Cosmic, and the antagonists
Thaddeus Ross
AlivePlayed by Harrison Ford
Who they arebeyond the guide
The general who commissioned the experiment that made the Hulk and then spent years hunting him, later Secretary of State and the face of the Accords, and later still President. Gamma pills turn him into the Red Hulk once, and he ends up imprisoning himself in the prison he built.
Alive, imprisoned at the Raft by his own choice
- Appearances
- 6
Along the chronological spine
A life, in order
On screen and off — including the years between films. Tap any entry to read the longer account.
- Origin— where they start
- Turning point— the arc changes direction
- Appears in— on screen, carrying the plot forward
- Where it leaves them— the state the guide leaves them in
- 2008He commissioned the experiment, and pursues Banner relentlessly afterwards — partly because Banner is dating his daughter Betty. His chosen operative, Emil Blonsky, takes a serum derivative and becomes the Abomination.Open The Incredible Hulk →
- 2016He is the man who presents the Sokovia Accords to the Avengers.Open Captain America: Civil War →
- 2016Hunting her as a fugitive from the Accords, a step behind for the film's first act.Open Black Widow →
- 2018A hologram in the compound, still demanding arrests while the world ends.Open Avengers: Infinity War →
- 2018 → 2023At Stark's funeral, and nowhere else in the film.Open Avengers: Endgame →
- 2025Recast from William Hurt, who died in 2022, to Harrison Ford. He ran on a strongman platform, with Samuel Sterns secretly engineering the campaign as part of a decades-long revenge plan — including the gamma pills Ross has been taking. Sterns triggers the transformation. This is the only film in which Ross becomes Red Hulk.Open Captain America: Brave New World →
- 2025Sam beats him and then, more importantly, talks him down. Ross accepts imprisonment in the same floating prison where he once locked up Team Cap, and reconciles with Betty. So: no, he is not still the villain of The Incredible Hulk. This is a redemption arc that ends in chosen accountability.Open Captain America: Brave New World →