Thunderbolt Ross

Revision as of 07:56, 29 October 2018

Thunderbolt Ross is a male character that features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

From a young age, he learnt to be a pilot where he first flew solo when he was 10 years old. When he was 13 years old, he flew his first aerial show and when he was 16 years old he began to conduct such performances in three towns leading to him earning well for his acts. This was until one day when his bi-plane crashed and he was badly wounded with him having to be pulled out of the wreckage. A carnival doctor examined him and pronounced him dead on the spot though the young Ross regained consciousness in the ambulance where it was discovered that he had broken his back in three places where the diagnosis was he would never walk again. For the next year, he was in a body cast on braces and crutches where through sheer force of will he made himself walk as well as recover. (Hulk v2 #23)

To free a Rigellian Recorder, Howard Stark assembled the Stark Seven that consisted of Jimmy Woo, the Bear, Nessa the Kitten, Dum Dum Dugan and Thunderbolt Ross. Together, they helped free the Recorder from his captivity in a Grey crime family. (Iron Man v5 #10)

Hulkbuster

Red Hulk

The Red Hulk v1 #1.

During the Civil War, Ross came to see discontent and chaos ravage his country which was when he was approached by the Leader and M.O.D.O.K. who warned on the Hulk's return. The Leader offered to even resurrect Ross's daughter Betty with improvements to his technology. As they had warned, the Hulk did return from his exile where the Jade Giant initiated the events of World War Hulk with General Ross participating in the fight against him. It was the work of the Intelligencia that secretly helped in the defeat of the Hulk where L.M.D.s disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were responsible for taking away the Jade Giant. He was then taken to Gamma Base that was under the control of the Leader with General Ross and Doc Samson working with him. Sterns made use of siphoned energy from the Hulk in experiments that transformed Thunderbolt Ross into the Red Hulk along with the promise of resurrecting his daughter in exchange for him working for the Intelligencia as their operative. (Hulk v2 #23) He then went to Dimitri, Russia where the Red Hulk ambushed the Abomination who was brutally beaten before being executed with a specially made gamma pistol. Ross in his normal form then arrived to investigate the sighting of the mysterious new Red Hulk. (Hulk v2 #1)

He went to the offices of Nelson and Murdock in San Francisco as he confronted Matt Murdock who he believed was the Hulk's lawyer and who the Jade Giant had just visited. Ross wanted the location of the Hulk but came to realise that the encounter was a trap set up by his quarry with the Hulk arriving on the scene in order to forcibly depower him. This led to a battle as Ross became the Red Hulk and came to battle the Hulk who was operating under a new personality called Doc Green. Doc Green had attempted to use a syringe to remove the power of the Red Hulk from Ross but he was prepared with him wounding the Hulk who attempted to escape through a teleportation door back to his base. Red Hulk pursued him and they next battled him within Doc Green's headquarters in the Beehive where he continued to badly wound his opponent until Hulk's allies used a teleportation door to drop Ross above a volcano thus giving them a reprieve from further fighting. (Hulk v3 #10)

Return

After being depowered, he was kept arrested at a classified military prison where he learnt that the Hulk was killed in the events of Civil War II. His daughter came to visit him where Ross expressed that he was glad that the Hulk was slain as he was a monster. (Civil War II: The Fallen v1 #1) During the Secret Empire, Ross led a resistance cell against Hydra where afterwards he was paroled with him being given a clean slate allowing his return to the military. (Captain America v9 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

After his transformation by the Intelligencia, he came to take the identity of the Red Hulk. (Hulk v2 #23)

From his teenage years, he suffered injuries where multiple doctors stated that he would never walk again. However, through sheer force of will, he managed to recover and make himself walk once more. Since that time, he earned what he described as a healthy amount of disrespect for any individual that was a doctor. (Hulk v2 #23)

Something he never admitted to anyone was that during his first encounter with the Hulk that he came to covet the sheer raw destructive power of the creature. (Hulk v2 #23)

Powers and abilities

Through the experiments of the Intelligencia, he came to be artificially transformed into a creature similar to the Hulk with a distinctive red skin. (Hulk v2 #23)

Notes

• Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where he made his first appearance in the Incredible Hulk v1 #1 (May, 1962).
• The character was turned into the Red Hulk by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness where he made his first appearance in this identity in Hulk v2 #1 (March 2008).
• In a Cup O' Q&A, Joe Quesada noted in response about conflicting variations of Ross's military uniform that, "In the case of Ross, he has to be over the top, so as an artist, I would look at what was the official uniform and I’d elaborate on that to make it a Marvel U version of what this Hulkbusting General would look like. Also, one could argue that Ross belongs to a unit of the Air Force that has it’s own special dress code and uniforms."

Alternate Versions

• In Future Imperfect (2015), one version of Ross appeared on Battleworld where he was Dystopia's version of the Thing. His past was shown where he was an astronaut with fellow pilot John Talbot who were exposed to cosmic rays before crashing back to the surface. Talbot was killed and Ross was transformed into the rock-like Thing where he became an enemy of Baron Maestro.

In other media

Television

• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Thunderbolt Ross made a number of appearances where he was voiced by actor Keith Ferguson whilst actor Fred Tatasciore voiced him in his Red Hulk persona.
• In Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Thunderbolt Ross as the Red Hulk appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Clancy Brown.

Films

• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thunderbolt Ross made a number of appearances in the shared live-action setting.
  • In Captain America: Civil War, Thunderbolt Ross made an appearance in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor William Hurt.

Video games

• In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Thunderbolt Ross as the Red Hulk appeared as an unlockable character in the Facebook video game.
• In Contest of Champions, Thunderbolt Ross as the Red Hulk appeared as a playable character in the mobile phone game.

Appearances

• Incredible Hulk v1:
• Hulk v2:
• Red Hulk:
• Thunderbolts:
• Hulk v3:
• Captain America:

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry

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