Thaddeus Ross

"Banner's work was very early phase. It wasn’t even weapons application. He thought he was working on radiation resistance. I would never have told him what the project really was. But he was so sure of what he was onto, that he tested it on himself. And something went very wrong. Or it went very right. As far as I'm concerned, that man’s whole body is property of the US Army."

- Thaddeus Ross

Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross is the US Secretary of State. Before that 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 that incident, Ross started serving as the United States Secretary of State.

Early Work
"Let me emphasize that what I'm about to share with you is tremendously sensitive, both to me personally and the Army. You're aware that we've got an Infantry Weapons Development program. Well, in WWII, they initiated a subprogram for Bio-Tech Force Enhancement." "Yeah, Super-Soldier."

- Thaddeus Ross and Emil Blonsky

A young Thaddeus Ross returned to America at the age of 27, having joined the military and participed in the. Over the years he rose to the rank of a three-star general, and also had had a daughter named Elizabeth, who eventually went by the nickname Betty.

Thaddeus Ross was involved in an Army research and development program intended to recreate the "Super Soldier Serum" first developed in World War II. The project was known as the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project. In the beginning of the scheme, the military had been using captured terrorists of Al-Haquid to test out various serums. However, pictures of the project came out and the United States Congress killed it. Ross got an agreement with the scientist Bruce Banner, his daughter's fiancé, for working on a government project to render soldiers immune to Gamma Radiation, under the guise of being part of the weapon development project. Involved in early phase research, Banner conducted a test on himself dealing with Gamma Radiation - instead of Vita Radiation - and after an accidental explosion, became the "Hulk", a giant and amazingly strong brute who fled after injuring Betty, leaving her in a coma. When Banner returned to visit Betty in the hospital, Ross was furious and threw Banner out, causing Banner to go on the run. Taken by a sense of guilt and rage, Ross put his life at the service of a single cause: to hunt down and capture Bruce Banner. Ross took charge of the Army's effort to recover the fugitive in coordination with S.H.I.E.L.D. The General's obsession caused a major rift between him and his daughter, Betty Ross, who still loved Banner. Their relationship never fully recovered.

Meeting Tony Stark
"I know you've been distancing yourself from your father's legacy; you claim you're no longer a weapons maker; but now you are the weapon!"

- Thaddeus Ross to Tony Stark

Five years after the "Hulk incident", when Tony Stark got poisoned from his Arc Reactor palladium core, Senator Stern called Ross. When Ross arrived in Stern's office, he told him to forgive him as he was in a bit of a hurry as this was taking him away from the Gamma Project and he wanted to get back to it. Ross said that the United States Army could not afford to wait for Tony Stark to smarten up. He told both Stern and James Rhodes to follow him. Ross was about to show them something that was classified; Stern asked where Justin Hammer was and Ross told him that Hammer was on the way. Ross told them that their new weapon would be the right way to send the right message to the enemies of freedom, the message being that they did not need Tony Stark.

When Hammer arrived he presented to Rhodes and Ross the Aerodynamic Marvel, which he considered to be the next step on close-quarter combat with full protection and attack capabilities. When testing the machine it was shot down and fell into an enemy zone.

Ross was informed that Iron Man was heading in to clean up. Ross was interested in seeing what Stark could do. After Stark saved the pilot, Ross ordered him to land on Cairo's West Air Base immediately. Stark met with Ross and asked if he had something to ask him, Ross told him that they picked up on a shoot out with the Congolese Army and Stark did not return fire, stating that when someone fires on an American, that American has to fire back; he also told him that by claiming that he would not make any more weapons, he was distancing himself from his father's legacy. Stark warned him that if he heard about another innocent being put in harm's way there would be consequences.

The Hunt Begins
"I will never forgive what you’ve done to him." "He’s a fugitive." "You made him a fugitive. To cover your failures, and to protect your career. Don’t ever speak to me as your daughter again."

- Betty Ross and Thaddeus Ross

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 white 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.

