Summary
- General Ross’ Red Hulk made a huge splash when he debuted in 2008, but there have been several other versions since.
- Robert L. Maverick is the second Red Hulk, who could access his powers for an hour at a time, while Red Hulk 2099 has godlike might.
- Ross’ Rulk isn’t our #1, beaten out by Joe Fixit’s short-lived Red Hulk and Weapon H’s new red form.
The Red Hulk made a huge splash when he debuted in 2008, making headlines as a new bastion of raw power in Marvel lore. Punching out the Silver Surfer, Thor and the Watcher to establish himself as a match for the original, green-skinned Hulk, Red Hulk (aka ‘Rulk’) captured fan imagination like few other debut characters. Now, Red Hulk is returning to the limelight in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, once again grabbing Marvel fans by the lapels.
However, since Red Hulk appeared in 2008, there have been many versions of the character in the pages of Marvel Comics. We’ve searched far and wide for every version of Rulk to ever exist in the comics, ranking them by their power level – and while the original Red Hulk may be the most famous, he didn’t quite manage to top our list.
In the original comics, Red Hulk has immense strength and the ability to exude more heat the angrier he gets, setting his enemies on fire. He also had the power to absorb the energy of others – the real reason he was able to knock out so many of Marvel’s biggest powerhouses on his debut. While this power set has remained the base for each version of Red Hulk, some versions of the Rulk archetype have extra abilities…
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Tsum Tsum Red Hulk/Strange Tales Red Hulk/Mini Marvels Red Hulk
These Joke Hulks Didn’t Get Enough ‘Screen Time’ to Shine
Covering every version of a character means covering the versions that even Marvel doesn’t take seriously. These three Red Hulks are joke versions of the character, featuring in various humorous stories. The Tsum Tsum Red Hulk appeared in Marvel’s Marvel Tsum Tsum series (from Jacob Chabot and David Baldeón), and is an evil, quadripedal plush toy who fought Jane Foster’s Thor.
Meanwhile, the Red Hulk from Strange Tales Volume 5 (specifically James Kochalka’s ‘Hulk Squad, Smash!’) is an experimental clone who at least managed to give the original Hulk a bloody nose. Finally, there’s the Red Hulk from Marvel’s comedic short-form Mini Marvels comics, created by Audrey Loeb and Chris Giarruss.) These Rulks are presumably strong for their realities, but have no significant feats to speak of.
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Red Harpy – Elizabeth “Betty” Ross
This Terrifying Predator Might Be Hulk’s True Love
Betty Ross started out as the love interest of Bruce Banner and daughter of General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, essentially depicted as a damsel in distress. However, in the decades since she’s gained multiple gamma forms of her own, including the vicious Red Harpy. The Red Harpy is a manifestation of Betty’s rage at a world that has often turned her into a victim (not to be confused with her original green Harpy form.)
While Red Harpy isn’t that strong for a Hulk, she’s strong enough to effortlessly crush a human body into a ball (something she did to Bruce at one point.) Incredibly fast with razor-sharp talons and teeth, Red Harpy also has enhanced senses and the relatively rare Hulk power of energy blasts. She loathes Bruce Banner but has expressed affection for the Hulk, setting up the Green Goliath’s weirdest love triangle.
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Red She-Hulk – Elizabeth “Betty” Ross
Marvel Tried Something New with a Superhero ‘Tourist’
Before Red Harpy, there was Red She-Hulk. Red She-Hulk was created by the same villains who turned her father into the Red Hulk, with MODOK, the Leader and the rest of the Intelligencia brainwashing her into becoming a violent ally of Red Hulk. Red She-Hulk later took control of her mind once again and became a ‘superhero tourist’ – a reckless crime-fighter whose joy at finally having agency led to a lot of morally dubious behavior.
Red She-Hulk had strength and invulnerability somewhat lesser than Jennifer Walters’ She-Hulk, but could absorb energy and exude heat, even being able to spit saliva so hot, it could burn through metal. She also spent some time wielding an Uru sword, gifted to her by Iron Man to fight in the Fear Itself event.
