Red Hulk spotted in new animated Avengers trailer

Red Hulk

The latest series of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will introduce new heroes, a new look, new threats and even new villains as well. The latest TV trailer spotlights some of these new foes but eagle eyed readers will notice a particular crimson-hued behemoth in the short teaser.

A fallen military hero, General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross was transformed by the Leader into a gamma-irradiated monster much like the creature that he once hunted like a mad Ahab after his whale. The Red Hulk is capable of absorbing energy and expelling it in explosive bursts. Much as the green Hulk becomes stronger the angrier he gets, the Red Hulk becomes ‘hotter’ releasing more radiation as his rage increases.

It is theorized that the Red Hulk will be part of the upcoming Hulk animated series, but it is especially interesting to see him animated into action this Fall.

Marvel- Your Universe… so there

At the 2009 New York Comic Con, executive editor Tom Brevoort hosted a panel on the state of affairs at Marvel and opened up the floor to comments from the assembled readers. There were some good (and not so good) statements made but what essentially began as a ‘this is your comic book company, Marvelite’ quickly became a game of dodge ball by Brevoort.

don't like red hulk? 7 year olds love him!

While I obviously agree that DC’s Final Crisis may have been a unique effort on the part of DC Editorial, it also failed (as Brevoort stated), however I think saying that what Marvel is doing is more accessible with Secret Invasion is selling it short. Also, responding to a complaint that the new Red Hulk series is terrible by saying that a 7 year old blogger loves it isn’t exactly going to win any new fans.

Another sore point was the Spider-Man One More Day story that still has fans polarized. It’s very unfortunate that it is preceded by the excellent ‘Back in Black’ and even better stories that came after it. In one camp there are readers who feel cheated that ‘Back in Black’ was a dead end story with so much promise done away with by a magical twist, and I can’t feel enough pity for a Spidey fan who is missing out on the current stories. Marvel performed a deadly one-two punch with One More Day by insulting married couples and fans of continuity at the same time… and those fans are still hurting. Brevoort had little to offer those fans as a consolation.

I’m also surprised by the lack of response to the statement that Marvel has no strong female characters. Huh?? Storm, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Spider-Woman are all great examples just off the top of my head. For DC… Wonder Woman is the only one that springs to mind and she’s in a kind of creative limbo due to the fact that no one can be sure what the character is all about. This is an argument that Marvel can win easily yet Brevoort (according to the reported coverage) seemed disinterested.

Ms. Marvel, just one of Marvel's super heroines

The entire affair ended with far less attendees than it started with, leaving me to believe that readers who are not happy did not feel that they were being listened to. Either that or the incentive of a free copy of Black Panther #1 was more of a deterrent than a reason to stay.

wait! come back for your exclusive variant!

I can only hope that the CBR.com reporter missed out on a few subtler points that Brevoort was making, because at a time when the company is producing such strong comics they really should have good responses to detractors.

Read the coverage story here.

The ‘Red’ Hulk

Just loosed upon the web, an image of the upcoming ‘Red’ Hulk by Daniel Acuna (Freedom Fighters). Word is still mum on exactly who the Hell this Hulk is, but the visual is very exciting. I know that planning for this Red Hulk has been in the works for about two years with an action figure surely on its way.

Ever since the heroes of the Marvel Universe shot the Hulk into space, the (not so) jolly green giant has enjoyed a brilliant spotlight of popularity not seen since the days of the Hulk TV program.

The Hulk‘s adventures on the strange planet of Sakarr in Planet Hulk was such a gigantic hit that few believed it’s follow-up ‘World War Hulk’ would live up to its glory.

While World War Hulk disappointed some, but for me seeing John Romita Jr. delineate the most powerful heroes of Marvel Comics was treat enough and to be honest, it was a great read in my opinion. In the World War Hulk mini-series, Hulk set himself against the entire Marvel Universe by turning Manhattan into his own private arena. After battling the combined might of the Avengers, X-Men and a barrage of killer satellites, a defeated Bruce Banner is shown the prisoner of a deep-sea prison… so who can this Red Hulk be?

Until January’s highly anticipated issue #1, we’ll have to settle for the above image and speculate.

Recommended Reading:

Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk
World War Hulk: Front Line
Hulk: World War Hulk – Marvel Universe TPB (Incredible Hulk)