Brave New World’ Held Back on Red Until Red Hulk Fight

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains discusses the ending of “Captain America: Brave New World,” now playing in theaters.

“Captain America: Brave New World” director Julius Onah had one directive for his department heads: “deny red.”

It might seem an impossible ask given the film’s villain is Red Hulk (Harrison Ford), but cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau says the creative gambit paid off. He explains, “It was more in the production design and costume design, and I didn’t use any red light until you get to places like the lab or when you see Red Hulk, and by denying red for that much of the movie, it packs a punch.”

The fourth “Captain America” follows Ford as President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, previously played by the late William Hurt in “The Incredible Hulk.” Ross takes over the Oval Office and tasks Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson to reassemble the Avengers and be their new leader. Meanwhile, President Ross is also taking pills for a mysterious condition: a ploy to inundate him with gamma radiation and transform him into the Red Hulk. The transformation finally comes during a press conference in the film’s third act and an all-out battle ensues between Captain America and Red Hulk.

Production designer Ramsey Avery is no stranger to such a directive, having previously minimized red in the 2016 film “10 Cloverfield Lane.”  But it wasn’t an easy task to achieve. “If you look around your world, there’s red everywhere. Anytime you have a car, you’ve instantly got a red taillight, so it’s hard to minimize.”

“Starting with blue, we used it to represent peacefulness and a sense of things being under control,” Avery continues. “We started working through the palette from blue to green to yellow to orange to red, which represents a loss of control and an increase in chaos and the sense of Hulk being a chaotic creature.”

Red wasn’t eliminated. Rather, it was used in certain places to hint at what was going on. When Ross accepts the election results at the beginning, his tie is blue and red. Costume designer Gersha Phillips was very deliberate with how she used red. Phillips says, “The only person really that we put it on was Harrison. We took it out of all the background.”

When Sam and Ross are in the blue room, the blue gives him a sense of control, but red is present when they leave the room. Avery notes, “We walk out and the first thing he does is step onto this red carpet, so it’s subtle.”

Later in the film, when Wilson and Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon, hunt for the person who attempted to assassinate the president, they’re led to a location known as Camp Echo 1, a secluded location in West Virginia.

The lab belongs to Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), a professor who is infected with Bruce Banner’s gamma-radiated blood and possesses superhuman intelligence. Red Hulk is a product of his making.

Red starts becoming a dominant color to reflect Ross’ reactions to the pills. Avery says, “Sterns sends his goons on to Captain America. We’ve got all the red lights flashing in there. So we looked for those moments where red made sense to introduce that idea of chaos and lack of control.”

Morgenthau filled the place with red to tie into the whole idea of “radiation-type poisoning that he’s giving to the President.” He also used overhead lighting and optogenetic lighting, which showed how Sterns was controlling and brainwashing people like Ross/Red Hulk.

When Red Hulk is finally revealed in the White House rose garden, the team goes all out with the use of red. The most significant being Captain America’s new suit, which is revealed to be red, white and blue with vibranium wings. Says Morgenthau, “When you see the Red Hulk, it’s really the big payoff.”