There’s been talk of Red Hulk appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe stretching back to the production of Captain America: Civil War, but now it seems like this could be a stronger possibility as a result of Harrison Ford taking over as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross following William Hurt’s passing. Ford will appear in the upcoming Marvel movies Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts, with the former featuring the character as the President of the United States, so he clearly won’t be lacking things to do. However, there’s a new Captain America 4 rumor out making an exciting claim about Ford’s Ross and Red Hulk.
According to scooper @CanWeGetSomeToast (via ComicBookMovie), Thunderbolt Ross will indeed transform into Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World, and apparently this will be quite the comic book-accurate take on the character in a specific way. Namely, like his comic book counterpart, the MCU’s Red Hulk will burst into flame during the events of the next Captain America movie, and it gets hot enough that even Sam Wilson’s vibranium wings will melt off.
For those wondering why a Hulk would spew fire, although Red Hulk also boasts super strength like Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the regular Hulk, Ross’ strength doesn’t increase the madder he gets. Instead, his body temperature increases, so if Ford’s Ross is emitting flames at some point during Brave New World, then he must be furious. Again, this is by no means an official reveal, and even assuming the claim is accurate, it’s unclear if this particular scene was already on the books for the main filming period or if it’s part of the Captain America 4 reshoots lined up for next year.
As far as how Thunderbolt Ross will become Red Hulk in the MCU, that hasn’t been disclosed yet, but it seems like a good bet that Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns, a.k.a. The Leader, is behind it. Nelson’s Sterns was last seen in The Incredible Hulk grinning as Bruce Banner’s gamma-irradiated blood dripped into his open head wound, which caused his cranium to start swelling. A decade and a half later, we finally get to see the super intelligent Leader, and one can easily imagine him running experiments on Ross as part of his grand machinations.
Then there’s the question of how Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson will contend with Red Hulk. There’s no question he was the right person for Steve Rogers to pick as his successor in Avengers: Endgame, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showed Sam finally coming to terms with the Captain America mantle. And yet, this is still a non-superpowered person we’re talking about, so facing off against Red Hulk without any Avengers to back him up is a scary prospect. Assuming this clash does happen, hopefully something happens in Brave New World that improves Sam’s odds of at least making it out alive.
In addition to Harrison Ford, Anthony Mackie and Tim Blake Nelson, the Captain America: Brave New World cast includes Danny Ramirez, Carly Lumbly, Liv Tyler and Shira Haas, among others. Behind the scenes, Julius Noah is directing the feature, as well as wrote the script with Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson and Matthew Orton. Captain America 4 is now set for release on February 14, 2025.
While we wait for more updates on Brave New World, including confirmation of whether or not Red Hulk will rampage across the screen, remember that you can stream Sam Wilson’s previous MCU appearances with your Disney+ subscription. And as previously mentioned, Harrison Ford will reprise Thunderbolt Ross in Thunderbolts, which opens on July 25, 2025.
