Thunderbolt Ross: Difference between revisions

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers
168,027 edits
m →‎Red Hulk: Cite formatting.
Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers
140,876 edits
No edit summary
Line 81: Line 81:
* In the 1996 [[UPN]] ''[[The Incredible Hulk (1996 animated TV series)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' animated series, General Ross is voiced by [[John Vernon]]. As in the comics, is a [[3 star rank|3-star]] [[Lieutenant general (United States)|general]] who sends Army forces and [[Hulkbusters]] to capture or destroy the Hulk. He also fights the Hulk personally, using a laser gun Bruce Banner created against the creature in "Return of the Beast, part 1 and 2", and again in "Darkness and Light part 3".
* In the 1996 [[UPN]] ''[[The Incredible Hulk (1996 animated TV series)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' animated series, General Ross is voiced by [[John Vernon]]. As in the comics, is a [[3 star rank|3-star]] [[Lieutenant general (United States)|general]] who sends Army forces and [[Hulkbusters]] to capture or destroy the Hulk. He also fights the Hulk personally, using a laser gun Bruce Banner created against the creature in "Return of the Beast, part 1 and 2", and again in "Darkness and Light part 3".
* Thunderbolt Ross appears in the ''[[Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes]]'' episode "Hard Knocks." He made a cameo at the end when the Army arrests Agent Pratt.
* Thunderbolt Ross appears in the ''[[Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes]]'' episode "Hard Knocks." He made a cameo at the end when the Army arrests Agent Pratt.
* Thunderbolt Ross appears in ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes]]'' voiced by [[Keith Ferguson]]. In the episode "Hulk vs the World," Thunderbolt Ross and his men were pursuing the Hulk. They end up crashing a battle between Hulk and the Absorbing Man. During Hulk's fight with the army after Absorbing Man's defeat, a S.H.I.E.L.D. group led by Hawkeye and Black Widow appeared telling Thunderbolt Ross to pull back. Thunderbolt Ross mentioned that he told Nick Fury to stay out of his pursuing of the Hulk. When it came to Hulk's fight with Black Widow and Hawkeye, Thunderbolt Ross ended up firing a missile which was deflected by the Hulk.
* Thunderbolt Ross appears in ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes]]''.


===Film===
===Film===

Revision as of 00:07, 21 December 2010

Thunderbolt Ross
Ed McGuiness
In-story information
Alter egoGeneral Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross
Team affiliationsHulkbusters
United States military
AbilitiesSuperhuman strength, stamina and durability; healing factor; energy absorption; intelligence, and heat generation.

General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross is a

Hulk
.

A veteran of several wars, Ross was the military head of the Gamma Bomb Project although he treated the project's research head, Banner, with contempt. When Banner is caught in a test blast of the weapon and acquired his Hulk condition, Ross personally volunteers to kill the monster and pursues him with a growing obsessiveness. As he is not initially aware of the truth of Banner's condition, Ross merely suspects he is a compatriot of the beast. However, when he does learn the truth, Ross hunts Banner as well. In 2008, Ross first appeared as the Red Hulk, into which he had been transformed in order to better combat his nemesis.

In 2009, Thunderbolt Ross was named IGN's 71st Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.[1]

Fictional character biography

Ross is a General in the Air Force who is in charge of Bruce Banner's

Rick Jones. He is recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Clay Quartermain to merge with the electric creature Zzzax, a process that gives Ross superpowers
, but also makes him mentally unstable. He is later restored to human form but retains some residual energy-generating powers.

Finally, a mutant who drains people of their mental energy attacks Gamma Base in search for a strong host, in this case the Hulk. After witnessing

Rick Jones
(who was the Hulk at that time) and Banner heroically engaging the mutant, Ross, realizing that he has been wrong about the Hulk being a mindless monster, saves his daughter from being slain by allowing the mutant to latch onto him, and discharging the energy resources he retained from Zzzax. Giving his blessing to Bruce and Betty, he dies in his daughter's arms.

Ross' body is later stolen by the Leader, who uses the powers of one of his followers to resurrect Ross. He turns him into a mindless replacement for his fallen soldier Redeemer. Ross is eventually recovered and revived by agents of the alien Troyjan, and returns to the Air Force. He would later come up with a more cost-effective method of confronting the Hulk when he is in his child-like stage: active non-resistance. He and his men simply do not fire on or engage the Hulk in any way. The Hulk, confused, does not smash and leaps away.

