Popverse's top stories of the day

• FEATURE: Wait, so is [SPOILER] dead? Or am I watching Captain America: Brave New World wrong?
• WATCH:  Watch Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima's full NYCC 2024 spotlight panel now!
• MEMBERS ONLY:  Popverse Jump: In defense of the DIC dub of Sailor Moon and its place in anime history

Spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World follow.

Silly little me, I just want to be a bit frightened of a Hulk. I wrote about it recently, if you'll recall, and it brings me no joy to report that, as I sat watching Captain America: Brave New World, I didn't find Harrison Ford's mo-cap match made much of a monster. However, there was one character that, for several reasons, scratched that creature feature itch I seem to go into most genre fare hoping for: that was, Samuel Sterns, played by Tim Blake Nelson.

Firstly, I'm going to start this by apologizing for the images in this piece. One of the things I loved most about Sterns's character was his freaky design, but since his look was a bit of a reveal, there are no officially-released pictures of it yet online (save the very blurry one above). You're just going to have to try to picture what I'm describing (if you haven't already seen the movie) and believe me when I say that the dude looked scary.

That may sound weird to you if you are only familiar with the large-foreheaded comic book inspiration for The Leader's character. With green skin, a pencil mustache, and usually bright clothing, The Leader looks more like Megamind than something that would feature in a horror movie (see image below). But the designers in Captain America: Brave new World decided to try something else, and even though I'm usually a fan of comic-accurate character designs, I applaud them for their divergence.

The Leader of Captain America: Brave New World feels more like something out of Immortal Hulk than your average MCU beat. His eyes, one without a pupil and the other with what appears to be two, give off a soft green glow that give his shadowy first appearances a chilling edge. Instead of that high forehead, this Leader's pate has been transformed into a series of bubbles and ridges, as though his brain itself is in a permanent state of Hulking out of his own head. And though the designers kept the green skin, they've decided to make it the sickly kind- less "cartoon alien" and more "radiation victim." Altogether, it's one of my favorite MCU villain designs, especially since it was accomplished with what seem to be entirely practical effects.

All of this is complemented by the man behind the make-up, Tim Blake Nelson. I'll admit that I'm a fan of most of Nelson's work, from Watchmen to Buster Scruggs, so maybe I'm going into this with a slight bias. But even still, his cold, Hannibal Lecter-like performance stands out amongst the movie's performances, brilliantly contrasting from his freakish looks. It's been said by better critics than me that a monster attacking is less scary than a monster standing still and staring at you; Nelson approaches his character with the latter tactic. 

I don't know if we'll see Tim Blake Nelson reprising the role of Samuel Sterns AKA the Leader anytime soon, and considering the fact that other, bigger villains like Galactus and Dr. Doom are on their way, I'd even kind of doubt it. At the very least, though, I was happy that I did go to see a superhero movie and find a monster there, even if it wasn't the one I expected.

Captain America: Brave New World (and the Leader) is in theaters now.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters