Thunderbolt Ross (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

General Thunderbolt Ross is the secondary antagonist of The Incredible Hulk and a supporting protagonist of Captain America: Civil War. He was a Lieutenant General of the United States Army. During his career, he was put in charge of the military project called the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project, which aimed to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. However, the experiment led to an accident which transformed the scientist Bruce Banner into Hulk. After a long hunt, Banner was captured, only for Ross' subordinate officer Emil Blonsky to transform into the monstrous Abomination which forced Ross to accept Hulk as an ally and allow him to escape after the battle in Harlem. Five years after this incident, he is now serving as the U.S. Secretary of Defense.

He is portrayed by William Hurt.

The Incredible Hulk
Later, Ross received intel that a man had become infected with Gamma Radiation after drinking a bottle of Pingo Doce. Knowing this must have been caused by Banner, he began a frantic search, tracking down the factory that produced the soda in Rocinha, near Rio de Janeiro and ordered his soldiers and contacts to look for a while man working in the factory.

Ross began putting together a special unit with the sole purpose of capturing Banner, he managed to hire one of the best operatives at his disposal, Emil Blonsky, and sent them to the village of Rio de Janeriro. As they traveled to the location, Ross choose to not disclose the secrets of Banner's condition, believing them to still be top-secret. He told Blonsky and the other soldiers that Banner was a target of the US Government who had stolen military secrets. He ordered them to ensure that Banner was captured without incident.

During the attack, Ross stayed close and gave orders to the soldiers. Banner managed to escape and began to run, with Blonsky giving chase. At one point Banner ran past Ross's armored van, Ross stepped out and looked Banner in the eyes. Banner continued to run until he became cornered in the Pingo Doce factory and transformed into the Hulk. He defeated the soldiers and escaped, Ross screamed "No" as he watched the Hulk smash through a wall and escaped.

When Emil Blonsky returned he was furious at Ross for not telling him of Banner's condition as several of his men had been killed. When they returned to the USA, Ross told how Banner became the Hulk. They discussed the Super Soldier Program from World War II, Blonsky expressed interest in having another chance to fight the Hulk and claimed that he wished that he could have the body he had 10 years ago along with the mind he has now. Ross claimed he could arrange something like that for him. Blonsky accepted Ross's offer to be injected with an experimental version of the Super Soldier Serum, developed by Ross' researchers. Ross collected the Serum himself from a secure facility and watched closely as Blonsky was injected with the Serum. The serum was injected into his neck and spine, it caused him considerable pain, but increased his strength and agility to super human levels.

When Leonard Samson, Betty Ross's new boyfriend, warned Ross that Bruce Banner had returned to Virginia. Boss seized the opportunity and his forces, super-powered Blonsky included, attacked at Culver University in an attempt to capture Banner. Ross uses all his men and his new weapons created by Stark Industries and caused a major battle with the Banner, who had transformed into the Hulk. Betty Ross screamed at her father but he would not listen. Eventually Ross sent Blonsky to attack Hulk, although he was able to hold his own against the beast, he was eventually kicked in the chest by the Hulk and every bone in his body was broken. Seeing no other choice, Ross called for a helicopter to shoot at the Hulk, however Betty was caught in the crossfire and nearly killed, before Ross could call the Helicopter away, Hulk destroyed it and escaped with the unconscious Betty Ross, General Ross watched helplessly as he got away again. In need of new information about the Hulk's movements, Ross obtained the World Security Council's permission to extract the data from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s computers. A few hours later, Ross was confronted by Nick Fury himself. Ross told Fury that he was not going to leave the safety of the world in his hands.

Much to Ross' surprise, Emil Blonsky managed to recover very quickly from the wounds suffered in the battle with Bruce Banner, because of the Super Soldier Serum. Blonsky volunteered to go through the procedure again to increase his strength. General Ross managed to track Banner's accomplice and has his lab taken in custody by the Army. Ross discovered Banner's and Betty's whereabouts had Banner shot with a tranquilizer rifle and took them both into custody by a helicopter. Ross learnt that Banner had tried and seemingly succeeded in destroyed the Hulk from inside him, Ross warned Banner that if he had indeed killed the Hulk, then he would ensure Banner spent the rest of his life in prison.

Unknown to Ross, Blonsky went to Samuel Sterns' lab and forced him to inject him with Banner's DNA, which reacted with the Serum and transformed him into a Hulk-like monster. The Abomination caused terrible destruction in Harlem and called Ross to bring him a real fight, hinting he intended to fight and kill the Hulk. Banner volunteered to leap out of the helicopter and fight the Abomination. Ross reluctantly agreed and Banner successfully survived the fall and transformed into the Hulk once again.

Ross watched the battle between the Hulk and the Abomination from his helicopter. When the Abomination seemed to be gaining an advantage against the Hulk, he ordered his gunman to help the Hulk by shooting Blonsky, who retaliates by grabbing the helicopter in mid-air and causing it to crash. Only Ross and his daughter survived the crash, as both were saved by having other soldiers using their bodies to shield them from the impact. As Betty attempted to move her father out of the wreckage, the Helicopter caught fire due to leaking fuel, the Hulk clapped his hands together, blowing out the flames, saving Betty and the General's lives. Their lives were put into danger again when Blonsky tried to destroy the helicopter, but their lives were saved once again when the Hulk strangled the Abomination nearly to death. Betty Ross was able to convince Hulk not to kill the Abomination and instead he left him unable to move, with the battle over, Ross silently ordered his men stand down. At the end of the battle, the Hulk turns over the defeated Abomination to Ross, who allows the Hulk to escape while taking Blonsky into custody for his crimes.

In the aftermath of the battle and following Blonsky's arrest, General Ross drowned his sorrows in a bar by drinking and smoking. To try and save face, the World Security Council informed S.H.I.E.L.D. that they want to make Blonsky a member of the Avengers, putting the blame on Banner for the Harlem incident in order to keep Blonsky's reputation intact. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Phil Coulson and Jasper Sitwell, knowing Blonsky's true evil nature, decided to send Stark to talk to Ross about the Avengers Initiative, as a patsy to prevent Ross from letting Blonsky join the Avengers. The talk ended up with Stark annoying Ross so much, that Ross angrily refused to release Blonsky and tried to have Stark removed from the bar. In reply, Stark bought the bar, and scheduled it for demolition. As such, Blonsky remains in prison, much to both Coulson and Sitwell's relief.

Captain America: Civil War
Five years after chasing Bruce Banner, Ross was serving as the United States' Secretary of State. As the nations of the world sought to impose greater accountability on super-heroes, including the Avengers, due to the events in Sokovia, Ross approached Captain America to present him with a copy of the Sokovia Accords explaining that there is a disagreement about whether the Avengers should be considered heroes or vigilantes and that the "unlimited" power with which they have operated could no longer be tolerated.

After the Clash of the Avengers, Wanda Maximoff, Scott Lang, Clint Barton and Sam Wilson were captured and taken to the Raft. There they were thrown into individual cells. Tony Stark later flew to the Raft and was met by Ross. Stark then went to speak to the prisoners and secretly knocked out the audio feed so he could privately speak to Wilson and find out the location of Steve Rogers so he could help him. The prisoners were later freed by Captain America, much to Ross' great fury.