough to have you understand how he also hates his look.

This Sam's tastes are totally opposing his comics self who'd rather spend his time in very modern places full of technology, while MCU Sam is more "old-fashioned" in that matter. Which I see as the symbol of his humanity.

If he ever comes back in the MCU as a full Leader, it would be interesting to have him go full modern and technology as well to properly mark this final step in his monster path, the final proof that he's no longer human, him totally letting go of his humanity by letting go of these artefacts of his past and these comforting symbols and drastically changing his own tastes. While still keeping a thing or two, because that's the thing with the Leader. No matter how hard he tries to pretend he let go of his humanity, he's still very human and very attached to it. He's Bruce's parallel and so, just like him, he suffers an inner conflict.

Incredible Hulk vol.2 31 (2001) writting by Paul Jenkins & Sean McKeever

This prison "bedroom" is a metaphor of his mind and his evolution into the Leader. The room itself represent all the pain and abuses and tortures he go through, he covers them with everything he likes from his past life, as a way to cling to himself, to his life, to his hope and as I said to his humanity. He kind of reclaim his "living" space by decorating it to his image to try to cover the pain and the hurt. Which is very like him 'cause he was such a positive person before that it's not really that surprising.

Now the last detail I didn't mention nor pointed at in screenshots on purpose are the pictures of his victims. He could have put them in his computer room or the lab, it's where he works after all, where he studied them. So why is it in the room.

Well, conveniantly to have Sam Wilson looks at it, but I also think it's a way to represent Sam losing his humanity. He covered his prison with everything he loved, everything comfortable to him, it's kind of the physical representation of his mind trying to cover the pain with everything he loves and now he's covering this hope and humanity, this comfortable place looking so much like him, with his victims. His nefarious pursue of vengeance is invading his mind, erasing his humanity, basically. And his prison is a physical representation of that. See it as an "inner place" rather than his living place. It's a cold dark prison not just because it's a prison but because that's what Sam is now, trapped in his own mind, trapped in his traumas, trapped in the pain. Sam can leave his prison now, you see it as the beginning of the movie, you see it during his first confrontation with Captain America and while it was changed you could see it in the first version of the movie when he spies on Isaiah, Falcon and Captain America. He was able to leave months ago but he stays. Because it's not just the prison that emprison him, it's his broken mind. His ressent and rage prevent him from leaving and reaching freedom, that's what it means.

But his humanity is still very visible, it's only the beginning, these pictures of his victims barely started invading this space. Keep that in mind. In this movie he's not the Leader yet, he's at the very beginning of his final transformation into.

II - Sam's design

Of course this humanity loss is also very visible through his whole design. That's why changing it was the right call. "Gngngn it's not comics accurate" to WHAT? To that one picture you saw on Google? Sam has a lot of designs, each more grotesque and gruesome than the others.

Their only mistake was to make Sam's head a bit too small AND YET, even that can make sense according to his future. His Leader name was never dropped, his orange color was removed, his head is smaller, his blood is still visibly red AND you have this whole room existing to show what's left of Sam's humanity. Right now he's not the Leader, not yet. He was obviously meant to be in the first version, you have "LEADER" slapped in all his first version merch but like I said he was never ever called that way in the movie. And when you know how Marvel Studios enjoy throwing fanservice through namedropping it's just very ODD to not have him be called the Leader even once. There were so many occasion but they didn't. Now Marvel could very well bring him back and complet his transformation or just put him in the shelf forever because they're insatisfied with Cap 4 results, it's up to them but the door is open and I strongly believe it's open on purpose. I do believe they're keeping Sam for something else (hopefully a Hulk project) and this movie was a necessary sacrifice to introduce him, Red Hulk, Joaquin as the Falcon and establish Sam Wilson as Captain America for people who don't watch Disney + shows before Avengers Doomsday/Secret Wars and before Marvel move to the next saga. And having them change Sam's design last minute like they did, with all the loss of money and controverses it implies, instead of just sacrificing him in the movie like they did for other characters before him have me wonder if the goal here is to re-use him. Thus making him so incomplet. It's hard to say because so many things changed between the start of Cap 4 production and now so maybe they did have projects for him initially and maybe we'll never get to see them because Cap 4 results didn't satisfy them. We'll never know unless he's back one day.

So back to Sam's design. Worth noticing when Sam Wilson is here, he cut the lights, sure it was a way to give an horror vibe to this whole scene, but remember he hates his appearence. I mentionned this a few months ago and to me that's the road they took :

He does reminds me of the phantom of the opera. I would love it if they explore that if they bring him back. This Phantom of the Opera vibe is reinforced by his mind control, using someone else to express himself. That's what he does in comics after all, sending LMD or mind controlled people or people he manipulated to consently do his stuff to avoid showing himself the way Eric uses Christine's voice to express himself.

Another interesting point with him cutting off the light is how he showed himself only when he started mentionning what he went through to Captain America and so, through Cap, to us. That's when he becomes more than a monster, that's when you see that he's a human and most importantly a victim and not just that threat hidding in the shadow. Though I think they should have kept playing with Sam hidding in the dark, he was less interesting once he was fully showing himself. That's why I also like these moment when he has a hat and a hood. It's a way to avoid CGI his head (details on his head are CGI) but it also adds a lot to his need to hide himself from people and to stay in the dark. It's a good exemple of good design, it makes sense storywise but it also serves an IRL purpose.

Since we're at it, let's talk outfit. A few days ago, this picture was posted from one of the person who worked on design (I don't have their name, someone send me these pic and I couldn't find the source).

It's the coat and shoes that were visible in some of the trailers scenes we never got so apparently they filmed a whole movie with this design (ok but as a French who's OBSESS with Sam Sterns having an Alain Delon Sam is way too funny, sorry, I can't just not laugh at this idea, it's awfully dumb and out of character, I'm sorry but there's no reality where it could have worked properly).

