Marvel just dropped the trailer for Captain America: Brave New World. Can you guess who they introduced? The Red Hulk! Did you even know that one existed in the first place? Well, it did, and in ways you couldn’t imagine!
To begin with, Red Hulk is General Thaddeus E. Ross, a US Military Officer, also known as ‘Thunderbolt Ross.’ The Red Hulk appeared in Marvel comics in 2008 for the first time. In case you’re wondering, yes, it was the same year the first Iron Man movie came out. A supervillain was introduced while one of the most iconic Marvel superheroes was in the making. To be honest, the Red Hulk is not exactly a supervillain, but then he doesn’t look like a hero. There’s a lot that you’ll need to know before we decide on his categorization.
Red Hulk: The Origin Story
Let’s dive into the origin story of a character making global headlines right now: The Red Hulk. Thunderbolt Ross is among the characters who’ve always hated The Hulk and wanted him gone for everyone’s good, so much so that he was the person responsible for letting out ‘Abomination’ in the world.
Yes, we’re talking about the devil-looking green monster who fights The Hulk in MCU’s ‘The Incredible Hulk (2008)’. Abomination is Emil Blonsky, who used the Gamma-ray machine made by Bruce Banner. Originally, this machine was built by Banner to commit suicide via exposure to excessive radiation. Right after Emil turns himself into an Abomination, he kills Thunderbolt Ross’s daughter, Betty Ross. That brings us to the next big possibility, which is the MCU hinting at Red Shehulk in ‘Captain America: Brave New World.’ We know this is too soon, but we also know that MCU is planning to line it up. It’s because Red Shehulk is none other than Thunderbolt Ross’s daughter, Betty Ross!
We understand you may have many questions, but don’t worry; we’ll cover it all. So, Emil (according to the comics) is an agent sent by Yugoslavian federals to investigate the US military research center. Then things, as usual, take a turn, and Emil kills Ross’s daughter in the heat of the moment. Later, he heads out into the town to kill his only opponent in the world, The Hulk. In a parallel storyline, Betty’s life is saved by another group of people who don’t exactly belong to the Earth (let’s keep the details for these guys for another time).
Red Hulk spends a long time knowing that these people saved his daughter. But, the part that he could never guess was that they turned her into Red Shehulk to save her. He only finds out about it when he gets into a fight with her. What a reunion! And how amazing would it be for us to watch this sequence in a full-blown MCU movie?
Now, back to how we were talking about Thunderbolt Ross and his attempts at killing The Hulk. To his disappointment, even Abomination fails at defeating Hulk.
This leaves Ross with no choice but to turn himself into a monster to kill The Hulk. So, he does, and that’s how you get The Red Hulk!
Red Hulk: Abilities And Weakness
Red Hulk’s abilities are pretty much the same as those of The Hulk. Some of his powers include:
- Superhuman Strength: Red Hulk could easily lift 1,00,000 kg and smash it around.
- Superhuman Speed: He could jump high and far with his superhuman legs and cross half a city in one go.
- Special Powers: He holds insane resistance to fire and can hold his breath for a long time underwater.
- Intelligence: Unlike Bruce Banner, he doesn’t lose his IQ when he becomes big, which is a total game-changer.
- Durability: Red Hulk can survive even when buried underground for a long time.
- Radioactive: He can absorb all types of Radioactive waves thrown at him and become stronger. He once absorbed all of the radioactive energy from ‘Silver Surfer,’ causing him to almost die. Moreover, he also tends to have the upper hand while fighting the Hulk because The Hulk always emits radiation.
Like every other superhuman character in the MCU, even the Red Hulk has some weaknesses:
- Default Form: In contrast to Bruce Banner, he cannot switch back to his normal human form. The only way to turn him human is to rip off all of the radiation from his body.
- Too Powerful: He can absorb all the radiation and become stronger, but there’s a limit to it. After that, he may heat up and explode with all the extra radiation thrown at him.
The trailer for Captain America: Brave New World has triggered a lot. Did you know? The Red Hulk has been a member of two very popular organizations -The Avengers and The Thunderbolts. We all know about the Avengers, but ‘Thunderbolts’ is on another level. The group is led by Red Hulk and includes Deadpool, The Punisher, Venom, and Elektra.
We just discussed how the MCU could expand with Red Hulk, and it’s unreal. So, let’s prepare to witness some huge box office collections, beginning with Brave New World and what follows.
