I've been saying for a while now that General Ross is the #1 contender for Red Hulk, and he has been since the release of #600 pretty much sealed the deal for me. But remember if you will my parting words about the coming of Red She-Hulk, and her identity.
It looks like I might be right.
Who else would have the dramatic impact that Greg Pak and Jeph Loeb both say she (and presumably her alter ego) will carry in to the book? Who else would shake up the status quo so much? Who else would have genetic traits that would allow her the same type of mutation as her father?
And who else would be a likely candidate who satisfies the requirement of being someone who has at the very least been referenced once during Loeb's run thus far? Domino, whose tattered leathers she seems to be wearing, doesn't fit the bill--she's not from the Hulk's side of the MU and hardly fits the paradigm Loeb has set up. She's a decoy and will reappear in #17, mark my words. Victoria Hand may have the hair, but hasn't been referenced in Loeb's run to any substantial degree and is not a Hulk character at the core (not nearly). Marlo Jones hasn't been seen or referenced lately. Jarella was shown as dead in #10, and that would be a game-changer, for sure, but the memories don't match up as she's not from Earth. Who else is a female from the Hulk's previous life? Kate Waynesboro is accounted for in Pak's book, while April Sommers, Angela Lipscombe, Susan Jacobson, and others are pretty much one-off characters, all unreferenced by Loeb.
No, the only outlier, who is from a later generation than Red Hulk (suggested by their conversation in #16), who's been experimented upon previously by MODOK, friendly with Doc Samson, and would really shock Banner, Hulk, and Hulk fans?
The only answer, friends...is Betty Ross Talbot Banner.
I said it before Red She-Hulk was introduced, and I'm saying it again now.
~G.
I have another thought that Red She-Hulk could be Jennifer Walters. If your Ross theory is correct, then she would be the only one left from the group shown bathed in red light, from the satellite, that changed recently (Ross, Samson, Rick, and She-Hulk). She claimed to have "killed" Jennifer Walters, but maybe that's a metaphor for she-hulk's rebirth as this bad-ass bitch with a new attitude. I think your theory is stronger, but the "He's dead to me now," line is so obvious, that it could be a red herring. Or maybe Jennifer Walters is the Red Herring since she's been conveniently missing before Red She-Hulk showed up. Or maybe it's Bea Arthur.
ReplyDeleteTwo things. Both spoilers from IH 604.
ReplyDelete...just in case no one has read it yet..
OK..
So in IH 604, Bruce and Kate discover at The Leader's lab on the screen there is the bio thingie of Betty. That right there was the icing on the cake for She-Rulk being Betty, for me at least.
The other spoiler was just that Marlo is back as the latest Harpie.
I think Red She-Hulk is Betty Banner, but I think Rulk is Glenn Talbot. Everything else still fits.
ReplyDeleteBesides, didn't we see Ross tell Rulk what a disappointment he was at some point (issue 5 or so?).
Listen to Incredible Hulkcast Episode 2 which comes out Wednesday Dec. 23rd for more on the Talbot theory.
-Ryan
Sorry- actually it was the end of issue #6.
ReplyDeleteWe see Red Hulk laid out with Ross standing above him and saying, "We gave you everything you needed to destroy that green monster. EVERYTHING. Still, you failed. You failed US...and worse, you failed yourself. You're on your own."
Even if the Ross we see was an LMD, why would it be telling the real Ross off like that?
Well, HulkSmash (nice nick! since I use it on some boards....), you've quoted the very line that seems almost painfully in-jokey. "You failed US...and worse, you failed YOURSELF." Funnily enough, said by Ross, to Rulk. Doesn't that line seem rather...ironic, considering if Ross himself is Rulk and the "Ross" there is an LMD, either with Ross' own personality engrams or being controlled by someone like, say, MODOK?
ReplyDeleteNot everything fits with Talbot, trust me. If it's Talbot, they've let some clues slip past that shouldn't have. It would be like "Armageddon 2001" all over again (where the story was infamously changed at the last minute because too many people guessed who Monarch really was).
~G.
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ReplyDeleteFall of Hulks throws a bit of a monkey wrench into the Betty Theory. Just a bit. Red She-Hulk is watching Ross' funeral, and states that it would be fun to be there. If she is Betty, then does she just hate daddy? Does she not care, because it was just an LMD? BUT, Betty Ross is then seen later passionately weeping at her father's grave. Two VERY different reactions to Ross' death.
ReplyDelete