For most fans, Hulk is synonymous with Bruce Banner as his alter ego. But the big green monster who knows just to “smash” isn’t the only version of Hulk out there. Different Marvel storylines talk about different characters coming under the moniker of Hulk, such as She-Hulk, Red Hulk, Skaar (Son of Hulk), and so on with each differing slightly in their personalities but having the same base power of superhuman strength.
Red Hulk is a well-known character among comic fans, but Thunderbolt Ross has yet to transform into Red Hulk in the MCU. Let’s have a look at some facts about Red Hulk that may surprise fans.
10 His Identity
Two separate characters are associated with the Red Hulk. The first is Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who is the father-in-law of Bruce Banner. He became the Red Hulk in order to be able to fight toe to toe with the green monster and even committed treason by joining forces with Abomination, the antagonist of the 2008 movie The Incredible Hulk. The second character to be identified with the Red Hulk is Robert Maverick.
Maverick was chosen due to his genetic profile that allowed him to be converted into a being that can match the Hulk’s power, albeit for just one hour every one and a half days. Both these characters share some common points like they were both U.S. Generals, and they were both engineered to become the Red Hulk in order to counter the Hulk’s destructive powers.
9 An Intelligent Being
Dr. Bruce Banner was a renowned Physicist who exposed himself to gamma radiations to become the mindless, raging monster that is the Hulk. The Hulk was only concerned with smashing things, and anyone he felt was a threat, and was not able to make logical decisions or even communicate properly with others.
The Red Hulk, however, is completely different in that regard as it is shown several times that Ross retains his intelligence and decision making whenever he transforms. As a result, he can also transform back and forth at will, unlike Banner.
8 He Lifted Mjolnir
Now there are a lot of unanswered questions regarding the conditions for lifting Mjolnir, and as a result, fans have found various loopholes to these conditions. In Hulk #5 (2008), Red Hulk goes up against Thor and is able to pull Mjolnir while it was in Thor’s possession and go into outer space.
There he was able to exploit another loophole to actually lift the hammer on his own and fight against Thor. Though he was able to lift Mjolnir, he wasn’t bestowed with the powers that come automatically to its wielder.
7 He Fought Spiderman Once
There is a storyline which talks about how Peter Parker went to a fake SHIELD facility where Bruce Banner was being held captive. One thing leads to another, and we suddenly see the Red Hulk. He is then confronted by Spider-Man, who feels that since he has fought Hulk before, he can use the same tactics against Red Hulk.
Unfortunately, he isn’t aware of Red Hulk’s intelligence or his ability to increase his body temperature tremendously. Ultimately, Spidey is saved by Banner when he transforms into Hulk.
6 He’s A Walking Nuclear Bomb
We know that the angrier Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets. This power seems to be present in other characters of the Hulk family but in different ways. In the case of Red Hulk, he keeps emitting gamma radiation, and the quantity keeps increasing as he gets angrier.
It is this power of his that causes his body temperature to increase considerably. If he overheats, he can actually explode and emit vast amounts of radiation, similar to a nuclear bomb.
5 He Can Absorb Energy
When the Hulk battles Red Hulk while trying to save Spiderman, Ross eventually converts Hulk back to human form by absorbing the gamma radiations that he was emitting. He is able to absorb almost any form of energy, which makes him a particularly tenacious foe for characters who rely on radiation/cosmic energy.
In one instance, he was able to defeat Thor, who had received the Odinforce. This power, however, is also his biggest weakness as he is extremely vulnerable to energy absorbed from the Negative Zone (an antimatter universe).
4 He Was Once Eliminated Along With Several Other Versions Of Hulk By Banner
After Banner was shot in the head and suffered brain damage, he was revived by Tony Stark by using the new version of the Extremis Virus prepared by his foster brother Amo Stark. Banner further enhanced the virus and increased the Hulk’s intelligence, creating an entirely new personality called Doc Green.
Doc Green now decided that he had to exterminate all gamma powered villains and even heroes from the universe. As a result, he successfully got rid of Skaar, Red She-Hulk, Red Hulk, and the Hulk Corps.
3 He Was Almost Created Decades Before His Original Appearance
There was a TV series called Incredible Hulk that ran from 1977-82 and also spawned three movies. Its showrunner Kenneth Johnson revealed that he thought it made no sense to have Hulk turn green with anger, rather it should have been red.
He tried to reason with Stan Lee as to why they should change the Hulk’s color to red on the show, but the latter explained the reasoning behind the color green and why they had to switch to it from grey (apparently due to printing issues).
2 He Was Initially Planned To Be A Good Guy
General Ross agreed to become Red Hulk because of his concerns about Hulk’s destructive powers and the fact that Banner couldn’t control his transformation. He was initially introduced as the trope of a “Hero Antagonist” since he was simply trying to stop the Hulk.
Over time, the character’s trope becomes more of a “General Ripper” as he does more harm than good. In the end, he was still a “Well-Intentioned Extremist” trope as his overall goal could be appreciated in principle, but the methods used to achieve it were questionable.
1 He Was Almost Introduced Several Times In The MCU
General Ross appeared in the 2003 and 2008 Hulk movies and made several cameos in later MCU movies like Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, but he was never linked to the Red Hulk.
The Russo Brothers revealed that the character was considered for various Avengers movies, but they didn’t want to include the character just for the sake of it. Instead, they wanted to phase it slowly as they had done with most of the Avengers members. Hopefully, in the next phase, fans can see more of Red Hulk and less of General Ross.