A collection of quotes from the eccentric Grayburn College professor, Samuel Sterns, also known as Leader.
Movies[]
The Incredible Hulk[]
Spoken by Samuel Sterns[]
- "This'll be a somewhat... novel sensation. We have begun. The dialysis machine will mix the antidote with your blood, so the antidote will only take hold once we've achieved a full reaction."
- ―Samuel Sterns to Bruce Banner[src]
- "This is Promethean fire!"
- ―Samuel Sterns[src]
- "This is... what... I was trying... to explain. I don't know what... you've been ladling into yourself, but clearly it worked. Let's... assume... you don't understand a word I'm saying, but if you'll just... get back... on the table, I can... fix this."
- ―Samuel Sterns to Abomination[src]
Spoken about Samuel Sterns[]
- "He's lookin' for help and that's how we're gonna get him. We know what they're after and we know he's been talking to somebody. You all have copies of the correspondence. The aliases 'Mr. Green' and 'Mr. Blue' have been added to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Operations Database. If he comes up for air, we'll be waiting. If he makes a peep, we'll hear him. And when he slips up, we'll be ready."
- ―Thaddeus Ross[src]
- "Bruce. Bruce, look at me. Stay with me. The antidote, now. Sterns, do it now!"
- ―Betty Ross to Hulk and Samuel Sterns[src]
Dialogue[]
- "Excuse me! Dr. Sterns! I'm sorry to bother you. I'm Elizabeth Ross."
"Oh! Dr. Ross!"
"I have someone who'd like to meet you."
"Okay."
"It's Mr. Blue, isn't it?"
"Mr.Green?" - ―Betty Ross, Samuel Sterns and Bruce Banner[src]
- "I've gotta tell you. I— I— I've been wondering if you were even real. And— And if you were, what would it look like? A person with that much... power lurking in him. Nothing could have surprised me more than this unassuming man shaking my hand. But look, we're not strolling into the park for a picnic here. Even if everything goes perfectly—if we induce an episode, if we get the dosage exactly right—is that gonna be a lasting cure or just some antidote to suppress that specific flare up. I don't know. What I'm saying is that if we overshoot this by even the smallest integer, we're dealing with concentrations with extraordinary levels of toxicity, so—."
"You mean it could kill him."
"Kill him? Yeah. I should say so."
"You should know that there's a flip side to this too. If we miss on the low side — if we induce me and it fails — this'll be very dangerous for you."
"Look, I've always been more curious than cautious and that's served me pretty well. So are we gonna do this?" - ―Samuel Sterns, Betty Ross and Bruce Banner[src]
- "That was the most extraordinary thing I have seen in my entire life!"
"Okay, you know what? Stop, please! We need to go back and talk about what just happened in there."
"Absolutely. Okay. The gamma pulse came from the amygdala. Dr. Ross' primer lets the cells absorb the energy temporarily and then it abates. That's why you didn't die of radiation sickness years ago. Now, maybe we've neutralized those cells permanently or maybe we've just suppressed that event. I'm inclined to think the ladder, but it's hard to know because none of our test subjects ever survived. Of course, they weren't getting the primer."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. What did you just say?"
"They weren't getting the myostatin primer."
"No, no, no. Test subjects? What test subjects?"
"Come with me." - ―Samuel Sterns, Betty Ross and Bruce Banner[src]
- "We started on rats and mice, but it just completely fried them, so we had to go bigger. And we still don't know which is more toxic, the gamma or your blood."
"What do you mean, my blood?"
"Bruce, this is all you. You didn't send me much to work with, so I had to concentrate it and make more. With a little more trial and error, there's no end to what we can do! This is potentially Olympian! This gamma technology has limitless applications. We'll unlock hundreds of cures. We will make humans impervious to disease!" - ―Samuel Sterns and Bruce Banner[src]
- "No, no. We've gotta destroy it."
"Wait, what?"
"All of it. Tonight, we're gonna incinerate it. Is this the whole supply?"
"We could get the Nobel for this!"
"You don't understand the power of this thing. It is too dangerous. It cannot be controlled." - ―Bruce Banner Samuel Sterns[src]
- "We have the antidote now!"
"They don't want the antidote! They want to make it a weapon." - ―Samuel Sterns and Bruce Banner[src]
- "And if we let it go we will never get it back. You don't have any idea how powerful this thing is."
