You’ve Heard Of Red Hulk But What About Red She-Hulk?

I’m sure you’ve all heard that Red Hulk aka Thunderbolt Ross is rumored to be debuting in Thunderbolts. But there is another character Red She-Hulk

By Chandraboli Majumdar
September 24,2022
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I’m sure you’ve all heard that Red Hulk aka Thunderbolt Ross is rumored to be debuting in Thunderbolts. But there is another character Red She-Hulk who is an extremely interesting and great villain in the Marvel comics. And she is none other than the daughter of General Thunderbolt Ross and Bruce Banner’s first love, Betty Ross. So let us explore who exactly is this villain and whether we will see her in the MCU.

Who is Red She-Hulk

Red She-Hulk in Marvel comics
Red She-Hulk

Red She-Hulk is a reincarnation of Betty Ross and is a villainous counterpart of She-Hulk. When Betty Ross was alive, MODOK exposed her to crazy amounts of gamma radiation hoping to create a villain strong enough to defeat the Hulk. That’s when she became the unhinged and monstrous Harpy. As Harpy she tracked down and attacked Hulk engaging in an epic battle. Somehow Bruce managed to cure her of this condition. But in the future, she dies due to radiation poisoning as a result of her long-time association with Hulk. And that’s where the story begins. Betty is soon reincarnated and becomes the Red She-Hulk. As Red She-Hulk, she was an evil mercenary and even collaborated with the Intelligencia who have been name-dropped in She-Hulk episode 6. She has fought Wolverine, She-Hulk and even captured Hank Pym.

What are her powers?

She-Hulk vs Red She-Hulk
She-Hulk vs Red She-Hulk

While her powers are mostly similar to those of She-Hulk, there are a few that stand out. One is the acidic saliva that she used against Wolverine during their fight. Another is the ability to fire energy blasts from her hands. She also has really sharp claws and talons. Red She-Hulk can fly using the wings on her back and that gives her a good advantage over the other Hulks. However, her biggest strength is the fact that she is confident, bitter and basically unhinged. This makes her more dangerous as she does not care about the destruction she causes or the many casualties. Other than this she has the usual superhuman strength, durability, stamina, agility, speed and an enhanced healing factor. Another power that sounds interesting is her powerful sense of smell. She used this ability to track down Bruce Banner using just his smell.

History with the Hulk 

Betty Ross and Bruce Banner
Betty Ross and Bruce Banner

Betty Ross met Bruce Banner when he was working with her father on a Gamma Bomb Project. They became fond of one another much to her father’s dismay who did not approve of Banner as a suitable match for his daughter. However, this did not stop them from falling in love. While Bruce was hesitant at first due to his Hulk alter ego, he finally gave in to his emotions and wanted to marry her. Obviously, you can trust a villain to ruin the wedding. She was then turned into Harpy who’s only mission was to find and kill Hulk.

Hulk and Red She-Hulk
Hulk and Red She-Hulk

Nonetheless, they did finally have a successful wedding once she was cured of the vicious Harpy. After becoming Red She-Hulk, she was mostly on the wrong side of the law but she always had a soft spot for Bruce. In fact, she helped him improve his relationship with his son Skaar and aided him multiple times in battle. They had a tumultuous relationship but always had each other’s back.

Will she join the MCU?

Betty Ross in The Incredible Hulk in the MCU
Betty Ross in The Incredible Hulk

It is very much possible that she will join the MCU in the near future. The MCU is already bringing back many characters that debuted in The Incredible Hulk and haven’t been seen since. For example, Abomination has already appeared in She-Hulk and might appear in the Thunderbolts and The Leader is set to be the villain of Captain America: New World Order. So there is a high likelihood that the MCU will bring back Betty Ross as well and show her Red She-Hulk character arc.

She-Hulk villain should be in the MCU
She-Hulk villain should be in the MCU

Moreover, with Jennifer Walters joining the MCU and the Hulk being set up for a solo venture, Red She-Hulk who has fought both of them, should also join. With the death of Natasha aka Black Widow who was Bruce’s previous love interest, there is the opportunity to explore another one. Betty Ross was in fact not only his first love interest but also arguably his best one.