From Hell’s Heart, I Smash at Thee!
General Ross: “I’m going to end the menace of The Hulk once and for all!”
Incredible Hulk #130 (1970)
Terrorists attack The White House. Soldiers return fire, but they are outnumbered, outgunned, and reinforcements won’t arrive in time. An officer orders soldiers to focus on terrorists attempting to breach the door over entrenched fighters. One spots a terrorist firing a rocket launcher at them. The officer pushes the soldier away and vanishes in an explosion.
The terrorists charge as the soldiers regroup. They can still feel the rocket’s heat. No… something hotter. The officer’s body swells into a giant enveloped by an inferno. He calls for suppressive fire. The Red Hulk erupts from the White House.
Red Hulk is The Hulk’s greatest foe. The titans were at odds before either gained powers, but now their clashes shatter cities. So who is he? How did he become a Hulk? Why does he hate Bruce Banner? Let’s find out.
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This Man, This Monster!: Red Hulk’s Backstory
General Ross: “Son, I didn’t get these Stars by being somewhere else when the spit hit the fan!”
Incredible Hulk #150 (1971)
Red Hulk debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 in 1962. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Originally portrayed as a B-movie warhawk, he grew into The Hulk’s own personal Captain Ahab.
Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was a U.S. Air Force lieutenant general assigned to the top-secret Gamma Bomb project. Ross hated the lead scientist, Bruce Banner, for being overly cautious and because his daughter Betty was in love with Bruce.
A lab accident injured Banner, and he became The Hulk. Ross swore a vendetta after the creature attacked his daughter. Dozens of missions failed to kill The Hulk, often ruining Banner’s attempts to cure himself or calm down.
General Ross was given a “Hulkbuster” division armed with advanced weaponry to battle Hulk and similar monsters. When that wasn’t enough, he colluded with villains to get the job done. Ross was later dishonorably discharged.
With his life and reputation in ruins, Thunderbolt Ross tried one last time to kill The Hulk by fusing with an energy being. He was mortally wounded and had a moment of clarity after witnessing the Hulk’s heroism. Ross gave Banner his blessing to marry Betty before dying.
He Who Fights With Monsters…: Red Hulk’s History
Red Hulk: “Fight smart! Fight the fights you can win! Don’t pick a fight beyond your power grade! Don’t think of it as fighting a friend or an X-Man… think of it as saving the world! Put your opponent down because they will do likewise! If we are not successful, the world won’t exist tomorrow! Be successful!”
New Avengers #24 (2012)
General Ross was resurrected by a villain called The Leader as a pawn against The Hulk. Ross kept to an uneasy peace, but again sword a vendetta after Betty’s death was attributed to The Hulk.
He approached a team of mad scientists called The Intelligencia to bring Betty back to life in exchange for killing The Hulk. They experimented on Ross, blending gamma radiation with the remains of the energy being to create a monster. Thunderbolt Ross disappeared . In his place stood the Red Hulk.
Red Hulk went on an ass-kicking spree across America. He murdered several of Hulk’s enemies and battled his green counterpart several times. Red Hulk also picked fights with superheroes so Marvel could build up his reputation before Galactus slapped him down and brought his victims back to life.
Ross turned on the Intelligencia when they turned Betty into a Red She-Hulk. The battle left him permanently transformed into his Red Hulk form. Ross escaped the battlefield and became an anti-hero. Some days he tries to kill Hulk, others have him leading a team of murderous heroes called The Thunderbolts.
Rocket’s Red Glare: Red Hulk’s Powers and Personality
[General Ross cites a regulation after being ordered to attack a school]
X:Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday
Ross: “It’s the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. It makes it illegal for the U.S. military to enforce any law, like the Mutant Control Act, for example, on American soil.”
Cooper: “I’m surprised, General. From your reputation, I wouldn’t have thought of you as a Mutant sympathizer.”
Ross: “That makes two of us, Ma’am. Truth is, I never knew what I’d say if the day came when I was given an order I considered immoral. Now I do.”
General Ross is a martial artist, marksman, tactician, and strategist. He usually limits himself to handguns and gives more advanced weaponry to his soldiers. Writers couldn’t agree if Ross was a general of the U.S. Army or Air Force and created the Hulkbusters division to sidestep the debate.
The Red Hulk has all of Banner’s strength, but Ross’ mind and military training. He can use Hulk-sized weapons, absorb energy, and shoot heat beams from his eyes. Red Hulk generates heat when he’s angry instead of growing stronger, but heat exhaustion weakens him over time.
General Ross is an authoritarian. He hates Bruce Banner with all his heart, but remains self-aware enough to compare himself to Captain Ahab. Ross dislikes superhumans, but won’t harm them unless they are a threat. As the Red Hulk, all of Ross’s worst traits become amplified. He often mopes about how his obsession has destroyed his life, but can’t stop himself.
The Actors Who Play Red Hulk
Claude Ray – The Marvel Super Heroes
Robert Ridgely – The Incredible Hulk (1982)
John Vernon – The Incredible Hulk (1996)
Keith Ferguson – The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
Eric Bauza – Iron Man: Armored Adventures
Clancy Brown – Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Avengers Assemble
Michael Patrick McGillis – X-Men ‘97
Sam Elliot – Hulk (2003)
William Hurt – The Incredible Hulk (2008), Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow
Harrison Ford – Captain America: Brave New World
Didya Get All That?
An obsessed soldier hunting his gamma-powered White Whale.
Image: Red Hulk/President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) in Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 MARVEL.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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