Red Hulk - Harrison Ford's possible MCU persona - explained

gamesradar.com:

It's looking like the MCU will have a General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross after all, as Harrison Ford is reportedly stepping in to take the role previously played by the now-deceased William Hurt in Captain America: New World Order, as well as possibly Thunderbolts.

And with the Leader now confirmed to return in Captain America: New World Order, speculation has naturally turned to whether the MCU General Thunderbolt Ross will be transformed into the powerful form of the Red Hulk.

But if you're a Marvel fan who doesn't have a deep bench of comic book knowledge, you may be wondering exactly what the Red Hulk is, how Thunderbolt Ross is transformed into the Red Hulk, and how the Red Hulk saga fits into the mythos of characters like Bruce Banner, She-Hulk, and Abomination.

The answers to these questions are simple - but they open the door to a whole wider Hulk continuity full of numerous Gamma mutates, rival Hulk factions, and much more.

We'll break it all down right now.

The original Red Hulk is General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross. Introduced all the way back in 1961's Incredible Hulk #1 (opens in new tab) alongside Bruce Banner, Thunderbolt Ross (for decades just a regular man) is the Hulk's oldest enemy, a military leader obsessed with obtaining and controlling - or at the very least destroying - the limitless power of the Hulk.

After years of pursuing the Hulk through conventional (if increasingly powerful) weaponry and tactics as part of the military special forces group known as the Hulkbusters, Thunderbolt Ross finally decides to bite the bulle, and try to match the Hulk's strength through his own transformation.

But he doesn't undergo the transformation by himself. Instead, he volunteers as a subject for Hulk