I think it’s pretty much a
universal law that a girl’s dad is scary, particularly when you are dating said
girl. Doesn’t really matter who that man is, what he does, if he works out, or
if he’s an avid gun collector, if he is the guy that raised the girl (or boy, I
suppose) you’re seeing he is downright terrifying the first time you lock eyes
on him. Now, for the most part this is a short lived experience. After a while
possible father-in-law warms up to ya, and in the end you learn he’s a swell
guy that’s just looking out for his kid. Now, imagine if that didn’t happen.
And said dear-old dad of your sweetheart is an Air Force General. And he’s more
than willing to throw the full weight of his office down at your head. Then,
you have some idea of what ol’ Bruce Banner has been dealing with since the
1960s.
 |
| Such an intense mustache. |
General Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross
is a military man through and through. Soldier, Patriot, Strategist, Killer,
all of these terms and more describe him to a T. He served his country, loved
his family, and generally did his best for both. He was very protective of his
only daughter Betty, particularly after her mother died in an accident.Things
started to change for him when he was assigned to the Gamma Bomb project. He is
assigned to oversee the project and its chief scientist Dr. Bruce Banner. From
the moment they met Ross felt a deep dislike for the weak little egg head he
was looking after, a feeling that only intensified when Betty began to show an
interest in Banner. To which I must ask, why is a General’s daughter allowed
access to a scientist and by extension a top secret military project? It’s just
weird. Moving on, a short time later Bruce showed his courageous heart when he
went out onto the bomb testing sight to save a young idiot who’d wandered onto
the field. Bomb goes off, Banner gets blasted, somehow survives, and a short
time later begins shapeshifting into the massive green rage monster we all
love.
 |
| Who is the better Ross? |
An obsession was born in Ross after
seeing the Hulk’s strength and power. The kind of green with envy obsession
that drives a man to do the absolute worst to get his hands on it. He is both
mesmerized by the Hulk’s immense strength, and repulsed by the destruction it
can create by merely clapping its hands together. He swears to destroy it,
dissect it, and learn to make a new one even better and more manageable than
before. Ross spends the next, oh, thirty years (our time) trying to meet this
goal. Suffice to say, he doesn’t succeed. Despite throwing metric tons of
military hardware in the form of Hulkbuster battle suits, countless military
strategies, and just plain bullheaded stubbornness, the Hulk survives. Ross
even goes so far as to ally with the criminals like MODOK, the Abomination, and
the Leader to destroy the Hulk. When the top brass find out about this he gets
dishonorably discharged. And he tries to kill Banner at his and Betty’s wedding
after this, which he also fails at. Sorry Rossy, family get together must have been pretty tense after this little fiasco.
 |
| Oh yeah, I totally believe he's a good guy. Nothing sinister about this shot. |
Over the next few years Ross’s life
is a rollercoaster. He fuses with an energy monster known as Zzzax to destroy the Hulk
but is then restored to normal, he dies saving the Hulk after realizing Banner
and the Hulk are the good guys, gets brought back as a zombie henchman, gets
his mind back, and shockingly of all actually befriends Banner. This period of
mutual respect is short lived, however, when Betty dies of radiation poisoning.
Banner and Ross believe that it is due to her close contact with Bruce. It was
later revealed to be due to the Abomination using his own radioactive blood to
poison Betty, but it takes them a while to realize this. Once again vowing to
destroy the man and the monster that took his most precious person away from him,
Ross began looking into increasingly desperate measures. But I’ll get into that
later.
Ross is an Air Force General and
has all of the skills that the title requires. He has a brilliant tactical
mind, and a strong, commanding presence. He is amazingly fit for a man in his
assumedly late fifties, and continues to train his body when time allows. He’s
an ace with fire arms, and hand to hand combat. His greatest asset, though, is
his military rank. They’re a little vague on how high up the food chain he is,
but apparently he is in a position to command just about any military force he
deems necessary to destroying the Hulk. Which is a lot of military might.
Ross is pretty much the
quintessential Hulk villain. If the Hulk appears in it, he is the first guy
chasing after him. So, I’m not going to spend too much time on the animated
side of things. If the Hulk is in it, be it as the star or a guest character,
odds are the main villain or guest villain is Ross. They’ve got a great
relationship in that regard.
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| It must be hard being right all the time. |
He’s been portrayed by two actors
on the big screen, Sam Elliot in Ang Lee’s Hulk
(2003) and William Hurt in Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk (2008). They basically play the same character,
a fiercely patriotic man that gets the wrong idea about a thing that scares him
and is too stubborn to admit he’s wrong. Hurt is the Ross that seems to realize
the error of his ways by the end of his Hulk movie, but I have to say I liked
the Elliot version of the character more. I don’t know, it’s probably Sam
Elliot’s mustache, it’s just so bussy. So Rossy.
Ross is a great villain because he
does believe what he’s doing is for the best. He’s so blinded by the damage the
Hulk causes, by the strength that a seemingly mindless beast has, that he
refuses to see even the smallest shred of humanity in the creature. I also love
his relationship with Betty. Because of it, Ross needs to fight two major
impulses. One, the impulse to keep his daughter happy, and two, the impulse to
keep her safe. Which of course makes it hard when the man who makes her happy
is also the one that puts her in the most danger. Tough luck Rossy. He fights
for what he believes is right, regardless of the consequences. And that is just
cool. Next time, we look at Ross’ desperate measure, the Red Hulk. He is much
more awesome than the name implies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_Ross
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/GiFF/news/?a=22795
http://marvelanimated.wikia.com/wiki/File:General_Ross_Intro_AEMH.jpg
http://marvelanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Thaddeus_Ross
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