“Since when were they red?” The new Captain America: Brave New World trailer released at D23 Brazil had fans seeing red when Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomer Harrison Ford, replacing the late William Hurt) hulked out, turning the president of the United States into the Red Hulk: Ross’ rampaging, crimson-colored alter ego in the Marvel comics. Footage also showed Sam Wilson’s Captain America (Anthony Mackie) thwarting a coordinated terrorist attack against the new “wartime president,” and glimpses of the two threats trying to clip Cap’s wings: Seth Voelker/Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) and Samuel Sterns/the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson), the big-brained scientist last seen in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk.
Originally contacted by Bruce Banner to cure his anger-induced transformations into the Hulk, Sterns experimented on Banner’s blood in an attempt to cure all diseases. After he was forced to turn the super solider Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) into a hulk-like Abomination, Sterns himself was mutated when an open wound on his head was exposed to Banner’s gamma-irradiated blood. (In an Avengers prequel comic, Natasha Romanoff apprehended Sterns and handed the super-scientist over to S.H.I.E.L.D.) And now it seems Sterns has continued his work to replicate the freak accident that turned Bruce Banner into the Hulk.
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In the comics, Red Hulk debuted in the pages of Hulk Vol. 2 #1 in 2008. Initially suspected to be Banner’s former psychologist, Dr. Leonard Samson (who once used a device called the Cathexis Ray to endow himself with the Hulk’s gamma ray powers he siphoned from Banner), the true identity of Red Hulk was eventually revealed to be General Thunderbolt Ross on the final page of Hulk #22.
Who Is the Red Hulk?
Years after witnessing the accident that transformed Banner into the Hulk during the first test of the Gamma Bomb, General Ross secretly coveted the Hulk’s power as he hounded the fugitive Banner with the full might of the U.S. military. Ross’ hatred of the Hulk saw him commit treason when he formed an alliance with the mad scientist M.O.D.O.K. to free the Abomination from prison in an attempt to destroy the Hulk (in 1983’s Incredible Hulk #287-#289), and he nearly committed suicide when he was dishonorably discharged.
When Ross died helping the Hulk save his daughter Betty from the mutant Nevermind (in Incredible Hulk #330), the Leader recovered Ross’ body and had him resurrected as a living weapon powerful enough to destroy the Hulk with the Redeemer armor (Incredible Hulk #366). Ross was later revived and reunited with his daughter, but Betty died from a radiation sickness caused by the Abomination (in Incredible Hulk #466).
World War Hulks
It wasn’t until after the Hulk was exiled to the savage alien planet of Sakaar (in the Planet Hulk storyline) and returned to rage war on Earth as the World Breaker (in World War Hulk) that Ross became a Hulk. Following Captain America’s assassination (in the aftermath of Civil War), Ross had become disillusioned with America. The Leader and M.O.D.O.K. — two of the sinister scientific minds behind the Intelligencia — approached Ross and told him they could revive Betty and give him the power to destroy the Hulk.
As it turned out, the satellites that Iron Man used to bombard the Hulk with cosmic energy and end his rampage in World War Hulk had been compromised. Like Samson did years earlier, the Leader and M.O.D.O.K. siphoned off the Hulk’s gamma energy and transferred it to the Cathexis Ray. The Intelligencia then used the Cathexis Ray to transform Ross into the Red Hulk (as revealed in Hulk #23).
Scorched Earth
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The Red Hulk’s identity was a mystery when he murdered the Abomination (in Hulk Vol. 2 #1). Then-S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark deduced that this Hulk was emitting so much gamma radiation he was scorching the Earth beneath his feet, and it was at this time that Banner’s old friend, Rick Jones, was turned into a blue-skinned new Abomination (a.k.a. A-Bomb). “Rulk” knocked out A-Bomb, beat the Hulk, punched out the Watcher, and then took down Thor in space when the Asgardian Avenger tried to stop his rampage.
After the Intelligencia used a combination of gamma and cosmic energy to Hulk-ify the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men — turning Earth’s mightiest heroes into Earth’s mightiest Hulks — it was revealed the Cathexis Ray was also used to create A-Bomb and the Red She-Hulk: a revived Betty Ross.
The Intelligencia betrayed Ross and seized his plan to create an army of hulked-up soldiers. The plan was to overthrow the government and put Ross in charge after a military coup so he could repair and reshape his country torn apart by the death of Steve Rogers (he later returned), so Red Hulk drained the Leader’s gamma-soaked brain and left him “ordinary” (although Sterns, too, would eventually return when Red Hulk assembled a new Thunderbolts team).
In Hulk #24, a fiery Red Hulk fought the Hulk at the White House and absorbed so much of the Hulk’s gamma power that he turned himself into an atomic bomb. But it was a gamma bomb that birthed the Hulk, and the Hulk proved that he’s the strongest one there is when he beat the overheated Ross into surrendering.
Why Is Red Hulk Red?
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The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets; but the madder Red Hulk gets, the hotter Red Hulk gets. It’s this red-hot gamma radiation that Ross absorbs and emits as Red Hulk that explains his red skin.
However, unlike the green Hulk, whose strength increases with his rage, the red Hulk builds up energy like a reactor, making him susceptible to overheating. That’s how Hulk was able to beat Red Hulk the first time (in Hulk #6), and it just might be how Cap can defeat this much stronger enemy in Captain America: Brave New World. The 35th MCU movie opens in theaters Feb. 14, 2025.