Ross would make friends with Banner, but when Betty is seemingly killed due to what both Ross and Banner believed to have been Banner's gamma-irradiated DNA interacting with hers, he once more pursues the Hulk with a vendetta.

Around this time, General Ryker takes over the pursuit of the Hulk. Ross is indirectly involved, observing when Ryker mentally tortures Banner in order to try and figure out how the Hulk works. The Hulk escapes from Ryker's control and after several adventures, is lost in space.

After the Hulk returns from exile and initiates "

Warbound, the army he has brought back from space. The Hulk is eventually defeated via satellite weapons that fire upon him, reverting him to human form.[3]

Red Hulk

Cover of Hulk vol. 2 #1 (Jan. 2008). Art by Ed McGuinness.

Red Hulk (also known as Rulk

Kenneth Johnson, the creator of the 1970s TV series The Incredible Hulk, had suggested a red Hulk for that adaptation decades earlier,[9] Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada proposed the idea for the comics to debut a red version of the character, whose human identity was a secret.[10] Initially, Red Hulk's identity was unknown both to the characters in the story[11] and to the reading audience.[12]

The 2008 opening story arc of the current Hulk series established that the character is very aggressive, as the Red Hulk murders Hulk foes the

Abomination; destroys the Helicarrier of the spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D.; defeats several Marvel heroes, and, after causing an earthquake in San Francisco, is finally defeated by the combined efforts of the Hulk and the thunder god Thor
.

In a subsequent storyline, the

Red She-Hulk character.[14]

It is later revealed that Red Hulk is created as part of a

Intelligencia,[16] headed by the Hulk foe MODOK.[17]

In Fall of the Hulks: Gamma, Red Hulk is related in flashback to have killed General Ross at the behest of Bruce Banner, with whom he has formed an alliance.[18] However, the 2010 "World War Hulks" storyline reveals that the flashback was a red herring and that the Red Hulk is Thunderbolt Ross himself, when, during a battle with Red She-Hulk (who was revealed to be a Hulked-out version of his daughter Betty), the Red Hulk reverts to human form,[19] his apparent death revealed to have been a ruse involving a Life Model Decoy of Ross used to convince the world that he had died (which explained how Thunderbolt Ross and Red Hulk were seen in the same scenes). Red Hulk then thwarts the Intelligencia's plan to take over the United States with a Life Model Decoy of Glenn Talbot by destroying the Talbot LMD, and attempts to take over the country himself.[3] He is thwarted by a restored Hulk, in possession of Banner's intelligence, who beats Red Hulk, and imprisons him. Banner then makes arrangements with Captain Steve Rogers for Red Hulk to join the Avengers.[20][21]

Powers and abilities

General Thunderbolt Ross is a master strategist in war and military tactics.

Marvel editor Mark Paniccia has described the Red Hulk as "absolutely uninhibited, tactically intelligent",

body temperature rises with his anger. Though the heat is intense enough to melt desert sand into glass, it causes him to weaken,[22] as his physiology lacks a cooling mechanism to deal with the excess heat.[19] Red Hulk has also been shown to have a weakness to Negative Zone energy, which caused him burning pain and drained him when he attempted to absorb it.[24]

Red Hulk reception

Comics featuring the Red Hulk have sold well, but received mixed reviews. The first five issues of the Hulk title sold out, and second printings featured new covers.[25] Issue #6 was the second best-selling title of September 2008,[26] and issue #10 was sixth in February 2009.[27]

Augie De Blieck. Jr., of Comic Book Resources gave the first six issues a positive review, describing it as a "silly fun action romp" and a "popcorn comic". De Blieck liked Loeb's lack of subtlety when giving out clues, saying "this is a book where anytime someone is about reveal the solution to the big mystery, they get knocked out by a slap in the face from the Red Hulk or a machine gun to the gut". His one criticism was that, although he liked the artwork, he would have preferred Dale Keown as the artist.[28]

