What Do I Need to Know About Red Hulk to Watch ‘Captain America: Brave New World’?

After that pulse-pounding new trailer for 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World, we can’t help but be thrilled about Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) turn as Captain America. But while Sam soaring as Cap is exciting in itself, almost equally exhilarating is the tease at the very end of the trailer. After the title card, fans got a quick glimpse of none other than the Red Hulk, not to be confused with Mark Ruffalo‘s Bruce Banner (who is still very clearly green). No, this is another character entirely, and if you’ve been following Marvel Comics at all for the past decade or two, you probably recognized the character instantly. If you haven’t read many Hulk comics yourself, however, never fear, because here’s everything you need to know about the IncREDible Hulk!

Red Hulk First Appeared in Marvel Comics in 2008

It’s true that there was only ever one Incredible Hulk for a long time. Bruce Banner has been the titular monster/hero since his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #1 in 1962 (one of Stan Lee‘s finest, we might add), and though he was gray at first, he was already his iconic shade of green by the second issue. From then on, Banner fled from persecution at the hands of U.S. Army General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who hated the fact that Banner and Ross’s daughter Betty were an item. Ross also believed that the Hulk was military property, due to Banner’s transformation being a direct result of experimentation with gamma rays. It wouldn’t be until the revamped series many decades later, simply titled Hulk (penned by Jeph Loeb with art by Ed McGuinness), that the Red Hulk himself would be revealed in a similarly dramatic fashion. That’s right, Red Hulk showed up in the Marvel Universe the same year the MCU debuted in 2008, and he’s made quite an impact ever since.

In Marvel Comics, Red Hulk Was Revealed To Be General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross

When the Red Hulk first appeared in the comics, he was notable for killing Banner’s longtime enemies, the Abomination and Wendigo, taking on S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Avengers alike (including Iron Man, She-Hulk, Thor, and others), and even trying to kill our favorite green monster himself. Unlike the original Hulk, who gets stronger the angrier he gets, the Red Hulk gets hotter the angrier he gets, to the point where his body emits heat strong enough to turn part of a desert into glass. Thankfully, that sort of energy also weakens him. The character, sometimes referred to as “Rulk,” became a recurring antagonist to the original Hulk for a few years, until his origins were eventually revealed. It turns out that the Red Hulk was none other than General Ross himself, who was transformed into a monster after being convinced to do so by the Leader and M.O.D.O.K. (representing Intelligencia), who appealed to his desire for raw power. Ross’s daughter, Betty, is also transformed into the Red She-Hulk.

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Hulk and Ross had been sworn enemies for years, and that continued throughout the “World War Hulks” storyline, when Banner defeated the former general once again. After that, Ross reformed, at least on the surface, joining the Avengers for a time and eventually resuming his old Thunderbolts program, albeit without any funding from the U.S. military-industrial complex. He also temporarily lost his Red Hulk abilities and was even presumed dead, but has since returned and regained his abilities (complete now with his trademark mustache, which was absent for a long time) in more recent issues of Captain America. Though Ross has appeared in numerous animated and live-action Hulk projects, he has appeared as the Red Hulk, specifically as an antagonist, in episodes of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, where he was voiced by Keith Ferguson and Fred Tatasciore. Later on, Ross appeared as Red Hulk in a more heroic capacity when voiced by Clancy Brown in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., as well as other Marvel Universe series Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble.

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Plans to Revisit Elements of ‘The Incredible Hulk’

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, General Thunderbolt Ross (played by William Hurt) first appeared in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, the same year the Red Hulk was properly introduced into the comics. Though Ross doesn’t appear as the Red Hulk in the film, he serves as an antagonistic force to Bruce Banner (then played by Edward Norton) and his daughter Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), who are on the run from him. As early as The Incredible Hulk, Ross was interested in creating a new super soldier to overpower Banner’s Hulk, which ultimately led to the transformation of Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) into the Abomination. Ross would be absent from the MCU for years until Phase Three’s Captain America: Civil War, when he returned to enact the Sokovia Accords, which would require the registration of all superhuman powers (the Avengers) in order to be controlled by the UN. Though Captain America Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his allies fought back, Ross was still a powerful force within the MCU.

Ross appeared a few more times in the MCU before the events of Avengers: Endgame (where he showed up at Tony Stark’s funeral), but the universe wasn’t done with him yet. Following the death of William Hurt, Ross was recast in all upcoming MCU appearances with Harrison Ford now playing the part, beginning with Captain America: Brave New World. However, Ross isn’t the only holdout from The Incredible Hulk to show up in the Multiverse Saga. In the Disney+ She-Hulk series, Tim Roth returned as the Abomination, and it’s been revealed that Tim Blake Nelson will be reprising his Incredible Hulk role as Samuel Sterns (the character known as the Leader in the comics) in Brave New World. Given the Leader and Ross’s complicated comic book history (including his transformation into the Red Hulk), it’s safe to assume that some of that will be at play in the upcoming feature film. We also know that Ross is set to appear in the Thunderbolts*.

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In the comics, Red Hulk is a formidable opponent to Bruce Banner’s Hulk that very few can rival. Able to take out heavy hitters like Thor, Namor, and the Silver Surfer, Ross has proven himself to be one of the Marvel Universe’s most dangerous characters, especially if he’s on the wrong side. But as dangerous as Red Hulk can be, he can also be something of a hero. Ross’s own patriotism, similar to Captain America’s, can inspire the character to do great things, and when working with the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, he does just that. This isn’t to say that Ross is as heroic as, say, Bruce Banner himself, but that he has as much potential for good as he does evil. He just needs to be pointed at the right enemy.

The Origins of the MCU’s Red Hulk Are Still a Mystery

Of course, as for right now, we still don’t know who the MCU’s Red Hulk is. Though Harrison Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross (now the President of the United States) seems the most likely candidate given the character’s vast comic book history, it’s possible that Marvel Studios will pull another Iron Man 3 on us and switch up the character’s secret identity at the last minute. After all, even in the comics, there is more than one Red Hulk anyway! That’s right, for a brief time in the U.S.Avengers series, General Robert Maverick became the U.S.’s official Red Hulk while working with the titular team. Though, unlike Ross’s Red Hulk, Maverick’s version only exists for an hour or so at a time, and he can only transform when his “Hulk Plug-in” is triggered. However, the original Hulk eventually drains all the gamma radiation out of Maverick’s body, returning him to his original human state. Issues of The Immortal Hulk have even shown that Bruce Banner has the potential to become a Red Hulk, adding to the many different personalities that already exist in the character.

Given all the strangeness of the Red Hulk’s comic book history, who is to say that he won’t be a new character entirely? All we know of his role in Captain America: Brave New World thus far comes from a brief cameo in the trailer and the film’s official poster, which shows a Red Hulk hand clawing at Cap’s trademark shield. However things turn out in the MCU, we know that there’s a lot more to the Red Hulk than meets the eye. Hopefully, the film will do the concept of the Red Hulk justice, and will only open the door wider for more Hulk-related stories in the future.

Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters on February 14, 2025. In the meantime, The Incredible Hulk is available to watch on Disney+ in the U.S.

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