Who Is President Ritson in ‘Secret Invasion?’ Meet Dermot Mulroney’s Character

The storyline of ‘Secret Invasion’ introduced new characters that are set to become important in the overall events of this series. Some of the characters we’ve seen were given supporting roles that allowed the narrative to progress, and one of them is none other than the president of the United States himself. President Ritson was revealed to be the POTUS in ‘Secret Invasion’ as he was in a scene involving James Rhodes, who had become an adviser to the president. So, who is President Ritson in ‘Secret Invasion?’

President Ritson is currently the president of the United States of America in the MCU and has been involved in many different events after the Blip. This includes the incidents involving the Wakandans in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Ritson succeeded Matthew Ellis as the president.

One of the things that we know about the MCU is that the government has always been involved in the many different things that the characters do, especially considering that Nick Fury is working for the government. That is why the president of the United States will always be involved in the storyline in one form or another. So, with that said, let’s take a good look at what we know about President Ritson.

President Ritson succeeded President Ellis

Ever since the events of the MCU began, the US government has had a hand in many things that happened in this fictional universe. It is worth noting that many of the different characters we’ve seen are connected to the government, including the likes of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Colonel James Rhodes, Everett Ross, and Nick Fury himself.

While these government operatives aren’t necessarily superheroes in the MCU, they’ve been involved in many different events because the government always tried to protect the interest of the US in the middle of things involving supernatural and superpowered beings.

Of course, the man behind the government always had the final say in the matter, as we all know that the president of the United States is the most important government figure in the world of the MCU. He leads one of the most powerful countries in the world and is the president of the country where most of the incidents in the MCU happen. As such, the president has appeared in many events in the MCU.

The president we often saw in the MCU was President Matthew Ellis, who was the POTUS for a long time. It is even possible that Ellis sat in office longer than the usual two-term limit that the US Constitution allows, as he was president for quite a long time. But while that may be true, the events of ‘Secret Invasion’ allowed us to see a new president involved in the storyline.

Episode 1 of ‘Secret Invasion’ allowed us to see a scene involving James Rhodes, now working as an adviser for the POTUS. The president that he was working for was President Ritson, who was surprised when Rhodes told him that Fury left SABER unsanctioned and was on the planet.

While a lot of people think that Ritson is new to the MCU, his role as president can be traced back to the events of ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ where he asked the State Secretary and the Defense Secretary to consult with the CIA in the matter involving the Wakandans and the different things that they thought were acts of aggression coming from them. Then, in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ it was mentioned in a news report that Ritson entered into a trade agreement with New Asgard.

So, in a sense, Ritson’s role as the president is very much different from Ellis’ role. That’s because Ritson is looking to fix a country that is trying to make sense of the things happening worldwide after the Blip.

Moreover, more and more supernatural and superpowered beings are appearing out of nowhere during Ritson’s term, and that’s why he has the unenviable task of dealing with different things that no other president in the history of the country has ever had to deal with. This includes the likes of aliens, godlike beings, and technologically-advanced civilizations.

Ritson is seemingly a placeholder president

Even though Ritson may be the president of the United States during the events of ‘Secret Invasion,’ one of the things that we know is that he is merely a placeholder president that will be replaced by a more prominent character in the future of the MCU.

We know that Marvel Studios is currently working on the ‘Thunderbolts’ movie featuring a task force of reformed villains and antiheroes formed by Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. It was also revealed that Thunderbolt Ross is set to take over the role of the POTUS sometime in the future and before the events of ‘Thunderbolts.’ That means that Ritson won’t be in office long enough as Thunderbolt Ross is set to replace him in the future.

Of course, that means that Ritson’s term might see an end soon. His term may see a natural end if he doesn’t get re-elected as president. But it is also possible that something will happen to him during the events of ‘Secret Invasion.’

Let’s not forget that ‘Secret Invasion’ focuses on the invasion of the Skrulls that want to take over the entire planet from the inside. That means that the Skrulls have infiltrated the government’s inner workings and have people in high positions in different governmental offices. 

As such, we won’t be surprised if Ritson was a Skrull the entire time. But it is also possible that one of Gravik’s plans involves Ritson. That is why there’s a good chance that Ritson’s term will end during the events of ‘Secret Invasion,’ as he might be a Skrull or is one of the targets of the Skrull terrorists that are looking to destabilize the government for the sake of their own agenda.

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