Red Hulk Appreciation: The incREDible Hulk

[Ken Ashcroft]

So Red Hulk is no longer Ross per Alan Ewing. ((facepalm))


There’s an all-new Red Hulk. It’s a familiar face to those who’ve been reading “New Avengers,” and it’s someone who didn’t really have any kind of relationship with Bruce Banner. He did have an adversarial relationship with Roberto da Costa, though, and just because they’re working together now, it doesn’t mean he’s forgotten his objections."

It sounds a lot like General Maverick but it might be a curveball thrown by the writer as there is someone else who has appeared a lot in the New Avengers book recently who might also fit that description plus most importantly he also has the essential trademark moustache.

Timothy Dum Dum Dugan.

[ChrisIII]

So there's going to be another robot Hulk? Well, there's precedent for that I guess with the one from Fall of the Hulks based on Banner. Think it even had gamma radiation too.

[nj06]

I hope they keep Red Hulk's glowing eyes. One thing I liked about both Red Hulk and Red She-Hulk were they way their eyes glowed and were pupil-less.

[Digifiend]

So there's going to be another robot Hulk? Well, there's precedent for that I guess with the one from Fall of the Hulks based on Banner. Think it even had gamma radiation too.

Depends who it is - Dugan is no longer an LMD.

[TheStrongestOne]

I hope they keep Red Hulk's glowing eyes. One thing I liked about both Red Hulk and Red She-Hulk were they way their eyes glowed and were pupil-less.

I know, right? Those pupil-less, glowing yellow eyes have such a feeling of raw power. Love it!

[Thad937]

It sounds a lot like General Maverick but it might be a curveball thrown by the writer as there is someone else who has appeared a lot in the New Avengers book recently who might also fit that description plus most importantly he also has the essential trademark moustache.

Timothy Dum Dum Dugan.

I thought the same thing, I'll be happy if it's General Maverick or Dum Dum Dugan. I wish it was Thunderbolt Ross, but I think Universal owns the film/distribution rights to Hulk characters including Ross? Having Maverick or Dugan could lead to a film with Rulk.

[Vermis]

So Red Hulk is no longer Ross per Alan Ewing. ((facepalm))

Oh.

Well I guess I'm not pulled back in, then. That'll save me a few quid a month.

"Remember what I said about early interviews? Well, Thunderbolt Ross isn’t the Red Hulk. Essentially, we had the idea to bring Ross into the book, and it seemed like a great one – but then we were bending over backwards and tying ourselves in knots to make it actually happen without wrecking some other stories..."

Well, this is based on my opinion of Marvel's writing these last couple of years (and perhaps not an uncommon one if sales are slumping) but I'd guess that shoving Ross back in as Red Hulk couldn't wreck these stories any further. Quite the opposite, IMO.

Now I will have to say I'm a big Ross Red Hulk fan instead of a Red Hulk fan (Christ, it's depressing just to type that).

You hit the nail on the head, though. One of the big complaints about Rulk from the start - that he was just 'a hulk of a different colour' - was one of the biggest misconceptions. (And doesn't do much to help my opinion that too many comic fans are too caught up with powers and fights than with character and writing) It's not that he's a red hulk, it's that he's Thunderbolt Ross, given a taste of the power than he's chased and apparently coveted all these years, and how he reacts to it. It was a great concept, and IMO handled better than previous 'what if Ross was the Hulk?' stories. Even Loeb's problematic introduction fits, with Ross drunk on that power and the exhilaration, before Parker picks up the arc and the growth when it all goes pear-shaped for him.

You can say it doesn't matter so much because Maverick is 'Ross lite', but no, it's not the same. Imagine when original, non-'awesome' Hulk comes back, but at the last moment the writers get in a flap and announce that it's not Banner, but a new character: a repressed, nebbish, nuclear physicist called 'Professor Poindexter'. You'd think they were taking the piss.

Not me. It's already off my pull list. I'll be contributing to Marvel's slump in superhero comic sales until the execs bring another Joe Quesada in to right the ship and axe the Axel.

I totally understand, I felt that way after reading Omega Hulk... Red Hulk renewed my interest in comics after a long absence.

