Red Hulk Origins

WatchMojo

Dive into the fascinating origins of Thunderbolt Ross and his transformation into the Red Hulk! We'll explore his military background, how he became a gamma-powered powerhouse, and his journey from villain to anti-hero. Prepare for a deep dive into one of Marvel's most complex characters!

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're revisiting the origins of the Red Hulk.

00:12While there have been a few over the years, we'll only be focusing on the Thunderbolt

00:16Ross version.

00:17We'll also be getting into Hulk-sized spoilers, so consider this your warning.

00:22Life as a General

00:36It might seem counterintuitive to open up a video talking about the Red Hulk with a

00:41section from before he was the Red Hulk, but it's important to know who the man before

00:45the monster was.

00:47Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross was a military brat basically right from the beginning.

00:51I mean look at that stache, he practically came out of the womb looking like a human

00:55Swiss Army knife.

00:57His dad and his dad's dad were both in the military themselves, and that influence soon

01:02rubbed off on him.

01:03Once he joined, it wasn't long until he eventually rose within the ranks.

01:07He became a top general in the Air Force, and soon his path would cross with Dr. Bruce

01:11Banner.

01:12The two were involved with a top secret operation to develop a gamma bomb.

01:17Bruce later fell in love with Ross' daughter Betty, which didn't really fly well with him.

01:22To make matters worse, Bruce would get exposed to gamma radiation and become the Hulk, and

01:26the rest is history.

01:29Needless to say, after this Thunderbolt Ross would be intrinsically linked with the Hulk

01:33forever.

01:39Becoming Red Hulk

01:40Hatred can lead someone to do some incredibly irrational, borderline hypocritical things.

01:45After countless years, maybe even decades of hunting the Hulk with no luck, Ross had

01:50pretty much nothing to show for it.

01:52To make matters worse, Betty was killed by the Abomination, and eventually down the line,

01:56Hulk would be sent off-world by the Illuminati.

02:12The loss of his daughter and the loss of his mortal enemy soon sent Ross down an alcoholic

02:17tailspin.

02:18This made it easy for a group called the Intelligentsia to recruit him.

02:22Through villainous hijinks that involved using satellite technology and stealing the Hulk's

02:26own energy, the Red Hulk was born.

02:29You know, if you can't beat them, become them, right?

02:32Now things get really interesting when you realize that when these events were originally

02:37happening in the comics, the identity of the Red Hulk was a complete mystery.

02:41That's right, nobody actually knew who this new bad guy was.

02:45The news that this was Ross only became revealed in the comic World War Hulks.

02:49It was an especially shocking twist since earlier on, fall of the Hulk's gamma made

02:54it seem like it couldn't have possibly been him.

02:57In that comic, a flashback showed Red Hulk killing Ross.

03:00So yeah, it sounds pretty confusing, right?

03:03It would later be revealed that it wasn't actually Thunderbolt Ross, but a life model

03:07decoy of him that he killed.

03:09Oh, and during this time, Betty Ross came back from the dead as Red She-Hulk.

03:14Convoluted family reunions, soap opera-esque cheating of death.

03:17Hey, that's comic books for you.

03:20Major Team Affiliations

03:22An argument could be made that by becoming Red Hulk, Thunderbolt Ross was able to better

03:26understand and sympathize with the main Hulk.

03:29So like the Grinch, his heart probably grew three sizes.

03:32Well, regardless of if that's accurate or not, Red Hulk eventually went from a villain

03:36to an antihero.

03:38He might be a bloodthirsty rageaholic, but he can also be a team player.

03:43He's been a part of multiple groups and has played nice with various superheroes too.

03:47After his rampage was stopped and he was imprisoned, Steve Rogers allowed him to join the Avengers.

03:52If this sounded like a bad idea, Rogers himself thought so too.

03:56Surprisingly though, Ross managed to be a useful ally.

03:59He was pivotal in key missions, especially during a catastrophe that involved the Infinity

04:03Gems.

04:04Later on, Captain America would send Red Hulk down to Vegas to investigate Agent Venom,

04:09another villain turned antihero.

04:11There the two would be joined by X-23 and a female ghostwriter named Alejandra Jones

04:15to fight Blackheart, the son of Mephisto.

04:18This storyline that happened was known as the Circle of Four.