What's interesting to me in that first look is that it was kind of similar to Bruce in Avengers (like having their signature color on their shirt). It has me wonder if it's a coincidence or if they already wanted to slowly introduce a parallel between them.

Changing his whole design was annoying and had them cut off a huge part of Sam's writing because it would have been too complicated and expensive to recreate all his scene but it's better. It was too casual and too simple to match the horror he went through, the abuses he personalizes. It was important to have him look "dehumanized" because that's what his tortures were about. Dehumanizing him, turning him into an emotionless thinking tank. And that first design was just some guy with a big head and a slightly green skin. It's boring.

"They should have kept the orange!!" I get why you would say that, my fan heart also wished to see orange and while I understand why they didn't use it in the cell (because it's TOO FUCKING FLASHY he needed to stay in the shadow and so wearing dark) he could have worn it afterward, when he killed Sam Wilson's friend or when he gave himself in, yes.

But I think having him wear black (or very dark blue) is better to avoid clashing with the blue used to represent him and also to have him stay a shadow and this kinda Death metaphor they clearly wanted to give him, given this specific removed scene:

The way he walks, the long coat, the corpses on the ground and the huge empty white emaculate lightful room is obvious enough, I don't need to make a whole thesis on that lol.

He's not a human anymore, only the shadow of who he was. In a design pov this is the right call. But I'm still bitter, in the way that the MCU tends to pull insanely cool outfits and I really wanted to see his famous orange jumpsuit in a MCU version, it's gonna be my little regret, even if it made sense.

His design is still very similar to a few horror freaky ones we got in his comics, as I said the only difference is the head being a bit too small. The lack of facial hair isn't a problem, especially if he's still inspired by Jones' run like the first Incredible Hulk movie was. This is where the name Mister Blue comes from, after all.

In this run, Sam lost his body and all his face, except for the lower part. So he's just a floating brain with eyes, a nose and lips. Before Bruce and co found out it was Sam, they would call him "lips" because that's the only thing he was showing and he doesn't have mustaches or beard (in Immortal Hulk he also have a few design without it). I saw someone saying "the Leader was never represented without a mustache or a beards" and I already proved them wrong with 3 different runs LOL (could also name Jenkins') such "superior" comics readers they are...

I'm mentionning it because this specific shot reminds me a lot of how we saw him during the whole run before it was revealed to be this Mother Brain nightmare shit, same color code (blue-ish) even :

To me Jones' run also impacted his MCU design. Not just David/McFarlane's and this Mister Blue name is enough to prove it.

Sam standing in the dark with a part of his face or the whole face hidden and his eyes visibly glowing is also a common thing used in comics that I love A LOT, I'm so happy they did that in the MCU, it's honestly the only thing I would care about but the only thing I didn't think they would ever do 'cause Hulk's eyes doesn't glow that much anymore, unlike his eyes in Incredible Hulk.

But that's the thing with this movie, it's an homage to the Incredible Hulk movie (for the best and the worst given it's a Captain America movie). There's a lot of stuff from the IH movie, even when Sam Wilson tries to attack Sam, he stops him with the sound attack Ross used on Hulk in Incredible Hulk before he beat the shit out of Blonsky. And that's an interesting detail because this and the samples of Bruce's blood visible is in cell (and of course how he turned Ross into a Hulk specifically) shows that Sam also probably spent a lot of time studying Bruce. And if they ever bring him back, it can be very convenient.

Lots of people say the movie made Tim looks even smaller and yes? Tim is kind of small (not that small tbh, 1m65, I know because I was looking at the height difference between him and Mark Ruffalo for, huh, science). Sam is, whith his gamma head, 1m76 so you remove at least 15cm to have his accurate normal height and you see he's actually small. Smaller than Tim in fact. He's also very puny and it was also very visible in the movie, he had "too big" clothes, making him look so thin and small. It makes Sam looks very fragile and weak. Which is the purpose, big brain, no muscles, y'know. The wildest comment I saw about MCU Sam design is how he's supposed to be "a giant" and I'll be of good faith and believe it's because you only know him through his McFarlane era or the weirdass transformation he goes through in Immortal Hulk but you gotta understand Sam is very small. This is the whole point. That's why he needs Hulk, to compensate for his small and weak body. Comics Sam and MCU Sam are different in their origin and motivations, basically comics Sam had nothing so he saw his mutation as a salvation. MCU Sam had everything so he sees it as a curse and it's an incredibly interesting approachl, it's nice having a version of Sam exploring his desire for normality and giving us a Leader who actually shows how he hates being one.

I often wondered how they would make him interesting and respectful but also tragic without Hulk/Bruce or his abused path. Sam is a character full of ressent and bitterness, a rage born of abuses in comics so it was the direction to take, his rage. And he went through 16 years of daily phisical and psychological tortures, so yeah, he's full of rage. They did a very good job to bring his ressent, his anger, making us feel empathy for him even and kinda wanting for him to get his revenge. He's incredibly respectful to what Sam is about (hate) and to what he craves the most (love and acceptance). Like I explained above, he was a passionate and respected teacher and biologist. That's what he misses the most, teaching, for all these reasons. Because as a teacher he's able to share his passions, because as a teacher he can be loved and respected. I often praise MCU Sam for his very bright heartwarming personality, but he still craves recognition. In Bruce and Hulk he saw a chance to make history and that's how he burnt himself, like Icarus, out of ambition and pride he ignored his own limits and burnt his wings.

MCU Sam is ambitious, he's about hate and his desire for love and recognition and in that he's an absolutly comic accurate Sam.

I love how comics Sam's insecurities and self-hatred translated through the way he hates his appearence in the MCU, it was a good way to do something respectful to the OG material while still being refreshing and making sense to the MCU lore.

