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!
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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?
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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.
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