Yyyup. I think I've said it before, but I told myself I'd stick with Red Hulk until Marvel inevitably axed him. Omega Hulk was that moment, and the last superhero title on my pull list. Ross was depowered - bye-bye Marvel. ('Course, that decision was helped by the awful writing in that arc, and in the Thunderbolts... 'volume' I guess... before it)

[Digifiend]

I thought the same thing, I'll be happy if it's General Maverick or Dum Dum Dugan. I wish it was Thunderbolt Ross, but I think Universal owns the film/distribution rights to Hulk characters including Ross? Having Maverick or Dugan could lead to a film with Rulk.

They very concept of a Hulk would fall under Universal's rights, they can't do a Red Hulk film no matter who it is. They can add him to the Avengers though, in which case it might as well be Ross, who is already established.

[TheStrongestOne]

They very concept of a Hulk would fall under Universal's rights, they can't do a Red Hulk film no matter who it is. They can add him to the Avengers though, in which case it might as well be Ross, who is already established.

I would agree. Any Hulk would fall under the rights of Universal. Otherwise what would stop Marvel making someone else Wolverine for instance other than Logan, just to start making Wolverine movies. Logic just doesn't support that.

Lucky for Hulk fans Marvel has a loophole and can still use Hulk in non-Hulk-solo-movies, which is why we are getting a version of Planet Hulk in a Thor film.

[TheStrongestOne]

Well, this is based on my opinion of Marvel's writing these last couple of years (and perhaps not an uncommon one if sales are slumping) but I'd guess that shoving Ross back in as Red Hulk couldn't wreck these stories any further. Quite the opposite, IMO.

Exactly. The obviously bad editorial supervision leading to a quick, lazy switch of a character's identity as a "fix" is microcosm of exactly what is wrong with Marvel Comics these days.

One of the big complaints about Rulk from the start - that he was just 'a hulk of a different colour' - was one of the biggest misconceptions. (And doesn't do much to help my opinion that too many comic fans are too caught up with powers and fights than with character and writing) It's not that he's a red hulk, it's that he's Thunderbolt Ross, given a taste of the power than he's chased and apparently coveted all these years, and how he reacts to it.

^^^ THIS

[Thad937]

You hit the nail on the head, though. One of the big complaints about Rulk from the start - that he was just 'a hulk of a different colour' - was one of the biggest misconceptions. (And doesn't do much to help my opinion that too many comic fans are too caught up with powers and fights than with character and writing)

The hypocrisy some comic book fans had towards Red Hulk left me disappointed. A Hulk family was bad, but it's fine to have multiple: Spider-men and women, Thor's, Captain America's, and Iron-men. I hated Rulk at first, but the evolution of his character in the Code Red arc made me a fan.

They very concept of a Hulk would fall under Universal's rights, they can't do a Red Hulk film no matter who it is. They can add him to the Avengers though, in which case it might as well be Ross, who is already established.

Ah I see, maybe Marvel will give the new character a different name: Red, Big Red, Boss, or Rulk (if it's legal)? Anything other than Red Hulk, that seems derivative IMO.

[Ken Ashcroft]

So how is it that the Hulk can appear in many Avengers movies as Marvel studios want and is able to practically co-star in the next Thor movie yet Universal still supposedly hold all the rights to the character and supporting cast?

[TheStrongestOne]

So how is it that the Hulk can appear in many Avengers movies as Marvel studios want and is able to practically co-star in the next Thor movie yet Universal still supposedly hold all the rights to the character and supporting cast?

This was all a result of the new deal Universal and Marvel struck after the lukewarm reception of Ang Lee's HULK film.

Didn't you see Thaddeus Ross in Civil War? Universal holds distribution rights for Hulk and Hulk's supporting cast in standalone films only. I'm certain Marvel Studios would have made another Hulk standalone film after Avengers and his new found popularity, (Marvel was only a film studio, not a distributor), but Disney acquiring Marvel axed those plans. Disney distributes their own films and the last thing they want to do is share a portion of the revenue.