Unfortunatly, Sam didn't get a lot of lines (or rather a lot of lines were removed/censored) but he got a few very Leader-ish ones. Near the end when he meets Sam Wilson one last time and tells him "you ruined my grand final so now I'm forced to turn myself in" and he sounds incredibly annoyed but in a very childish way. It really reminded me of that moment in Incredible Hulk 345 :

Incredible Hulk 345 (1988) writing by Peter David, pencil by Todd McFarlane

It's not the only moment I went "typical Sam", in fact I had this smile everytime he showed up to say something. It even destabilized me a few time because they mentionned things that aren't that obvious in comics (to my own displeasure) which have me think they understood him so well. Tim too, through his interviews, had a very good understanding of him. It makes me sad to think it might be over forever now because he has so much potential that I want them to explore, but it is what it is. Actors aren't as immortal as their characters. Let's talk about his face since it's the biggest controverse :

As I said already it's visibly PAINFUL. His brainish head looks like a mix of brain matter and these blisters you get when you have a very bad burn and now is the time to remember the electric chair, electricity BURNS. It's mostly present in the right side of his face, destroying his ear, invading his neck and if you now how brain works, you know in most case numeration is made through the right lobe, probably a coindence but I like that it matches this idea considering his obsession with pourcents. So it has me think (but it's pure headcanon and speculation here, not a fact) that he was injected through the right arm thus the "burn" and brain invasion being more present here. Tim Blake Nelson compared Sam to Icarus, saying that he flew too close to the Sun (understand by this his passion for science and his need to push the limits as far as possible) and burnt himself. He was talking about his mutation and how he kinda did it to himself but I'll go deeper and say his mutation does look like he was burnt. I would personally compared Sam to Lucifer. A Fallen angel who damned himself through his pursuit of knowledge seems very Lucifer-ious to me (comics Sam is also very Lucifer-ious). And while Bruce's Devil alter isn't a thing in the MCU, I like that he was kind of his "apple".

A lil' touch that I like a lot also are his very blue-ish dark circles, it reminds of his Trimpe/Buscema era (though his dark circles were more yellow, not blue/purple) it also reminds me of Tales to Astonish and to me his MCU design is a mix of both McFarlane and Tales to Astonish.

Tales to Astonish 63 (1963) writing by Stan Lee, art by Carl Burgos

But most importantly, his very yellow-ish green skin and blue dark circles reminds me of my own arts and designs and there's nothing nicer, as an artist, to have your headcanons being validated in canon, it means you know your character so well that you write the path before it even exists haha (what? It's also a post about what I loved about this Sam after all).

There's a lot of still very reddish part on his head, as if it was still bleeding under the skin and so is either recent or still "moving/evolving". He has a lot of blue and red around the eyes and the nose, the red in his eyes, ear and nose (especially left part of his face) have me think that he probably had blood leaks from here a few time, which highly remind me of his Thunderbolts era (the way he dresses with a hood on is also similar).

Thunderbolts vol.2 11 (2013) writing by Daniel Way, pencil by Phil Noto

His nose often bled when he was thinking too much. But it also have him look like he was beaten up, which probably happened a lot. But also like someone sick. That's why his grotesque design is amazing. "he looks awful", yes! Exactly, that's the point. It's not only comics accurate, unlike what social medias ghouls say it is, it also perfectly serves the plot. Even without him talking about his torture, you understand it, because he's painful to look at, because you can only imagine the pain he went through by looking at his revulsive face. And I'm glad Marvel didn't pull a dumbass joke during his reveal, just a surprise on people's face (especially Joaquin) and a "damn". Marvel treated his mutation as a real curse and not as a funny haha joke. I liked that a lot, they were respectful to him and it was important for the empathy we would feel for him to keep it serious and to not joke about it to lighten the mood. You have to look at him and think "damn" and understand his anger.

When Captain is looking for information about Sam, you have Giancarlo's character saying "what a gruesome lad" or something like that and Captain going "I saw worst" and I liked that. In that moment I was hopping maybe Captain would try to understand him but y'know.

That's also a thing we need to quickly mention here, Sam CANNOT revert back. In comics he can, he avoids doing it but he can go back to his human self, like She-Hulk, like Ross, like Bruce. But in the MCU he's the only one who can't. I mean, it wasn't said but it's kind of obvious, that's why he can't go back to his previous life. His mutation is different and probably way more painful than any other gamma folk. It looks like what an irradiation and poisonning would actually look like. He looks like a sick person near the end of their life.

Remember the Death Metaphor I mentionned above? Well, look at the light and makeup on this shot, his face looks like a skull.

Tim Blake Nelson has a very atypical face, it's one of his biggest strength because depending on the way he moves, talks and acts he can either be cute, in an innocent way, if that makes sense (like Delmar in O'Brother or like Sam in Incredible Hulk) or he can looks just so tired, like, the weight of his character's life is visible on his face (like Henry in Old Henry or Sam here in Brave New World). And it makes Sam's transformation even more obvious and tragic because he went from one to another. Tim is a wonderful actor, there's a reason he became my favorite actor every and his career became a very comforting thought to me, similar to a kid's blanky. And the reason isn't Sam, as surprising as it is. I'll go back to that another time but basically it's his skill as an actor and the way he can just go from a very light funny character to the coldest old man. It looks so easy when he does because it's just so natural. I'm super happy he accepted to reprise his role, as chaotic as Incredible Hulk was (and I guess Cap 4 wasn't any better for him, sadly), he's just perfect as Sam. Tim Blake Nelson's acting not only gave him a very empathic side, it also gave him a very cool badass aura through his lack of emotion (and I'm not sure you understand how hard it is to represent an emotionless characters, because they're often the most emotional and emotive ones).

He had the perfect balance between Sam's tantrums and annoyance and the cold calculator computer mind Ross turned him into. It made him very tragic but also very threatening. You can ear Sam's rage and ressent through Tim Blake Nelson's voice alone.

