William Hurt passed away last year, but Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross will continue on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Last October, it was confirmed that Harrison Ford will take over the role; he’ll first appear in Captain America: New World Order, and then return a few months later in Thunderbolts. Because Ford is taking over as Thunderbolt Ross, this has led to speculation that the character will transform into Red Hulk, and now some fan art that envisioned what that could look like.
In 2008, 46 years after Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross’ first appearance, Red Hulk debuted in the pages of Hulk #1, although it would be another two years before comic book readers learned that he was a transformed Ross. Red Hulk has been rumored to appear in the MCU as far back as Captain America: Civil War, and now that Harrison Ford is playing Ross, Instagram user 21xfour mocked up how Red Hulk might look with the Indiana Jones actor’s visage in Thunderbolts.
Yep, you can definitely see Harrison Ford in there, although assuming his version of Thunderbolt Ross retains his mustache, then the only way this fan art could improve is if Red Hulk also had the facial hair. No, that’s not comic accurate, but I’d get a kick out of it. In any case, once again, this is a solid mock-up of what the MCU’s version of Red Hulk could look like, but it’s doubtful we’ll learn until if indeed this monstrosity will show up until either Thunderbolts’ release or, if we’re lucky, in a Captain America: New World Order tag.
Although Thunderbolt Ross started out in the MCU fulfilling his traditional role of hunting down The Hulk when he was introduced in The Incredible Hulk, ever since he resurfaced in Captain America: Civil War, he’s functioned chiefly as a political figure whose actions affect other heroes in the franchise. Ross was the one pushing the Sokovia Accords on the Avengers, and in Black Widow, we watched him personally lead the manhunt for Natasha Romanoff after she helped Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes escape. We last saw Ross attending Tony Stark’s funeral in Avengers: Endgame, and since She-Hulk: Attorney at Law revealed that the Sokovia Accords have been overturned, the former military man now has to deal with superheroes not being legally supervised anymore.
Harrison Ford decided to work with Marvel Studios because he wanted “to do some things” that he hadn’t done before, but it’ll be a while until the fruits of that collaboration come to light, including if Red Hulk is part of the picture. For now, we know that Ford’s castmates in Captain America: New World Order include Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Shira Haas as Sabra and Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, who we’ll finally see as The Leader. The Thunderbolts cast consists so far of Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri in an undisclosed role.
Captain America: New World Order is due out on May 3, 2024, and Thunderbolts will follow on July 26 of the same year. Use your Disney+ subscription to watch the Marvel movies in order and the platform’s original shows set in the superhero franchise, and keep visiting CinemaBlend for more news about upcoming Marvel movies and upcoming Marvel TV shows.
