The most recent teaser of Captain America: Brave New World suggests that Marvel is exhausting all the Hulk concepts it has been stalling for the past couple of years at most. One such Hulk, now revealed as Red Hulk, may be next in know as one, unlike the rest, is not fond of her Need to Know sexually inappropriate tantrums.
To the uninitiated, in the comic books, it stands to reason that Red Hulk is merely a codename for General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. His narrative begins long before Bruce Banner comes to be the Hulk. Ross was born in a family of military men and, since he wanted to become an officer of a very high rank, he did become one taking part in many wars including WW II, Korean war and cold war. After many fights and several ranks promotion rush, Ross lands in Los Alamos for nuclear test; a position that he despises and feels that he rather would do intelligent work than engage in what he views as paperwork. He wants to be out there and fights because he holds that the only source of real power comes from power, discipline, and courage.
Bruce Banner is introduced in this part, which doesn’t take Ross long to begin to despise. The slender and brainy Banner is made head of the nuclear research center where he heads when Ross is angry. Ross finally embarks on his hunt for Baldwin the moment he alters himself into the Hulk. He has an obsession with catching or killing Hulk which fails in all his attempt to bag Hulk. On top of it all, Ross’s daughter, Betty is also able to make the short-tempered doctor enjoy welcoming into his house, which further aggravates the anger of Ross. He marries Betty to Glenn Talbot who likewise hates the Hulk but the marriage does not work out as Betty confesses that she loves the Hulk.
Years roll by and with it the hope to ever get rid of the Hulk is lost as people like Ross Cantel struggle. Ross is left to relish earth’s warmth for a small period when Hulk is vanquished to space. Sad, but was very sad to the loss of his daughter who gets killed by the abomination. Down and out and seeking options he has turned to MODOK and the Leader who happen to be Hulk’s fights. They too are able to offer Ross what he wants. The ability to transform into the Red Hulk who possesses the energy ripped off from Hulk in the WW Hulk storyline.
The Red Hulk, on the other hand, is a much more functional character and has little to do with just being a red Hulk. Like say Johnson’s demeanor helps the whole time, though he is the Red Hulk; Ross does seem to remain a lucid sense of one’s self and can transform to and from man and Hulk as he pleases. Fighting more, he absorbs energy and helps him fight more, but that has its own setbacks, namely that the longer he remains in the form of the Hulk, the more damage he inflicts upon himself internally.
In the comics, it was especially exciting when it was revealed that Red Hulk had actually been General Ross all along while using a robot dummy of Ross to still preserve normalcy. Heads of Red Hulk go to several destruction causing activities and even chooses to battle original Hulk. He fights against Thor, drags him to the moon, then does something and when he touches back on earth creates a huge earthquake in San Francisco. At some point, when Hulk probably came to a right mind, he used Red Hulk’s biggest body disadvantage against himself and overpowered him.
Red Hulk continues to have active consensual participation in a number of teams, such as the Avengers, the Thunderbolts. it’s not surprising that he even overdoses on the power of the Cosmic Cube and the Silver Surfer.
Shifting perspectives now to line with the MCU, Red Hulk brings in quite a number of advantages. The biggest question that people have is: how can he be beaten? Of all the heroes in the world, it is quite far-fetched to think that even politically radicalized Wilson’s Captain America would take him down, considering those strengths of Red Hulk that are depicted in the trailer, or he has a vibranium shield and crushes it. There is also the question of whether he will have that overheating gadget in the MCU, which ended up milking him in the comics. If they hold that sort of thing back, that more than likely could be his Achilles heel in this movie.
Then as if that was not enough also the Leader was relatively present with no confirmation of if he would be included in the movie in Brave New World. He is ‘cognitive terrorist’ who has devised ways even in the comics to Sun within him, so he is likely to do a lot of damage to Ross Turn Red Hulk, In the comics arms of Lara and mentors via torture of the police may also seek to reincarnate the Savage Hulk and exterminate the great brute which was lost amid all the rent of the MCU.
So, where are we going from here? Does that mean Red Hulk’s role would be confined to one of those episodic comic book villains or will the MCU writers feel bold enough to try and penetrate to find Red Hulk’s links and purpose, his evolution within the story arcs? Only time will answer the questions but it is fun to imagine.
For the time being, let’s wait and see what Marvel has in mind.