His entrance was very cool. The way he just stood in the dark and lurked in it for a while before showing himself was very horror coded and I crave that. I don't know if it was meant to be this way but it really was horror game coded when you think of it. Sam (Wilson) look at a file that brings lore, he turns around and there's some creepy-ass shadow standing in front of the door, it reminds me of a lot of horror game I played lol. The horror wasn't only in his look but in the way he was staged. And yes, it's important because Hulk characters were all meant to be horror character and so does Sam. His very first reveal in Tales to Astonish was meant to be kinda gross. I wish they played longer with that but I'm glad they did that anyway. I really wonder what they had planned for him in early draft, 'cause it's kinda obvious he was meant to be absolutly horrifying and gruesome.

Ok quick reminder for people who haven't seen Incredible Hulk, that's Sam when he was normal :

Even when he's not as excited as he is in that moment he tends to move a lot, to talk a lot, to have quick movement and gestures, he can't just stay still. It makes sense because like I said earlier, MCU Sam is ADHD (it's time to remember that), thus the messy lab, thus the obsessive behaviors etc...

(This book is MCU canon and it was written by Peter David, the guy who introduced mental illness and neuroatypies to the Hulk lore, important side note).

And yeah, hummingbird (on crack) is a good way to describe him. His movements are so quick and kind of "lightweighted" so you picture this very small bird and his wings flapping incredibly fucking fast and all. (The bird allegory is convenient also in that Cap 4 context).

In Incredible Hulk that's how he looks like. Overly excited, overly expressive (through his face, his words and his movements), full of energy. That's why I often call him a sunshine, because that's his energy. He's as warm as the Sun.

But in Brave New World? He's TIRED. Zero energy. No expression, no movement. In fact everytime he moves he seems so slow, so heavy as if every movement was a burden. Just like it was physically visible that he had a great time doing science, feeling alive, it's physically visible that he doesn't live anymore. He's broken, not only mentally but also physically.

When in IH he was mostly showing enthousiasm, passion and happiness, the only emotion you'll see on him in BNW is rage. The only emotion you hear in this emotionless voice is anger and annoyance, the only time he shows emotion it's when he violently shakes out of anger and screams (PEAK Sam btw, Sam losing his shit is typical Sam behavior in every fucking piece of media he's in, it's kind of his trading mark at this point).

Otherwise he's just so cold, so slow, totally opposing what he used to be.

Even when he walks it's still slow.

And to me that's the most painful and threatening part about him but also the best, that's why his ADHD is important in this context. His change of attitude is the most obvious representation of the pain he went through. That's the tragedy, how even the happiest most passionate ADHD person can break and turn into this vengeful cold shadow. After all, blue is the coldest color.

I know it's just a fiction but do you ever think of what 16 years cut off from humanity and the outside does to the mind? Because I do, I had a glimpse of it and I can tell you that even through a small glimpse I lost my own light so imagine actually living it. Imagine living it through a cold disgusting uncomfortable dark cell. With no notion of time, cut off of humanity, with not a soul to talk to.

He barely moves, his arms are often against his body, unlike his past self who was talking a lot through his body with A LOT of hand gestures. The only moment you see him move his hands (other than in a practical way to use something) is during his introduction to Sam Wilson, when he says "yet here you stand" he raised his hand in annoyance. So again, his hands are used to show the only emotions he can express. Anger and annoyance.

But otherwise notice how his arms are motionless against his body.

Unrelated but I posted this a few months prior to the movie (October) and it's still super funny to me but it's also a good way to understand why of all Sam, MCU Sam is the one I identify to the most :

BUT ANYWAY, people criticized his lack of emotion and movement through that post credit scene that leaked day one before even watching the movie because HEY it brings clouts, but it's the best part of his character to me. His total lack of emotion. Going from a very goofy energy ball to a cold homocidal, nothing more explicite than that to show how someone suffers. His pain is very obvious, at least to me. He doesn't need to describe the tortures he went through (which, I think, was the idea earlier in this project, leaking it instead of having him leak his conversation with Ross). Because it's just obvious through the way he talks and move (and look, of course). Wherever there's a light, there is a shadow and Sam is now nothing but the shadow of the bright light his past projects.

Maybe it's that obvious for me because I project a lot and one day I'll make a post about how this MCU Sam is the a very good allegory for disabilities through his self disgust and how he was abused by the State (Ross being a literal representation of a Gov) but also for ableism and how all of that can break you forever.

But it's not about that so let's go back to our matter.

Sam feels no satisfaction in hurting unless it's very personal, like his comics self.

In BNW he barely smiles, at the very end, letting an incredibly creepy smile to "mock" Sam Wilson, not a genuine smile, a forced evil creepy smile. Similar to the one he did at the end of Incredible Hulk in fact. It gave him this very McFarlane creepy aura. But it wasn't satisfaction, it was horror. I think he smirks when he's on the phone with Captain America also but that's pretty much it.

Comics Sam is pragmatic, even in the way he kills, so he will avoid innocents if that's possible. Not out of benevolance (though I do believe his kind human heart still beat inside of him and influence this kind of decision) but like I said out of pragmatism. Everything he does makes sense, there's no "wasting".

The same applies to MCU Sam.

Look at the people he killed. US soldiers. He even said "I take no pleasure in your death" because that's not the point, the point isn't pleasure. It's pragmatism. He kills because he has to for his own plan.

Oh I hear you "but Lirhya, what about these innocent people he killed in their own house!!!!"

Let's take a look at their house :

A big house with a pool (not visible on this shot but clearly visible when Sam is on the phone) and the US flag.

It was your typical wealthy patriote family, the representation of the broken and corrupted "American Way" he's fighting. It's less obvious because they removed the whole "anti-US" part of Sam's writing but it makes sense when you remember he's supposed to be, they're not "innocents" to him, they're part of the problem so it's an acceptable sacrifice too.

Even in his collateral damages he punishes people who are guilty of supporting the system he's fighting.

