Captain America Brave New World Calls Back to One of the Worst MCU Movies

Okay, maybe you recognize that guy as the great character actor Tim Blake Nelson, who plays Edward Norton) via internet chat, using the pseudonym Mr. Blue to talk with Banner’s Mr. Green.

The Mr. Green/Mr. Blue conversations come directly from the comics. In the 2000 series Incredible Hulk written by Bruce Jones and penciled by John Romita Jr., the fugitive Bruce gets help from a secretive figure called Mr. Blue. The series leaves the identity of Mr. Blue secret for quite some time, leading some to suppose that it was Peter Parker or even Steve Rogers aiding their old pal. In the end, however, Mr. Blue was revealed to be Betty Ross, Bruce’s longtime love interest. Betty wanted to help Bruce without getting fully entrenched back in his life.

Incredible Hulk screenwriter Zak Penn does hint at times that Betty might be Mr. Blue. But by making the secret benefactor Samuel Sterns, Penn allows the Leader to be the schemer he is in the comics. By the end of the film, Sterns reveals his true plan to harness the power of Bruce’s gamma irradiation for himself, leading to a full on Hulk out. In his last scene, Sterns smiles at the camera while gamma irradiated blood leaks into the cut on his head.