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Red King
The Ruler of An Entire Hulk Nation
Red King was a result of the epic Secret Wars event in 2015, appearing as the villain of the Planet Hulk spin-off. The ruler of a wasteland populated by an all-Hulk species, the Red King was immensely powerful but was eventually killed by a barbarian version of Steve Rogers. Though strong and invulnerable, he appears to be a less powerful version of Red Hulk, given that Steve Rogers was able to beat him in one-on-one combat.
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Little Red Hulk – ‘Young’ General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross
Marvel’s Cartoon ‘Little Avengers’ Have a Unique Power
Skottie Young’s Young Marvel imprint depicts a comedic world where Marvel’s biggest heroes are all children, maintaining some version of their powers but with the tempers and obsessions of babies. While it may sound like ‘Little Red Hulk’ belongs in the same category as Tsum Tsum Red Hulk, there is one difference.
In Saladin Ahmed and Javier Rodriguez’s Exiles Volume 3, the team recruited ‘Wolvie’ – a child version of Wolverine. While Wolvie was terrible in a fight, he brought the physics of his cartoon world with him, and proved to be completely immortal. In the world of Young Marvel, death doesn’t exist, and characters simply pop back to life when killed. That means that while Little Red Hulk might be a ‘joke’ character, he has the bonus power of being totally immortal even outside his home dimension – something no other Red Hulk can truly claim.
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Red Hulk – Robert L. Maverick
Avengers Idea Mechanics’ Forgotten Hero
Created by Al Ewing and Gerardo Sandoval, Robert Maverick’s Red Hulk served on the heroic Avengers Idea Mechanics and later the U.S.Avengers, where he got his own Iron Patriot armor as the “Iron Hulk.” Maverick is a member of Project: Troubleshooter – a government department dedicated to creating living weapons, and the group to blame for the existence of Marvel’s Godzilla, the American Kaiju. Maverick was fitted with a ‘Hulk Plug-In’ by Project: Troubleshooter which gave him Hulk strength and durability for one hour a day (but not Red Hulk’s energy absorption or heat powers.)
Sadly, Maverick was forced to exceed his “hour of power” by Hydra, leading to major health complications. In current comics, Maverick is depowered and living with the toll that becoming the new Red Hulk took on his body.
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Red Dog (aka the Absorbing Man) – Carl Creel
This Longtime Marvel Villain Gained New Powers
Created using a modified version of Maverick’s Hulk Plug-In, Codename Red Dog is actually longtime Hulk villain the Absorbing Man. Infused with gamma energy, Absorbing Man was given the power to siphon off gamma energy and all but stripped Hulk of his powers when they fought (though he still didn’t reach the original Hulk’s actual strength level.)
Sadly, Red Dog didn’t realize what he was letting himself in for, and was possessed by the One Below All (a Cthulhu like deity from which all gamma radiation flows.) This turned him into a terrifying, demonic being stripped of flesh. While this led to Absorbing Man losing his powers, the experience did set him on the road to redemption as a member of Gamma Flight.
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Red Hulk Bunny
Spider-Ham’s Universe Has Some of Marvel’s Oddest Heroes
Thanks to Across the Spider-Verse, most Marvel fans know Spider-Ham – the porcine version of Peter Parker voiced by John Mulaney. In the comics, fans have visited Peter Porker’s world many times, including 2020’s Spider-Ham from Zeb Wells and Will Robson. That issue debuted the towering Red Hulk Bunny (so-nicknamed in reference to the green ‘Bruce Bunny’), who joined the animal Avengers (aka Scavengers.)
While little is known of this rabbity Red Hulk, the animals of Spider-Ham’s universe tend to be pretty exact matches for their mainstream variants, but with the added benefit of limited, Looney Tunes-style cartoon physics – sadly, not on the level of Little Red Hulk.
While Red Hulk was always meant to be General Ross, Marvel also introduced a ‘back-up’ character to give the creative team the option to back out.
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Red Hulk – General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross
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The original (and many would argue best) Red Hulk is General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross. Grief-stricken at the apparent death of his daughter, Ross agreed to a plan by the Leader’s evil Intelligencia to empower him using the original Hulk’s DNA and gamma energy. While initially a villain, Red Hulk later proved himself as a member of the Avengers and even founded his own Thunderbolts team with members including Deadpool, Elektra and the Punisher.