Even if they tried to remove that part of him, it's still here. Sam is still that vengeful anarchist who tries to break an unfair system and the people profiting off of the weak.

He reminds of MCU Zemo in that way (and a lot of others). He was probably heavily inspired by him as well, which makes me even sadder given how well Zemo's sense of justice was written.

I'm sad and angry they removed all these cool anti US sentences from Sam we could ear in trailers. Not even for myself, because I'm used to have underused Sam and to have to explain the intentions and shit myself (I can never get the good things but what can I say) and to be cursed and screwed over and to jinx my fav things and people through my own existence apparently lol, but I'm upset for Tim Blake Nelson himself.

I have a parasocial relationship with him, in the way that he makes me happy in very difficult moment of my life even if I don't know him, y'know. It's not that kind of parasocial relationship where you create a whole-ass relationship in your head, he makes me happy so I genuinely care about his feelings, in a grateful way I guess, but also maybe a selfish one because as long as he's happy with his work I know I'll have happiness too. This kind of parasocial relationship.

And he was just SO HAPPY about Sam's dialogues that I can't help but think it might have been painful for him to see everything they removed and this idea annoys me, the idea that Tim is disappointed in what Disney did to Sam.

And I'll tell you what my guess is. My guess is they changed Sam twice. First time because of the design change, second time before of the current US climat. Because Sam is, in a lot of ways, similar to Luigi Mangione. So really, I wouldn't be surprised if this second Sam censored. That's why he throw a "I'm the hero" nonesense out of nowhere. Because that's what he was trying to be, a hero saving people from the system the same Luigi Mangione became one for killing a direct representent of that unfair system. Maybe that's what Sam was trying to achieve, becoming a symbol. And it would have made his clash with Sam Wilson way more interesting given that's what he's about. It would have give them a real duality. Because that's one of the biggest issue with MCU Sam, his relationship with Captain America is inexistent and a good villain lives through the hero. He barely challenged him because Disney decided to protect they poor bigoted ultra rich investors who feel so threatened right now and because they thought Red Hulk would be easier to sell.

And I love this movie, alright, I love it. But just because you love something doesn't mean you shouldn't point at its flaws, especially when it's basically about not hurting the feelings of ultra rich folks who made their money by killing people by having a MCU version of their current biggest fear. It's this movie biggest flaws, how fucking visible Disney's investors influence is. From Sabra (it's fucking obvious Israel paid Disney to have their own hero for propaganda purpose, the way it happened soon after we got a Palestinian hero makes it even more disgusting), she's not here to make a political statement. Hell, Disney didn't even have the balls to make nazi characters actual nazi in the MCU (Zemo, Red Skull even, he's openly mocking hitler and nazism a few time), you think they'll make a statement about Israel? No, it's all about money. It's all about capitalism and capitalism is controlled by supremacism, it's that simple. And that's what this movie suffers, capitalism. To avoid hurting trumpists' snowflake ass (as if they were planning to support a black lead actor anyway LOL) they removed Ross' obvious death, they removed anything political, they removed anything that made this movie something more personal and so more powerful to make it as fucking blend as possible to try to sell to a public who would never ever fucking support a black Captain America. And as much as I love this movie and MCU Sam, FUCK, how FRUSTRATED I am at what could have been. This whole post is infuriating, seeing all the good ideas the team had, seeing Tim's work to give a life to Sam and seeing how all that got removed. We all deserved better. Fans deserved better, the team deserved better, Tim deserved better, Sam deserved better and for what? FOR WHAT? Because in the end this movie was a failure and will go down as one of the worst MCU movie for the annoying weak-ass "anti woke" crowd who would have loudly hate on it no matter what, but also by the fans Marvel Studios let down the moment they bended the knee to please the trump administration. Of course it wasn't nearly as bad as people pretend it is, it was ok. Not great, not bad. A lot of people absolutly loved it but when you love it as much as I do it's just upsetting. And trust me, it will forever stay one of my favorite movie ever, because my personal experience with this movie is more important than a so-called artistical objectivity (as if Art could be objective) which is just an excuse to use any media as a way to fill a superiority complex. That's why it makes me sad to see so much wasted potential. It won't prevent me from loving it but loving it shouldn't prevent me for pointing out these issues either and pretend there's no problem with this movie. That's what objectivity in Art should be about, pointing out issues and flaws about things you love without having it preventing you from loving it. Pointing out at positive parts in things that didn't personally touched you either. I will blame Disney for every shitty decisions they took with this movie but it won't prevent me for loving everybody else's work.

But let's go back to our Sam analyzis. I recently saw a comment of someone saying they hated lads like Sam who punish everyone over that one guy who hurt them and it was a fascinating comment because yes, that's kind of what he looks like now.

But with all these details in mind and this obvious shot on the US flag on this house, it's more understandable (at least for the insane obsessive nerd I am) that he wasn't punishing everyone but only people who were guilty of supporting an unfair and murderous system that only profite the rich and powerful.

And it's odd to me that Sam Wilson will forgive Bucky or fucking Ross and even kind of forgiving Zemo (not totally, but still) but not Sam Sterns. He went to him for what in that post credit scene? To tell him to go fuck himself? But that's my problem with this whole movie, Sam Wilson complying to everything Ross, so the embodiment of US Gov, wanted him to do while punishing the direct victim of this system, hating him, rejecting him. Sam Wilson had so much empathy for the fucker who had his own interests before justice and before people, for the guy WHO WAS FUCKING READY TO START WORLD WAR III INSTEAD OF SAYING "yeah I fucking up with Sam Sterns", the guy who hurt his friends but, again, most importantly THE PHYSICAL EMBODIMENT OF THE GOVERNEMENT AND UNFAIR CAPITALIST SYSTEM in a fucking trumpist era and so much hatred and disdain for the victim who tried to change that system. Not even once did he tried to understand Sam, to reasonate him like he does with everyone else and YET, the way Sam Wilson tries to argue with people and see the best in them before fighting them is mentionned and USED in the movie. And I'm not saying because I love Sam. I'm saying this because YOU MAKE A BLACK ICON FORGIVING A WHITE SYSTEM AND PUNISHING ITS VICTIMS INSTEAD OF SHOWING COMPASSION TO THEM GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! Ross ended up in prison but still had compassion, it wasn't impossible to punish Sam for his transgressions while still showing compassion to him or to fucking question the established order through him the way T'Challah did through Killmonger and changed things. But noooooooo, let's have fucking Sam Wilson totally following the fucking US President's will even after he's gone, now that's a great idea! COME ON!! Even Steve Rogers questionned it! Fucking disgusting complying cowards...

