This is odd.Right now at variousretailers including Amazon and the onlineshops of AMC, Cinemark, and Regal Cinemas you can buy a variety of merchandise tied to Marvels new movie,Captain America: Brave New World.There are Captain America shield pillows and adorable little Red Hulk plushies.There are also several items featuring the Leader, Tim Blake Nelsons character from the film. That in and of itself is not strange: the Leader is one of the main villains inBrave New World, so it stands to reason Marvel might want to slap his likeness on some merch.Here, for example, is the Funko Pop! of Tim Blake Nelsons character:MarvelMarvelloading...IfI took thatfigureout of the box and handed it to you without context, would you know its the Leader? Its a guy with a goatee and an overcoat and green skin.I would probably guess its Elphabas hunky son from Wicked: Part 2.Thatsa conversation for another time.There are other examples, though. Hereis a T-shirt on sale at Regal Storefor $28.95.MarvelMarvelloading...Regal is also selling a massive standee of Tim Blake Nelson as the Leaderfor $49.95.According to their site, it measures 70 inches tall. Google claims the real Tim Blake Nelson is only 65 inches tall, meaning thisstandees sporting about five extra inches of forehead.MarvelMarvelloading...The standeeand the shirtare based on the same image, which appears to beaconcept art illustration of Tim Blake Nelson as the Leader.The design,with a mop of hair atop a long, cylindricalhead, strongly resembles the classic design of the Leader from Marvels earlyIncredible Hulkcomics.MarvelMarvelloading...In other words, this merch featuresa faithful recreation of a Marvel villains iconic comic-book look. Butthats theproblem: The Leader in the actual filmlooks nothing like this.Marvel hasnt released any official images of the Leader fromBrave New Worldthat I can show you here ... and literally as I amtypingthese words I am wondering for the first time ifthis merchis the reason why. The movies trailers only show Nelson in shadow, from behind, wearing a hat. So youll have to take my word on this, but inbroad terms he resembles the late 80s and early 90s version of Leader, as depicted on this Marvel trading card (minus the orange and black battle armor).MarvelMarvelloading...There have been tons of rumors aboutBrave New Worlds reshoots, and this merchandiseis one of the clearest indications to date that at least some of those rumorswere true. Marvel apparently got far enough along with that long-headed Leader design that they seemingly gaveit to licensors.Theymade shirts and toys and 70-inch standees, and then at some point Marvel pivoted and went in a different direction for the character.This isnt the onlyBrave New Workmerchandise with no basis in the actual film. Last year, McDonalds released a series of Happy Meal toys inspired by the movie. One was for a character Diamondback of the Serpent Society who is not in the theatrical cut at all.The Happy Meal toys also included a version ofShira Haas Ruth wearing a costume that looks nothing like the one she sports inBrave New World.All of this points to a movie with a very messy production, full of revisions and reshoots.The worst part about it is ... I think the original design of the Leader from this merchandise is better than the version in the final film? Granted, its just artwork and not a flesh-and-blood person interacting with other human characters. But the version we got looks like a dude with broccoli for a head. Hes not exactly intimidating.Captain America: Brave New World is now playing in theaters.Get our free mobile appEvery Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie, Ranked From Worst to BestIt started with Iron Man and its continued and expanded ever since. Its the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with 35 movies and counting. But whats the best and the worst? We ranked them all.Categories: Longform, Movie News