Red Hulk is assembling a new team of unlikely and forgotten heroes from Marvel's past. In the middle of Doctor Doom imminent global takeover, the Red Hulk will soon find himself trapped by the villain, but Thunderbolt Ross is not the type to sit idly by. In response, the hero gamma will assemble a team of Marvel's oldest cyborgs to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the new Sorcerer Supreme.
Red Hulk #2 is set to follow the disgraced general and his fight to escape Doctor Doom's clutches. The last readers saw of Ross, he was standing over a man's dead body while praising “God Bless America”, before passing out and waking up in a prison cell in Latvia.
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Red Hulk #2 (2025) |
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Release date: |
March 26, 2025 |
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Writer: |
Benjamin Percy |
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Artist: |
Geoff Shaw |
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Cover artist: |
Geoff Shaw |
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THE GREAT ESCAPE! Thunderbolt Ross stages an escape from the “Think Tank” where Doctor Doom has imprisoned him. He's been underground so long that Red Hulk's powers are fading! He'll need help from the misfit crew of Machine Man, Deathlok, and General Simon Ryker if he wants to outsmart and outrun the legion of Doombots that are after them. |
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Alongside the world's greatest military, political and criminal minds, Ross was recruited to help Doom build a “better” world by leveraging his unique perspective. However, it looks like the Red Hulk isn't going to stand by and go down without a fight.
Marvel Reintroduces Machine Man, Deathlok, and Simon Ryker as Part of Red Hulk's New Squad
Red HulkPart of A World Under Doom Crossover
Despite Thunderbolt Ross's long and decorated military career, he has transformed into a brutal echo of his former self; thus, Marvel introduced Ross's new team consisting of America's greatest minds in military cybernetics. These three Marvel relics are spectacles from Marvel's past, which combine to offer an unlikely path to freedom for the Red Hulk to enjoy. For those unfamiliar with Ross' team, all three were once members of the US military, specializing in the field of cyber warfare. General Simon Ryker was the leading military cyberneticist whose goal was to create the first perfect cyborg.
Alongside his brother Harlan, Ryker successfully created that cyborg in the form of Deathlok. Using the time-displaced body of the original, two different Deathloks were created, one made from a willing soldier, John Kelly, and the other from a reluctant and disturbed soldier, Luther Manning. Now, alongside Ryker, one of Marvel's several Deathloks serves on Red Hulk's team of anti-Doom revolutionaries. In addition to the team is Machine Man, Aaron Stack. Originally built to be another military weapon, Stack's creator freed him, allowing the synthezoid to later join the Avengers and Celestials.
Red Hulk is the perfect choice to bring these cybernetic outcasts back into the Marvel Canon
Unlikely heroes emerge A world under destruction
A common theme among this group is the shared experience of being “other.” The original Deathlok, Luther Manning, originates from Earth-7484, while his Earth-616 counterparts are merely duplicates. In their universe, the Ryker brothers created Deathlok after one of them was seriously injured by their universe's Doctor Doom. Whether this series' Deathlok is the original or one of the duplicates remains unknown. Likewise, Machine Man is just one of 52 versions, all of which succumb to madness. The last time readers saw the real Aaron Stack, he became a Sentinel, exiled to space alongside the Celestials.
Although his new team is an unlikely mix of cybernetic knowledge and military experimentation, the Red Hulk is the perfect monstrous military experiment to lead them.
At the heart of this team is their formidable leader, the Red Hulk. Once a respected military general, Thaddeus “Thuderbolt” Ross threw away his respect when he sided with MODOK and the Leader, turning into the same kind of monster he threw everything away to hunt. To cover up his betrayal, Ross replaced himself with an LMD, choosing to live a lie while continuing his tireless search for the Hulk. Although his new team is an unlikely mix of cybernetic knowledge and military experimentation, the Red Hulk is the perfect monstrous military experiment to lead them.