ALRIGHT, enough salt, let's go back to our initial matter, Sam.

It's easier to have empathy and pity for MCU Sam than his comics counterpart (and yet, he's also tragic in his own way, like, he was abused by his parents and bullied by pretty much everyone else so) because his past life is VISIBLE, even if you haven't seen Incredible Hulk you can't miss it, who he was, because even if you don't analyze everything you saw, you still saw it and inconsciously you learnt so much about his past life through all these little details (but also consciously through the certificate, the video etc.. OBVIOUSLY). It's something even comics Sam lack of, this connexion between what he was and what he is, how he turned the way he is. This is kind of frustrating to me in fact, how comics Sam's past was never explored.

My other fav part of this MCU Sam, other than his whole cold attitude, is his eyes. How it glows, of course, but also how they gave him a white blind eye. Like I said, the main reason is an homage to his McFarlane design

And if you wonder why his white eye is the left one, it's most likely because that's where he was wonded, left part of his forehead, above that eye and that little wound is where he got infected by Bruce's blood so it probably destroyed his eye in the process. In comics this second bald mutation was also induced by a too high dosage of gamma, similar to how Ross kept feeding him gamma below his limits in the MCU. Remember Horus? Now is time to talk about that.

While I don't think Sam is a metaphor for Horus, I do find some similarities between them. Horus lost his left eye to Seth who teared it away. It got fixed, creating the eye we talked about above. But in our case, his eye is lost and Sam now as infinite knowledge, like his comics self, to the point of clairvoyance. That's why I find this eye symbolic very interesting, seems like a mix of all mythos. It's his sacrificed humanity and the clairvoyance he gained through it.

Horus left eye also symbolize the Moon and Sam being a very obvious metaphor of the dark and death I think night (and so Moon) suits him. In fact I've been connecting him to the Moon since my first watch, as you saw if you follow my fanarts WIP lol so obviously the Horus inspiration is something I like, even if it's probably not the intention at all, it still works very well. After all, egytians Gods weren't manichean. No real Good or Evil.

Seth is a God of many things but among them you have violence and storms and his pursuit of the throne, which should remind you of a certain Red character. "Thunderbolt" Ross and his pursuit for the White House, his violence.

Seth and Horus had a huge riavlry and enemies relationship but it was also pretty damn ambiguous and fucked up, it's a SFW blog so I won't say more but it's also a good way for me to introduce the last part :

III - Sam and Ross' relationship

Without going as far as what happened between Seth and Horus, there's a very ambiguous relationship between Sam and Ross (I'm not saying ambiguous as in "sexual" or "romantic" but rather as "strong", could also be friendship, "family" kind of bound etc... it's up to your own interpretation).

It's your typical toxic relationship with a violent abuser. They will physically abuse you, mentally abuse you, cut you from everything you love and then proceed to kind of "comfort" you with little compliments but they're not real compliments, it's more of "you're a loser but I see your full potential" kind of compliments.

A few months ago I blocked a dickhead who never truly understood why but basically they once commented under my art that they didn't like it but "saw my potential" so I told them to go fuck themself and they went "b-b-b-but it's a compliment" to which I said "get lost", basically. Later, they cameback saying "you're a little bud who will become a beautiful flower" under another art. I told them to leave me alone and never talk to me ever again because it was a very obvious fucking redflag but that's the kind of shit I'm talking about. This "you're not good enough yet but I see the potential in you", it's something also often used in the art industry to justify you being underpaid and shit like that. It's a very common manipulation that is present everywhere and that you need to be very extra careful of because it WORKS VERY WELL. The goal is basically to break your self-estime and have you think nobody will ever care or accept you ever again, except for that one abusor who will present themself as a savior, teaching you how to behave to "unleash your full potential" (of course the real reason is TOTAL CONTROL over you).

It's very easy to guess that's what happened between Sam and Ross because when Sam called him, Ross tells him angrily "I helped you more than anyone else" and Sam answers "only to get what you wanted". He could answered like "bitch you're the one who put me here to torture me to begin with what the actual fuck are you even talking about you goddamn piece of shit" but he says "only to get what you wanted" so he aknowledge that Ross did help him, even if HE WAS THE ONE PUTTING HIM IN THIS SITUATION AND TORTURING HIM he still aknowledge Ross' "help". Sam's bedroom is also a proof of that, how the fuck do you think he got all these things? Who gave it to him? It's Ross. He built this toxic relationship with him to get his full loyalty and to get total control over the nerd. And it worked.

And so when the guilt trip doesn't work anymore, Ross tries to use empathy (which is also part of the basic mental abuse schema) "you gotta understand my position" with a sad and threatened voice instead of the angry one he had seconds ago.

Sam answers him "oh but I do" (now THAT'S THE COMICS SAM SASS I LOVE) and then adds "you let me rote in that prison". He's upset because Ross abandonned him here. He will mention the torture he went through to Sam Wilson but never to Ross, he only mention that he forsook him.

"It was my curse to watch your betrayal written in probabilities". Curse and Betrayal are strong words, in the way that Sam obviously took it personally, I mean more personally than he should given it's the guy who put him in that cell and experienced on him and turned him into a monster computer, it shouldn't surprise him nor hurt him that Ross would do that AND YET. It did hurt him to see Ross betraying him and he still helped Ross because he thought Ross cared enough for him to still keep his promise.

