Marvel fans are realizing that one Captain America: Brave New World character had an impact on past MCU movies, despite not being on screen for 17 years

Captain America: Brave New World saw Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns, AKA the Leader, return to the big screen for the first time since 2008's The Incredible Hulk.

In The Incredible Hulk, Sterns is accidentally contaminated with Bruce Banner's blood and gains superhuman intelligence, and we discover that in the years since he's been imprisoned and exploited by Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in Brave New World to replace the late William Hurt. That means that despite being off screen for 17 years, we may have been overlooking Sterns' role in the MCU – and his impact on the events between those two movies.

For example, one Reddit user asked if he helped write the Sokovia Accords, documents that established the United Nations' oversight of the Avengers, while under Ross' control. Ross is the figure who presents the Accords to the Avengers in the 2016 movie when he was US Secretary of State.

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"Wait so he’s responsible for civil war? I’m so slow," someone else responded. The divisive response to this from Tony Stark and Steve Rogers is what ignites the movie's central conflict and causes the Avengers to split in two as they side with either Iron Man or Captain America.

"So Stern was Ross' chat gpt?" asked another user. "Unironically may be the most accurate comparison," someone else replied.

Captain America: Brave New World is streaming now on Disney Plus. For more on the MCU, check out our guide to watching the Marvel movies in order or get up to speed on what lies ahead in Marvel Phase 6.