16 years after Iron Man kicked off the MCU in 2008, it is outrageous to think how much Marvel has mostly ignored the appeal of seeing Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk lose himself to evil. You have to go all the way back to The Incredible Hulk in 2008 for Hulk’s fight with Abomination coming close to showing an evil Hulk, but the less said about that the better. Finally, in 2025, Captain America: Brave New World might just be righting that wrong.

All it takes is a little rage. Savage Hulk has an important place in Marvel history, but the MCU timeline has moved away from the idea by balancing Bruce Banner’s warring personas and creating the more pacifist-like Smart Hulk in Avengers: Endgame. And despite the existence of Abomination (Tim Roth), and She-Hulk‘s HulkKing (Jon Bass), it doesn’t feel like the MCU has answered what would happen if Hulk was evil in a direct enough way. Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk can be that answer.

The MCU Is Finally Introducing A New Evil Hulk

Harrison Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross Is The Complex Villain We Need

The surprisingly early release of the Captain America: Brave New World trailer revealed the imminent arrival of Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk. It’s fair to say it was an exciting development, crowned by the release of an incredibly cool poster showing Red Hulk’s giant hand holding Captain America’s shield.

Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross is the new MCU president, replacing Secret Invasion‘s President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney), and footage shown at CinemaCon suggested he will attempt to set up a new Avengers team. But the Red Hulk reveal and the fight with Anthony Mackie’s Captain America leaves no room for interpretation: he’s not a good guy.

That perhaps is an over-simplification. More accurately, Ross has proved himself a desperate man willing to do whatever it takes for the greater good. This was the man who created the Abomination, who spearheaded the Sokovia Accords, and who made the Avengers war criminals. He didn’t do it because he’s evil, he did it because he believed it was necessary. But transforming into Red Hulk will amplify the worst of him, and we’ll get to see the Savage Hulk Banner cannot be in the MCU.

For Hulk fans like me, that is incredibly exciting, and it’s been a long time coming. Red Hulk is a formidable foe for anyone, who will pose a huge threat to Sam Wilson, and intriguingly, behind his fiery rage, he will have the complex belief that he is right.

The MCU’s Missing Evil Hulk History Explained

Marvel Has Flirted With A Savage Hulk Several Times

Marvel has previously explored the idea of an evil Hulk, with early plans for The Avengers reportedly positioning Banner as the villain. The Avengers, sequel Age Of Ultron, and Thor: Ragnarok all showed flashes of the potential storyline, but never fully delivered. The closest we ever really got was Louis Letterier’s abandoned The Incredible Hulk 2, which would have gone more savage:

“Hulk is a complex character within the Marvel Universe. You want the primeval Hulk…the rage Hulk. And then when you go Grey Hulk and Smart Hulk you lose that a little bit and you get a little bit more kiddish with it.”

It’s all been so close, yet felt incredibly far away from a true realization of the story I’ve wanted to see for years. A Hulk in control is not the most interesting version of the character: the direct portrait of man’s capacity for rage and evil personified is more compelling. Hulk has been a tank in the MCU, called upon to be a weapon of mass destruction, and seeing him lose control in Avengers: Age Of Ultron teased something the MCU should have done more.

To think Marvel has never given us a full movie where Hulk goes evil is painful. Banner’s arc has been all about his decision to be a hero, and his quest to cure himself. The unfortunate side effect of him winning that battle is we’ve not seen more of him losing control. Age Of Ultron‘s Hulkbuster battle was too good to have been such a small part of the MCU. Now it feels like we’re going to get that, albeit from Red Hulk, and the prospect excites me massively.

Sadly The MCU Has Never Done A Good Evil Hulk Story

Emil Blonsky’s Abomination story started strongly in concept at least, but The Incredible Hulk was a creative mess that Marvel partly rebooted. And since then, Marvel Studios has taken a character who was introduced consciously as a threat and defanged him. Blonsky was literally turned into a hippie in the name of a comedic redemption arc. And anyway, it’s not as creatively interesting to have a megalomaniac with no moral nuance become a monstrous Hulk as having someone well-intentioned go through that evolution.

She-Hulk‘s HulkKing was a flash in the pan, and honestly ended up being the platform for a meta-joke based around how obvious the pay-off would have been. Unfortunately, what I can’t shake is the idea that it was obvious because Hulk fans actually wanted it to happen: so the clever gotcha of She-Hulk‘s ending felt like a bit of an insult in that respect. There’s just not been the evil Hulk story I need.

Now Imagine The Future We Can Have For Hulk…

If We’re Lucky, We Could Finally Get World War Hulk In The MCU

It’s not outside the realms of fantasy to suggest that Red Hulk’s MCU debut could lead to Hulk finally meeting one of his most wanted villains. That would, of course, rely on Captain America: Brave New World not killing him off (or healing Thunderbolt Ross, obviously), but using him for only a handful of scenes at most would be unforgivable.

Even more excitingly, a real villainous Hulk could lead to the World War Hulk project that has long been speculated as part of the MCU’s future. Right now, it simply doesn’t make sense for Hulk to be sent away from Earth out of fear: after all, Banner is Smart Hulk, one of the most popular Avengers after Endgame‘s events. Something would have to change to allow Marvel to give us all what we want.

But if Red Hulk rampages in Captain America: Brave New World, or vows to start a war with Banner that turns the public against him, we might actually have the right path set for an adaptation of World War Hulk that makes sense. Perhaps this is wishful thinking from a long-term Hulk fan, but it’s hard not to get excited by that.