"If Sam is so smart and knew Ross would betray him, why did he help him anyway?" that's why. Because that's what toxic relationship are about, it's about making sure that your emotions will take the best out of your logic so you stay and you suffer and normalize the abuse you go through and you even feel grateful to your abusor because "at least they take care of me even if I'm a shit" and once they leave you feel angry not because they broke you, but because they were everything you had left and they abandonned you. Because you feel like you're not even good enough for a toxic relationship, because that's how broken and "mind controlled" you are. That's the relationship Sam had with Ross.

It's probably why Sam keeps telling Sam Wilson "he will never change" angrily, because he probably believed in that himself, because Ross probably told him the same things he said to Sam Wilson and told him he would save him too because he changed. And Sam believed in that.

And it makes sense, I mean, Ross was probably the only human being he saw in 16 years. He probably never talked to his warren or anyone else, only Ross. He knows for Betty because Ross probably had these little talk with him to have his sympathy. That's probably what Sam is refering to when he says "I miss our little visits". Sure, it's a very obvious sassy mockery and a way to have Sam explaining how Ross was personally responsible for his tortures and physically here when it happened. But I see more in it. I don't think Ross' visits stopped to the torture, after all he needed to ask him questions as well.

Note how he says "OUR" visists and not "YOUR".

What if it's because (at least to Sam) it was THEIR moment, a moment between him and Ross. And I'm sure it was very intimate little moments, in the way that you probably had Ross opening up to Sam and Sam to Ross. Ross promising Sam his freedom and his life, giving him presents to make his torture somewhat "acceptable" in his mind. Talking about his own life to get his trust. Maybe even taking care of the obvious wounds the gamma doses made.

You see when Sam decorated his prison in a way to cover his pain by hope? Well, that's what Ross is to Sam. He's his hope. Because he's the one who brought him all these physical artifacts of hope, because he's the one who promised him he would get out and because he was probably nice to him, from time to time, enough to have Sam trusting him. And to be fair, given Sam's nature before he turned into what he is it wouldn't be that hard to have his trust and affection.

Ross leaving Sam to rote was Sam losing his last connexion to hope and to humanity, through Ross.

Ross isn't just the guy who could set him free, he's also the guy who could clean his name, because remember, Sam was framed like some kind of terrorist (or worst).

He doesn't want to kill Ross, he wants him to feel what he felt because of him. That's why he turned him into a monster, physically but also in his inability to control himself and his emotions, like Sam, and that's why he wanted to "destroy his legacy" and have him being hated by Betty forever. Because Sam lost his loved ones but also their love and respect when he was framed as a terrorist or whatever. And also because Betty is Ross' hope, it's the reason he changed, but it's also the reason he did the worst possible shit and did what he did to Sam.

In the same way, Sam helped him do terrible shits, because he was his hope. And he also changed for him. Well, to fuck him up, but it was still for him, even if it's in a negative way. There's this huge parallel between Ross and Sam, very similar to Bruce and Sam in comics.

And I'll go as far as saying that mind control is also a metaphor for that. I mean, yes, it's also because Sam do mind control people in Peter David's run (I miss this power...) but it's also because Ross mind controlled Sam through his affection and empathy. This is probably why it is so "acceptable" to Sam to do the same. Everything Sam does is about "doing the same" and it's not surprising given Sam's sense of justice, making Ross suffers every single things he suffered, not more, not less, is a form of justice.

Ross had a very obvious and strong hold on Sam, but Sam also has one on Ross. Sam is very special to Ross, he is his tool, he needs him to behave, to be compliant. But eventually Ross became somewhat dependant of Sam, he listened to everything Sam would told him to do, having him save his life even. But he didn't see Sam as a human, he was more of his little pet at best, but still. Sam has a form of power over Ross and Sam is now very aware of that. Ross always feared him for a reason, that's why he was so secured but he doesn't just fear Sam's wrath and his capacity to totally fuck up his life, he feared to loose him, he said it himself, he thought about letting him free or at least having him move in a more pleasant place but he feared loosing him. He needs him to stay alive, obviously (which is a big Cap 4 plot hole 'cause then how does he survives when they're both in the Raft? Having Ross "dying" made way more sense but again, you gotta please these trumpists losers who will hate anyway haha) but he also needed him to think for him. When you think about it's a good allegory for chatgpt and this kind of shit, how relying on a machine (which is what he turned Sam into) to think for you can lead to a form of dependance. During the flight fight when Sam was trying to Hulk him out, for exemple. It was mostly fear, of course, Sam has now the power to destroy Ross' life (and worst). Anger also, Ross seems incredibly upset at Sam, even BEFORE he knew it was him for the White House he called him a bastard angrily. Something happened between them after Ross betrayed him, maybe Sam lost it like he did after that call and threatened (or even attacked) Ross during his last visit. I can totally see how it happened honestly, Sam congratulating Ross maybe, then asking him about his freedom and Ross saying something (or worst, saying nothing at all and just leaving) that prove Sam's prediction about his betrayal true, Sam losing his mind over it and getting very agressive and voila. It's very easy to guess Ross promised a Presidential Pardon to Sam so their bound broke the moment he became the President and failed Sam.

But there's more than that, because sure during that flight call Sam uses Ross' fear and anger at first, but after that he uses the same kind of manipulation we were talking about above. Praising Ross' strength and power, when he yells "YOU CAN CRUSH THEM ALL", for exemple and even before that (very interesting and comics accurate to note MCU Sam also get carried away and loose control of himself and his emotions when he does) and it's visible through Ross' eyes turning red that this idea sounds very seductive to him and how hard it is to resist that temptation (which I like a lot, because comics Sam is the embodiment of temptation, like, people know they can't trust him but they'll follow anyway because of the promesses he gives and shit like that, so again, very comics Sam of him to do that).