04:21While this ragtag group never had an official name, Circle of Four sounds awesome, so why

04:27don't we just call them that?

04:28This also wouldn't be the last time that Red Hulk and Agent Venom worked together either.

04:33When Marvel did a comics-wide relaunch in 2012 called Marvel Now, the Black Ops team

04:37known as the Thunderbolts were relaunched entirely.

04:41This time they had an insanely stacked roster.

04:43We're talking Agent Venom, Deadpool, Punisher, Elektra, oh, and the Red Hulk as the one calling

04:49the shots.

04:51Even Ghostwriter and The Leader joined the team later too.

04:54In fact, The Leader ended up becoming Red at this point as well.

04:57What is it with everyone trying to copy Ross' style?

05:00Betty goes Red and now The Leader?

05:02Marvel is really filled with a lot of clout chasers, you know?

05:06Anyways, this was a bonkers lineup and the missions were never short of entertaining.

05:11But this group never got along too well, sadly, so it should come as no surprise that eventually

05:17Ross' version of the Thunderbolts came to an end.

05:19It's a damn shame too, like, it's a version of the Thunderbolts that's literally led

05:23by a guy named Thunderbolt Ross.

05:26Come on, that's a match made in heaven.

05:29Powers and Abilities

05:30When it comes to the Red Hulk's perks, he sure got a sweet deal.

05:34Since he's a mixture of both gamma radiation and cosmic rays, he's got some new features

05:39too.

05:40He's basically got all of the powers of the Hulk, with the bonus of not losing his

05:43intelligence either.

05:44He might not necessarily be as strong as his green counterpart, but he can still do serious

05:49damage whenever he wants.

05:51What also sets him apart is the way he can weaponize his anger.

05:54Because it's a bit different than how Banner does.

05:57The more angry Ross gets, the more heat his body generates.

06:00It can get so intense that it's like he's engulfed in flames.

06:04Talk about too hot to handle.

06:06Ross' intelligence also shouldn't be understated.

06:08He doesn't have to worry about becoming a feral beast every time he hulks up, so he

06:13can think clearly when he's in a fight.

06:15Sure, he isn't on the level of Banner or Stark, but his strategic mind shouldn't

06:19be overlooked.

06:20He's always searching for a tactical edge, and that's made him incredibly dangerous.

06:25He once managed to lift Mjolnir by essentially cheating and going into outer space.

06:29If that doesn't get him extra brownie points, then what will?

06:33Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified

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06:49Adaptations and Future

06:50Thunderbolt Ross has shown up in a variety of animated and live-action projects in the

07:01past, and that's yet to change.

07:04Remember Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

07:06He was in that.

07:07Remember Agents of Smash?

07:08As General Thunderbolt Ross, I made a whole career out of beating out greed monsters for

07:13the good ol' U.S. Army.

07:14Finally, I decided to fight fire with fire and Hulkatized myself.

07:19Now I keep an eye on Hulk, you know, to make sure he doesn't mess things up.

07:24Yeah, Red Hulk was in that too, and voiced by Clancy Brown.

07:28Beyond animation, Thunderbolt Ross has shown up in the MCU, originally played by William

07:32Hurt, but following his passing, the role was recast.

07:36And with that recasting, Ross is set to return to the MCU in Captain America Brave New World.

07:41With this latest installment, we'll finally get to see him show up as the Red Hulk in

07:46live-action.

07:47And this time, he'll be played by none other than Harrison Ford.

07:51It's also likely that Red Hulk will be butting heads with Captain America, which is a showdown

07:55we can't wait to see.

07:57But Brave New World might not be the last we see of him.

08:01While there's nothing officially confirmed yet, we could potentially see Red Hulk pop

08:04up again in a rumored World War Hulks project.

08:07It'll take some time before we know what actually ends up happening.

08:11However, what we can say for certain is that Red Hulk will be a force to be reckoned with,

08:16and in the end, we're looking forward to seeing him smash his way onto the big screen.

08:20You may be Captain America, but you're not Steve Rogers.

08:24Is there anything about Thunderbolt Ross' Red Hulk you think we missed?

08:27Let us know in the comments down below.

08:30Can you believe Jones is wasting bandwidth on Greeny when they got a hulked out war hero

08:34like me?

08:35Oh yeah.

08:36How you doing, honey?

08:39Ah, welcome to the gun show.

08:42Did you enjoy this video?

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