IGN reviewer Jesse Schedeen was generally critical of the series, citing a lack of character development and the emphasis on continuous action sequences over the ongoing question of Red Hulk's identity.[29] Schedeen also derided the treatment of other mainstream Marvel characters within the pages of Hulk, saying about issue #5 "The series has already treated She-Hulk and Iron Man like ragdolls who crumple under the awesome might of Red Hulk. Now it's Thor's turn".[30] Claiming bad dialogue, poor pacing and maltreated characters, the review claims Ed McGuinness' artwork has been the only saving grace for the title.[29][30] In an interview with Loeb, Z. Julian Cenac of ComixFan.com noted that some readers were upset that the Red Hulk was able to thrash other powerful Marvel characters, and were concerned that such a high power-level wouldn't be sustainable. Loeb replied, "I tell the best stories I can."[31]

Army or Air Force General?

Ross' military affiliation has been inconsistently portrayed in the comics. Many early Hulk stories depicted Ross as an Army general trying to capture or destroy the Hulk with his U.S. Army battalion, called the "Hulkbusters". However, he is also frequently seen in an Air Force uniform, as in his first appearance in Incredible Hulk #1. However, stories about his service during World War II portray him as an Army officer in the Army Air Forces, as the Air Force was not a separate branch of the Armed Forces until September 18, 1947.

The army continuity is also followed in various Hulk adaptations, such as in the original 1966 and 1996-1998 cartoon versions of the Hulk, as well as the 2003

U.S. Air Force
.

Other versions

In other media

Television

Film

  • Actor Sam Elliott played the role of General Ross in the 2003 movie Hulk, directed by Ang Lee. In the film, it is revealed that Ross was responsible for locking away David Banner, Bruce's father, when Bruce was 4 years old, after learning of David's dangerous experiments, and sees Bruce as a threat, because he fears that Bruce might follow in his father's footsteps.
  • William Hurt portrayed General Ross in director Louis Leterrier's 2008 feature film, The Incredible Hulk released on June 13, 2008.[34] In this version, he was in charge of Banner's research into creating potential 'super soldiers' using gamma radiation, though he had led Banner to believe that the experiments were attempt to develop a treatment for radiation poisoning.

Video games

Other merchandise

Red Hulk has been merchandised in the form of toy action figures[37][38][39] and miniature statues.[40]

Bibliography

  • Hulk (2008) vol. 2 #1–present (Marvel Comics), March 2008–present
  • King-Size Hulk one-shot (Marvel Comics), June 2008)
  • Incredible Hulk #600, 606-608
  • Mighty Avengers #25
  • Wolverine Vol. 3 #73
  • Fall of the Hulks: Alpha #1
  • Fall of the Hulks: Gamma #1
  • Fall of the Hulks: Red Hulk #1-4

Collected editions

  • Hulk vol. 1: Red Hulk ISBN 0785128816; (collects Hulk (Vol. 2) #1-6)
  • Hulk vol. 2: Red & Green ISBN 0-7851-2883-2 (hardcover)/ISBN 0-7851-2884-0 (softcover); (collects Hulk (Vol. 2) #7-9, King-Size Hulk #1)
  • Hulk vol. 3: Hulk No More (Collects "Hulk" (Vol. 2) #10-13, "Incredible Hulk" #600)
  • Hulk vol. 4: Hulk vs. X-Force (Collects "Hulk" (Vol. 2) #14-18)
  • Hulk vol. 5: Fall of the Hulks (Collects "Hulk" (Vol. 2) #19-21, "Fall of the Hulks: Gamma" #1)