For a very brief moment, when he talks with Sam Wilson about his heart and shit, Ross shows remorse for Sam, explaining that he thought about having him move (so keeping him but in a better place, I assume) but he was afraid he would lost Sam and so his heart treatment so instead he betrayed him (which is fucking dumb when you think of it. Like of course he will either stop it anyway no matter how bad you torture him or just poison your ass). And in that moment, right before calling him a colateral damage, he just looks at the ground with guilt. He does feel bad for Sam.

My theory on that is, because he changed, because he spent time trying to get Sam's trust by talking about his own problems, his daughter, trying to get close to him to have his trust, Ross got attached to Sam. I mean, Sam does (did) the same job as his daughter, he's around the same age.

Deeper than that, Sam is also the Bruce he never got, in the way that he had a concilient scientist with the same kind of knowledge he can both use and abuse.

Sam was a way for Ross to get everything he wanted. From his ambitions, to his health. To a way to unleash his anger and ressent toward Bruce. But also, maybe, as a way to be paternal to someone when Betty wasn't here anymore.

Before I go to another topic I just wanna share this song because in every lyrics I think it perfectly matches what MCU Sam feels toward his relationship to Ross (and himself) :

It's not important but I think in term of music, I feel in term of music and I am totally unable to express myself without music (if you follow my work you'll notice that I very often connect lyrics or song to what I do, especially through instagram stories) and like I said, the lyrics are INSANELY accurate to how Sam would feel about Ross.

CONCLUSION :

This Sam ISN'T the Leader and that's probably one of the few reasons he wasn't advertise at all. To keep him a secret and a shadow menace (also obviously because they didn't have the time to do merch and posters in like 6 months).

I think the initial idea was to have him as the Leader. It's visible through his first design, the orange shirt but also the way he was standing with his hands on his back in leaked early artworks and of course all the merch we got so far where he's named THE LEADER, so he was meant to be called the Leader rather than just Samuel Sterns.

In a recent interview, Julius Onah explained that the post credit scene was different at first, teasing the Illuminati but they changed it because they had a "better and bigger view" of the future of the MCU. One of the reason, of course, is to avoid a Kang fiasco again and to be vague enough to be able to change a few things if needed.

But they changed it during reshot to match the future of the MCU. And Sam was also changed during these reshot, to change his design mostly but it has me wonder. Is it the reason he's not the Leader yet? We don't even have a namedrop, he's just "Samuel Sterns" right now.

Is it because Marvel is planning to bring him back (like Zemo) later in a more Leader-ish version?

I mean, there's a reason they brought back every gamma folks. Do you think they would recast Ross for ONE single movie if he wasn't important in the future? Do you think they would introduce Skaar if it wasn't to make a Hulk related project soon (by soon understand "the next decade")? Do you really think Sam wouldn't go after Bruce when he's the reason he's what he is now? In fact having Bruce's blood make his weird "brotherly" gay obsession for him in comics even more relevant, now they really are "brothers in blood", in an absolutly twisted way. There's a lot to say, in fact, about the potential relationship between Sam and Bruce and how interesting it could be but I'll keep that for another post.

This Sam had a lot to tell and he gives me hope that it's just the beginning of his Leader journey. Now it's up to Marvel Studios to turn this rewriting mess into a very smart move and unleash his full potential in another project or to let it sink forever. But for once I do have hope, 'cause a lot of people want a real Hulk project with him too so maybe they'll do something about it. Whatever the future hold.

And if they don't, then I still have my own headcanon, fanarts and theories to give him and Tim the writing they deserved. Because that's what being an artist is about, it's about dreaming and I'll use that to make the best out of what's remain and give Sam the treatment him and Tim deserved because it's important to me. This is a great Sam interpretation. His origin story and motivations are different and yet, he's such a good Sam even with the very little screentime he got. MCU Sam is the perfect balance between free interpretation and respectful adaptation. He's a totally different Sam, giving us some part of him that were barely explored in comics, while being incredibly respectful to who he is. He is cold but full of emotions. He's smart and a bit blinded by it. He is sassy and kinda playful as well. The way he bets with Cap, the way he tells him "don't be boring", when Cap tells him he has a different kind of humor. The way he talks to people "President Ross, I miss your little visits", manipulate Ross to have Hulk out. It's just Sam, what can I say. He just has so much potential.

And it's apparently an unpopular opinion but I do not want to see what I already know better than everyone else again on screen, I want to discover something new and spend years making new theories and analysies that will lead to nowhere and develop my own headcanons and all. Sure I was able to predict a few things but I still had a lot of surprises and I loved that, I love discovering a new Sam, a very tragic one. It makes me happy.

If I had to write him in a two hours movie about him with such a chaotic production I'd probably come with something very similar. And yes, like I pointed out a few out time and will still pointing out, he's very and painfully incomplet. He's very flawed, like everything

"I want to see MCU Sam as the Leader" was the thought that kept me alive for 17 years and I couldn't feel more grateful for Tim Blake Nelson for putting all his heart in this role and for taking him so seriously. It's the role that kept me alive and he was up to the job.

I really wanna go back to theater to see him again haha and I couldn't be happier that the World is discovering my boy(s) through this movie. But I'm also sad, I'm also so sad because this whole movie was such a journey for me and I'm not ready to say good bye. It's how it feels to me, I had this thought that kept me alive for so many years "I want to see MCU Sam again, I want to see Tim Blake Nelson in the MCU again" so as silly as it sounds, it feels like saying good bye to a friend. That's why I mentionned a parasocial relationship. Tim isn't going anywhere, Sam isn't going anywhere, but it still kind of break my heart. But I still have hope to see him again, so rather than a good bye I wanna see it as the beginning of a new journey. I won't be waiting but I'll be hoping and while I do I'll be living.

So until next time, enjoy~