[Vermis]

The hypocrisy some comic book fans had towards Red Hulk left me disappointed. A Hulk family was bad, but it's fine to have multiple: Spider-men and women, Thor's, Captain America's, and Iron-men.

True!

I hated Rulk at first, but the evolution of his character in the Code Red arc made me a fan.

I didn't like Greg Pak's Hulk run (Ow. Ow. Stop throwing those rocks.) so I had some amount of schadenfreude when someone turned up to slap the green Hulk about a bit. But yeah, it wasn't until his Watcher-punching sugar rush ended and some proper conflict (Rulk vs. Intelligencia) started that I really got into the character.

And the reveal of who he really was. I like Ross. To use TheStrongestOne's words, if this is more of a 'Ross Red Hulk' appreciation thread, anyone mind some appreciation of plain ol' Thunderbolt?
I knew who he was before I started reading Hulk comics, but I started reading those near the end of Peter David's run, when he brought Ross back from the dead. He was a more relaxed person, able to deal with the Hulk in more intelligent, diplomatic ways. I missed all of the 'obsessive Ahab' years that other writers seem determined to drag him back to.



And the cover of that issue:



Who can't appreciate stones like that?

(And a further aside: I had to buy a kindle copy of that issue to get the page image. It's been years since I had the physical copy, but I can recognise every line, every expression on Adam Kubert's art. It's a giddy feeling. And whatever happened to Cary St Lawrence?)

Ah I see, maybe Marvel will give the new character a different name: Red, Big Red, Boss, or Rulk (if it's legal)? Anything other than Red Hulk, that seems derivative IMO.

He's just a rulk of the same colour...

Didn't you see Thaddeus Ross in Civil War?

Disappointed that he didn't turn red, as we in this topic hoped. But watching Civil War, it's possible that Ross got the impression that it's one rule for 'superheroes', one rule for the rest of us. (Not too pessimistic a reading, is it?) Maybe that'd prompt him to recruit Sam Sterns for some experimentation.

I can have my pipe dreams, can't I?

[TheStrongestOne]

.

And the reveal of who he really was. I like Ross. To use TheStrongestOne's words, if this is more of a 'Ross Red Hulk' appreciation thread, anyone mind some appreciation of plain ol' Thunderbolt?
I knew who he was before I started reading Hulk comics, but I started reading those near the end of Peter David's run, when he brought Ross back from the dead. He was a more relaxed person, able to deal with the Hulk in more intelligent, diplomatic ways. I missed all of the 'obsessive Ahab' years that other writers seem determined to drag him back to.



And the cover of that issue:



Who can't appreciate stones like that?

I have that book! It was several issues before the death of Betty Ross if I recall correctly. I love this Ross, but I love the Ahab, monster side that is Ross too (in Hulk:Gray for instance). And how great is that Cover? Great stuff!

Disappointed that he didn't turn red, as we in this topic hoped. But watching Civil War, it's possible that Ross got the impression that it's one rule for 'superheroes', one rule for the rest of us. (Not too pessimistic a reading, is it?) Maybe that'd prompt him to recruit Sam Sterns for some experimentation.

I can have my pipe dreams, can't I?

I'm still holding out hope. The idea of Red Hulk appearing in Civil War got a lot of traction. People were really into the idea and the Russo brothers were asked about it a lot. Later in interviews, we learned the directors considered putting Wasp and Red Hulk in the story (the latter probably as a foil most likely when they were considering having Hulk in Civil War.)

Now both Marvel head Kevin Feige and actor Mark Ruffalo have revealed publicly that Hulk will get his own story arc in "Thor Ragnarok" and both upcoming Avengers films, where by the end of it combined they said it will feel like we just saw a new Hulk movie. My only guess is this means they are doing versions of "Planet Hulk" (confirmed) and "World War Hulk". And if we learn that Banner was sent up to space AGAINST his will either by Ross, Stark, Nick Fury or all three.. then the Hulk is coming back angry and I can see Ross turning himself into a Red Hulk to combat the Hulk in a subplot of one of the Avengers films. Maybe Ross uses Hulk's blood mixed in with the Extremis virus.

I think the Russo's brought William Hurt back for a specific reason. Let's hope they see Red in our future.