References

  1. ^ Thunderbolt Ross is number 71 IGN. Retrieved 10-05-09.
  2. ^ Steve Englehart (w), Herb Trimpe (p), Sal Trapani (i). "Two Years Before the Abomination!" The Incredible Hulk, no. 159 (January 1973). Marvel Comics.
  3. ^ a b c Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Mark Farmer (i). "Who is the Red Hulk?" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 1 (August 2010). Marvel Comics. Cite error: The named reference "HulkV2#23" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ "'Hulk' #5 is red hot - second printing announced" Comic Book Resources. August 12, 2008
  5. ^ Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Dexter Vines (i). "Who is the Hulk?" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 1 (February 2008). Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ Smith, Zack. "FEC 09: PARKER, PELLETIER SMASH Into WORLD WAR HULKS" Newsarama. August 29, 2009
  7. ^ a b George, Richard (May 30, 2008). "The Future of the Hulk: Marvel reveals new details about the current and future status of the Hulk line". IGN. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b Colton, David (February 17, 2008). "The reliably green Incredible Hulk gets pulled into a crimson tide for '#2'". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
  9. ^ Cronin, Brian. "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #62", Comic Book Resources, August 3, 2006.
  10. Washington Post
    . Retrieved 2009-03-04.
  11. ^ a b Kiel Phegley. "CCI: Introducing... Red She-Hulk" Comic Book Resources; July 24, 2009
  12. ^ Strom, Marc. "Who is the Red Hulk?" Marvel.com, June 17, 2009
  13. ^ Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Dexter Vines, Mark Farmer (i). "Hulk No More" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 10-12 (April - June 2009). Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ Jeph Loeb (w), Ian Churchill (p), Mark Farmer (i). "Code Red" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 14-17 (October - December 2009). Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Mark Farmer, Dexter Vines (i). "Red Hulk" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 1-6 (February - 2008). Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ a b Jeff Parker (w), Paul Pelletier (p), Vicente Cifuentes (i). "Meeting of the Minds" Fall of the Hulks: Alpha (February 2010). Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ a b Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Mark Farmer (i). "Seeing Red" The Incredible Hulk, vol. 2, no. 600 (September 2009). Marvel Comics.
  18. John Romita, Jr. (p
    ). Fall of the Hulks: Gamma (February 2010). Marvel Comics.
  19. ^ a b c d Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Mark Farmer (i). "Dogs of War" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 23 (July 2010). Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Mark Farmer (i). "The Strongest There Is" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 24 (September 2010). Marvel Comics.
  21. ^ a b Jeff Parker (w), Gabriel Hardman (a). "Scorched Earth" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 25 (November 2010). Marvel Comics.
  22. ^ a b c Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Dexter Vines (i). "Blood Red" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 6 (November 2008). Marvel Comics.
  23. ^ Jeph Loeb (w), Ed McGuinness (p), Mark Farmer & Dexter Vines (i). "Winner Takes All" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 12 (July 2009). Marvel Comics.
  24. ^ Jeph Loeb (w), Whilce Portacio (p), Danny Miki (i). "Delilah" Hulk, vol. 2, no. 19 (March 2010). Marvel Comics.
  25. ^ CBR News Team (August 12, 2008). ""Hulk" #5 is - second printing announced". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  26. ^ "Top 300 Comics Actual--September 2008". ICv2.com.
  27. ^ "Top 300 Comics Actual--February 2009". ICv2. March 17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  28. ^ De Blieck Jr., Augie (January 6, 2009). "Pipeline". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
  29. ^ a b Schedeen, Jesse (May 25, 2008). "Hulk #4 Review, Who is the hulkiest Hulk of them all?". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-28. Each issue provides about 30 seconds of plot development, which usually centers around heaping more layers of mystery atop the Red Hulk's identity. The rest involves smashing, being smashed, or a bit of both.
  30. ^ a b Schedeen, Jesse (August 6, 2008). "Hulk #5 Review, It's hammer time for Red Hulk". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  31. ^ Cenac, Z. Julian (2009). "An Ultimatum of an Interview with Jeph Loeb". ComixFan.com. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
  32. ^ Warren Ellis (w), Salvador Larroca (a). "Mystery" newuniversal, no. 5 (2007). Marvel Comics.
  33. ^ Warren Ellis (w), Salvador Larroca (a). "Tumble" newuniversal, no. 6 (2007). Marvel Comics.
  34. ^ "William Hurt Joins The Incredible Hulk!". SuperHeroHype.com. 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  35. ^ "The Red Hulk Comes To GameStop". Game News International. 2008-05-08. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  36. ^ Raub, Matt "‘Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2′ Alternate Costumes Revealed!" The Flick Cast, September 15, 2009
  37. Amazon.com
    , Accessed January 20, 2010
  38. ^ Marx, Julius. "Hulk Has Big Bad Toy Store Seeing Red" Action Figure Insider, June 17, 2008
  39. ^ "Marvel Legends Exclusive Red Hulk Build-A-Figure Action Figure: BAF Red Hulk Loose" CmdStore.com, Accessed January 2010
  40. ^ Marvel Statues & Busts, StarStore.com, Accessed January 20, 2010

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thunderbolt_Ross&oldid=403438767"