General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics featuring the Hulk. Ross is a United States military officer, the father of Betty Ross, and the ex-father-in-law of both Glenn Talbot and Bruce Banner.
A jingoistic war hawk, Ross is portrayed as the military head of the gamma bomb project that turned Banner into the Hulk. After the creation of the Hulk, Ross pursues the creature with a growing obsession, and, after learning that Banner and the Hulk are one and the same, Ross hunts Banner as well. His motivations vary between different iterations, from a petulant hatred of Banner himself, to a Captain Ahab-esque desire to defeat the Hulk in combat, and sometimes even more villainous motivations such as hoping to harness the Hulk's abilities and create similar bioweapons for use by the US government. Ross was transformed into the first Red Hulk to better combat the Hulk, though this instead led him to become more sympathetic towards Banner and eventually become a superhero, serving as a member of the Avengers and forming his own Thunderbolts team.
Ross has appeared in numerous media adaptations, including animated television series, video games, and live-action feature films. He has been voiced by numerous actors in animation, including John Vernon, Keith Ferguson, Fred Tatasciore, and Clancy Brown. In live-action, Sam Elliott portrayed the character in the film Hulk (2003). In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the character is portrayed by William Hurt (2008–2021) and Harrison Ford (2025).
And the Red Hulk is an alias that is used by several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics; examples include Thunderbolt Ross and Robert Maverick, as well as other equivalents in specific Marvel timelines. The character has appeared in numerous adaptions in media alongside the comics including several animated television shows, video games and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: Brave New World (2025).