"I hate the government as much as anyone, but you're being a little paranoid." - ―Bruce Banner and Samuel Sterns[src]
- "Are you telling me you can make more like him?"
"No! Not yet. I sorted out a few pieces, but it's not like I can put together the same Humpty Dumpty, if that's what you're asking. He was a freak accident! The goal is to do it better!" - ―Kathleen Sparr and Samuel Sterns[src]
- "She's an annoying bitch."
"Why are you always hitting people? Now what possibly could I have done to deserve such aggression?"
"It's not what you've done; it's what you're gonna do. I want what you got out of Banner. I want that."
"You look like you've got a little something in you already, don't you?"
"I want more. You've seen what he becomes, right?"
"I have. And it's beautiful. Godlike."
"Well, I want that. I need that. Make me that."
"I don't know what you've got inside you already. The mix could be... an abomination. I didn't say I was unwilling. I just need informed consent. And you've given it." - ―Emil Blonsky and Samuel Sterns[src]
Captain America: Brave New World[]
Spoken by Samuel Sterns[]
- "Yeah, now we're getting somewhere. That fire in the belly. The rage. Why don't you just let it out?"
- ―Leader to Thaddeus Ross[src]
- "All that hatred you tried to hide. All the ugliness. It's still there, Ross. Smoldering behind the eyes."
- ―Leader to Thaddeus Ross[src]
- "Give in to your rage. I'm taking your legacy as we speak. Come on, Ross, you're almost there. You can rip their fleet apart with your bare hands. Kill Captain America. Let the monster inside you out. Unleash your anger, unleash your hatred. Nothing can stop you, Ross. You can crush them all!"
- ―Leader to Thaddeus Ross[src]
- "Global power is shifting. You're just a pawn."
- ―Leader to Captain America[src]
Dialogue[]
- "President Ross. I miss our little visits. Tell me something, you ever stop to ask yourself who's playing the music?"
"It was you? The White House? The assassination attempt?"
"That's a way of putting it. I helped you more than anyone else, only to get what you want."
"What do you want?"
"I wanted my life back, but it's too late for that now."
"You got to... you got to understand my position."
"Oh, I do. You let me rot in this prison. And it was my curse to watch your betrayal written in probabilities. I'm making my own choices now. So many surprises left. When I'm done, everyone will know just who you are and Betty will despise you even more. Goodbye, Mr. President." - ―Leader and Thaddeus Ross[src]
- "Wasn't half bad looking, was I?"
"Samuel Sterns."
"You know, it takes an awful lot to surprise me. There was an eighty-nine percent chance you'd turn around if I put Isaiah Bradley at risk. Yet, here you stand."
"You're the buyer."
"Indeed. Hiring SERPENT was a necessary step to create a chain of statistical certainties."
"Maybe you're not as smart as you think you are."
"I am, actually. My mind sees it all, every probable outcome."
"So, you hire SERPENT to steal the Adamantium, shoot up Ross' summit announcing it, and now you're just sitting here waiting. Why do you wanna kill Ross?"
"Why does everyone think that I want to kill Ross? Is it because he imprisoned me here without a trial after an infusion of gamma warped the structure of my brain?"
"Damn."
"Once Ross discovered how useful I could be, he kept me here for sixteen years turning my mind to solving his problems. My solutions brought him the highest office in the country. If I wanted Ross dead, he'd be dead."
"Well, whatever you're doing, you're hurting a lot of people, including my friend. So this is the last chance I'm going to give you to stop it."
"Why are you protecting him? Ross knows I'm responsible for the White House, and he's still letting Isaiah sit in prison for it. You know he'll never change. Let me finish my work."
"I'm afraid I can't do that." - ―Leader, Captain America and Falcon[src]
- "Please, don't be boring!"
"You think they'll stop us?"
"For long enough. You're a fascinating problem, but soon you'll be off the board. See it you won't surprise me again." - ―Leader and Captain America[src]
Comics[]
The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week[]
Spoken by Samuel Sterns[]
- "Dr. Samuel Sterns?"
"I think perhaps once I was...but shall now become much more." - ―Natasha Romanoff and Samuel Sterns[src]
- "I see my future unfolding. It is an illustrious future defined by power and influence. A future that begins this very instant."
- ―Samuel Sterns to Natasha Romanoff[src]