We’re a few months out before Marvel drops Black Widow on us and there’s a bunch of stuff we don’t know about the film, like who the baddie is (is it David Harbour’s Red Guardian? Rachel Weisz? Someone else?) and what exactly went down in Budapest.
But while folks are busy stressing over those little details, Marvel appears to be pulling a sneaky sleight of hand on all of us as eagle-eyed folk over at Just Jared spotted someone unexpected on the Black Widow set: William Hurt.
Quick refresher for those who need it, Hurt plays General “Thunderbolt” Ross, who was introduced in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk as Bruce Banner/Hulk’s human antagonist and has since popped up across various MCU films as a government thorn in the Avengers’ sides.
So what’s the sleight of hand Marvel is pulling on us with the appearance of William Hurt?
Well we’re going to make a massive stretch here and go with a wild theory: Marvel is introducing Red Hulk in Black Widow. Yeah.
For those who are unaware, General Ross is hellbent on taking down Bruce Banner/Hulk in the comics because of reasons, some of which might have something to do with Bruce dating his daughter, Betty.
Ross’ obsession with Bruce eventually pushes him to experiment on himself in hopes of gaining powers to combat his nemesis and the result is his eventual transformation into Red Hulk.
In the context of Black Widow, it makes sense that General Ross would turn up as the film takes place directly after Captain America: Civil War and the character played a small but important-ish part in that.
Throw in the photos of Hurt looking frail and unhealthy (for the film), and the idea of General Ross experimenting on himself and turning into Red Hulk in order to save his life while fulfilling his own agenda isn’t that farfetched at all.
Now take this wild stab in the dark with a Hulk-sized grain of salt as nothing is confirmed and Marvel sure as hell won’t reveal anything, but it would be a hell of a development for Phase 4 of the MCU.
Then again, General Ross might only be in Black Widow for a simple after-credits appearance and nothing more, which would be a cruel tease that’s spent 12 years marinating away.
We’ll find out soon enough when Black Widow drops on May 1, 2020, but let’s be honest, we’re all frothing for a Red and Green Hulk showdown and Marvel would be missing out on a golden opportunity if they didn’t set that up.