While Red Hulk was always meant to be General Ross, Marvel also introduced a ‘back-up’ character to give the creative team the option to back out of this twist. This character was an agent of SHIELD named Jake Oh, who appeared in Agents of Atlas, setting up his existence just in case.
Red Hulk is incredibly strong and durable – nearing the original Hulk’s powers – but crucially maintains control of his gamma form when he transforms, unlike Bruce Banner. The angrier he gets, the more heat his body pumps out, and the Red Hulk can even explode when he’s truly enraged. Red Hulk also has the ability to absorb energy, making energy-based foes less and less powerful as fights go on, though this ability has been significantly reduced since his first appearance, when it was capable of weakening the near-omnipotent Watcher.
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Weapon H – Clayton Cortez
Weapon H’s Gamma Switching Means He’s Part-Red Hulk
Surprisingly, General Ross isn’t the top of the pile. Created by Greg Pak and Mike Deodato Jr., Weapon H is an experimental superhuman created by combining the DNA of the Hulk and Wolverine, as well as other heroes including Domino and Warpath. Weapon H has all the Hulk’s strength along with Wolverine’s healing and claws, as well as unique combinations of such, including the ability to fire his claws as deadly projectiles. Weapon H’s military training makes him particularly deadly, using his strength consciously rather than in rage-fueled rampages.
But why does Weapon H qualify as a Red Hulk? In David Pepose and Carlos Magno’s Secret Avengers #2, Weapon H realized he’s capable of ‘gamma switching.’ This power allows him to inhabit different gamma wavelengths, manifesting the powers of any type of Hulk, though so far only one at a time. Weapon H notably switched to the Red Harpy’s gamma wavelength, giving him claws and wings. While this power has only just begun to be explored, it means that Weapon H isn’t just a Hulkverine, but can also switch to all Red Hulk’s powers at a moment’s notice.
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Red Hulk 2099 – Ross Romero
The Newest Red Hulk Wields the Power Primordial
Having appeared in only one issue so far – 2024’s Annihilation 2099 #3 (from Steve Orlando and Pete Wood) – Red Hulk 2099 is nevertheless immensely powerful. A space miner trapped on Ego the Living Planet, Ross Romero is eventually forced to eat a strange fruit within the sentient world. This grants him access to the Power Primordial and causes him to Hulk out, merging his body with his red protection suit. Ross has all the regular Hulk powers, including the strength to beat down Terrax the Tamer (a former Herald of Galactus equal in power to the Silver Surfer.)
However, Red Hulk 2099 also wields the Power Primordial – the energy source which is used by the Elders of the Universe, giving them godlike control over reality itself. While he’s a new hero, Red Hulk 2099 debuted with a staggering show of power, and has a version of cosmic awareness which allows him to extend his mind out into the cosmos, learning the greatest secrets of the universe (and directing him as he leaps from planet to planet.)
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The Incredible Hulk – Sunshine Joe Fixit (aka Bruce Banner)
The Grey Hulk Got His Own Short-Lived Makeover
Of course, when it comes to raw power, no-one can ever truly touch the original Hulk. Joe Fixit is an alternate persona of Bruce Banner based on gangster movies, and traditionally is the guiding personality of the grey Hulk form, who is a weaker but smarter version of the Hulk. However, in Immortal Hulk #49 (by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett), Bruce and Joe find themselves trapped in the Below-Place – the home of the One Below All.
In that hellish realm, Joe manages to absorb latent cosmic energy – the energy source which created the Fantastic Four, and the one form of energy capable of killing the Hulk. This turns Joe into a new Red Hulk, with the strength to smash the ‘Green Door’ which connects the One Below All to the rest of reality. Joe then merged back with Bruce, creating a new, improved Hulk who was stronger than ever and no longer vulnerable to cosmic energy. Joe Fixit’s Red Hulk only existed for a couple of panels, but during that time he gained the raw power to fight an endless realm of demons and defy the power of Marvel’s one supreme god, the One Above All (who is an alternate persona of the One Below All, just as Hulk is to Bruce Banner.)
That’s every version of the Red Hulk in Marvel lore so far, soon to be joined by Harrison Ford’s version in Captain America: Brave New World. Who’s your favorite Red Hulk, and what do you think of our ranking? Let us know in the comments section below!
