Of all the fictional reflections of the world we live in today, none have been as recurring or broad in scope as the MCU. We see regular locations we all know with fantastical elements plugged in and even occasional glimpses of a less crazy version of the political landscape we all have to suffer through now, too. In contrast to the comic book source material, which regularly has real figures appear at the time they are actually in office, both in the United States and around the world, the cinematic universe has mostly kept to fictional U.S. heads of state, and they are a bit more prominent than before.
If you have not been watching Secret Invasion, its more political edge has led to the humans of the franchise in regular positions of power having bigger roles than in prior work. Like our world, the show’s president wears suits, the spies do morally dubious stuff, and, as a result, we got to wondering about the ways in which the MCU diverges from the real one in terms of which men have occupied the Oval Office.
Real-Life Leaders
As some real figures have been mentioned, such as former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, we did decide to at least put them here before discussing flesh-and-blood people. As one of the fictional presidents appears to have succeeded Obama around 2011/12, it appears Marvel at one point was going to ape their comic process, but then opted to go with a movie diversion. Also, semi-canon content like the Marvel Netflix shows does touch on former President Donald Trump, but, given everything, more overt references to the man are very unlikely.
Matthew Ellis
If you don’t recall the 2013 release of Iron Man 3, you may not remember this character, as played by William Sadler, had an important role to play in the plot. At certain points, Sadler’s Ellis is kidnapped by the bad guys, tries to get a U.S. government-controlled version of Iron Man off the ground and later appears in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and is mentioned in projects like Daredevil and The Punisher. Ellis was going to appear in Ant-Man, but his scene was removed and a different character is featured in the final release.
President Ritson
Sadly, we’ve yet to discover the full name of this Dermot Mulroney character first seen in Secret Invasion, so we can only assume his first name is President. In recent films like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it has been implied he has a more aggressive foreign policy posture than what has been seen or not glimpsed at all with his predecessors and, whether he will survive into film appearances remains to be seen. Right now (and no spoilers here), the odds look iffy, but, anyone could be wrong.
Next in office and alternate POTUSes
Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, the character who first appeared in The Incredible Hulk and was played by the late William Hurt, will be brought back to life by Harrison Ford in July 2024’s Captain America: Brave New World, in which Ross will receive the ultimate promotion. Before taking the top job in the U.S. government, Ross was a high-ranking Army general and went on to serve as the United States Secretary of State under Ellis and the MCU version of Trump. While Hurt’s version of the character is ruthless and a bit of a hypocrite, it remains to be seen if Ford — who Mulroney has dubbed a worthy successor in the role — will shift the character in a different direction. Historically, most people who get the top job tend to evolve to the realities of it, though, so maybe we’ll see Ford’s Ross get really red in the face.
These are all the leaders we have seen so far on Earth-616. However, there is an alternate universe included in What If…? episode eight where Steve Rogers decides to run for office after being unthawed. Similarly, several other actors who have been in the MCU have also been cast as the Commander in Chief in different projects at other points in their careers. So the Marvel multiverse is practically popping with POTUSes.