Are two Hulks enough Hulks for the MCU? We sure hope not. There are plenty more
Hulks to pull from the pages of Marvel Comics.
Yeah, he's red instead of green. But there's a bigger twist: In the comics,
the Red Hulk is revealed to be Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross,
Hulk's arguably worst, and definitely most dedicated, human antagonist.
General Ross is a military man who can usually be found heading whatever armed forces organization
is trying to contain the Hulk, so the news that his obsession led to his own spin on
Hulking out was surprising to say the least. As Red Hulk, he retained Ross' martial skills,
making him an extra dangerous adversary. His power set also differed somewhat from his
green counterpart. Bruce Banner's Hulk powers up when he gets angry, but Red Hulk starts radiating
heat – while still being extremely strong, of course. He also has energy absorption powers,
so he could surely be a powerful adversary for virtually anyone in the MCU.
Sadly, the actor who portrayed Ross in the MCU, William Hurt, passed away in 2022. However,
the character remains somewhat integral to the Hulk mythos. That's especially true since in the
comics Ross is Hulked up by the Leader, who's set to return in the MCU in "Captain America:
New World Order,"and M.O.D.O.K., who will join the MCU in "Ant-Man and The Wasp:
Quantumania." So Marvel Studios will have to figure out whether they should give the Red
Hulk powers to another character or risk navigating the waters of recasting Ross.
Regardless of how they'll go about it, Red Hulk joining the MCU wouldn't be a massive shock,
especially since in the comics, he has been a member of the Thunderbolts.
In the event that Red Hulk isn't available, there's always Red She-Hulk, the Hulk identity
of Betty Ross, Bruce Banner's love interest and Thunderbolt Ross' daughter. As Red She-Hulk,
she had a complicated relationship with both men, teaming up with and betraying
both in various circumstances. Betty also has another gamma-powered identity that recently
reappeared in the recent "Immortal Hulk" series, a bird-like creature
that dates back to the 1970s. Though Marvel Studios may want to avoid the name "Harpy."
The MCU version of Betty was played by Liv Tyler in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk."
"I will never forgive what you've done to him."
"He's a fugitive."
"You made him a fugitive."
Since that film Tyler has stayed busy on TV shows including "The Leftovers,"
"Ad Astra" and many others. If the MCU finds a way to bring her back,
Tyler would no doubt prove to be a great asset. If it takes Hulk powers to do that, so be it.
Amadeus Cho's Hulk journey is very different from that of Bruce Banner. He's already an
established super-genius crimefighter by the time he becomes a Hulk, which he does voluntarily by
absorbing some of Hulk's excess radiation. Cho's initial control over his Hulk is also considerably
better than Banner's, to the point that he dubs himself the Totally Awesome Hulk. Of course,
Hulk always wins in the end, and Cho eventually encounters plenty of trouble with self control.
Cho would be an interesting addition in the MCU, both as a character in his own right,
and as an example of yet another path to becoming a Hulk. He's also a pretty lighthearted character,
which would fit pretty well in with the MCU's recent lean toward Hulk-themed comedy. He
probably won't be the very next Hulk to make his MCU debut, but it wouldn't be all that
surprising if his name was already somewhere on that brainstorming whiteboard K.E.V.I.N. has.
"I possess the most advanced entertainment algorithm in the world."
In the comics, there are a lot of different Hulks residing in Bruce Banner's head,
and many have come out physically at one time or another. In the MCU, there have
only been two real distinct personalities: the smashy original and, now, Smart Hulk.
"You're Hulk again."
"Smart Hulk."
"Wow."
"Heh. Yeah, I didn't come up with it."
Otherwise, the Hulk in the movies has had more of a gradual evolution in look and personality.
But there's one comics Hulk persona who it would be great to see on film: Joe Fixit,
one of the Hulk's incarnations that's gray instead of green. Joe Fixit is smart,
but not in a professor-type way. He's more street smart. He's a straight-up mob type dude, and has
been known to wear neat pinstripe suits and wield Tommy guns when he's not actively Hulking out.
A mobster Hulk just has a lot of story potential. Just imagine his interactions with She-Hulk, Thor,
or the Guardians of the Galaxy. As an added bonus, the "Immortal Hulk" comics reveal that
Joe Fixit can also surface in Bruce Banner's body instead of physically becoming a Hulk.
Imagine Mark Ruffalo acting tough while chewing a toothpick and wearing a fedora.
There are lots of Hulk-like and Hulk-adjacent characters we're leaving out here because
they either weren't created by radiation — Hulkling is a Kree-Skrull hybrid — or they
have gamma powers but aren't technically Hulks, like Doc Samson and Sasquatch. But
there's one more key player in Hulk's story who's yet to make an appearance in the MCU.
He was also a Hulk for a brief while, though his story goes far beyond that.
In the comics, Rick Jones was the kid Bruce Banner saved from the Gamma bomb explosion,
thus exposing himself to the blast and becoming the Hulk. Ever since,
Rick has been a jack of all trades. Apart from being a notable supporting character in
various Hulk comics, he's acted as a sidekick for numerous prominent superheroes, including Captain
America and Captain Marvel. He also gained various superpowers of his own on more than one occasion.
Though he hasn't physically appeared in the MCU yet, Jones' existence was hinted at in
"The Incredible Hulk." If he were to turn up with Hulk powers after all these years,
it could very well give Bruce Banner his own "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" moment.
Introducing a Hulk version of Rick Jones and giving him a Bucky Barnes-style MCU arc would
not only be a handy way to introduce this giant missing piece of Hulk's comic book stories,
but it would also be a fun nod to his comics background. When
he was Captain America's sidekick, he actually took on the name Bucky.