Encounter in Brazil
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 armoured 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 Hulk. He defeated the soldiers and escaped, Ross screamed "No" as he watched Hulk smash through a wall and escape.

Creating a Super-Soldier
"We've got an Infantry Weapons Development program. In WWII, they initiated a sub-program for Bio-Tech Force Enhancement." "Yeah, super-soldier." "Yes. An oversimplification, but yes. And I dusted it off, got 'em doing serious work again; bold work."

- LTG Ross and Emil Blonsky

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 Hulk. They discussed the Super Soldier Program from World War II, Blonsky expressed interest in having another chance to fight 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.

Battle at Culver University
"Alpha team, let him have all of it."

- Thaddeus Ross

When Leonard Samson, Betty Ross's new boyfriend, warned Ross that Bruce Banner had returned to Virginia. Ross seized the opportunity and his forces, super-powered Blonsky included, attacked at Culver University in an attempt to capture Banner. Ross used all his men and his new weapons created by Stark Industries and caused a major battle with the Banner, who had transformed into 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 Hulk and every bone in his body was broken. Seeing no other choice, Ross called for a helicopter to shoot at 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 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.

Capturing Bruce Banner
"If you've taken it from me, I'm going to put you in a hole for the rest of your life."

- Thaddeus Ross to Bruce Banner

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 learned that Banner had tried and seemingly succeeded in destroyed Hulk from inside him, Ross warned Banner that if he had indeed killed 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. Abomination caused terrible destruction in Harlem and called Ross to bring him a real fight, hinting he intended to fight and kill 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 Hulk once again.

Battle against Abomination
"Use that thing, soldier. Give him some help!" "Which one?" "Help the green one, dammit! Which one do you think? Cut the other one in half!"

- Thaddeus Ross and a soldier

Blonsky watched the battle from his helicopter, when the Abomination seemed to be gaining an advantage during the fight, he ordered his gunman to shoot at Blonsky. Blonsky responded 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 having other soldiers using their bodies to shield them from the impact. As Betty attempted to move her father out of the wreakage, the Helicopter caught fire due to leaking fuel, 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 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 not to shoot Hulk. At the end of the battle, Ross took Blonsky in custody and allowed Banner to disappear once again.

Talk with Tony Stark
"You should talk." "You should listen. What if I told you we were putting a team together?" "Who's "we"?"

- Thaddeus Ross and Tony Stark

In the aftermath of the battle and the humiliating defeat for Ross, the General drowned his sorrows in bars, drinking and smoking. To try and save face, Ross and the World Security Council informed S.H.I.E.L.D. that they wanted to make Emil Blonsky, now in Ross' custody, part of the team, blaming Banner for the Harlem incident and keeping Blonsky's reputation intact. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Phil Coulson and Jasper Sitwell, with better knowledge of the events, 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 refused to release Blonsky and tried to have Stark removed from the bar. In reply, Stark bought the bar, and scheduled it for demolition.

Role in the Accords
"You operated with unlimited power and no supervision; that's something the world can no longer tolerate."

- Thaddeus Ross to the Avengers

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.

Abilities
General Thaddeus Ross is a highly experienced soldier and Vietnam War veteran.
 * Master Tactician: Ross is a general; he is in a leadership position in the military and trained to command people. Ross coordinated his unit on how to attack Hulk without being present personally. He also knows how to find allies to help his cause who can provide the right equipment and personnel. Ross knows when to change tactics based on the situation; he made Bruce Banner, a perceived foe, an ally for him to battle Emil Blonsky.

Equipment

 * Uniform: Ross uses two different uniforms, the Army Service Dress uniform and the utility uniform.

Family

 * Wife †
 * Betty Ross - Daughter

Allies

 * United States Armed Forces
 * Joe Greller - Fellow Officer
 * Strategic Operations Command Center - Subordinates
 * Kathleen Sparr †
 * James Rhodes
 * Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Stern
 * Justin Hammer
 * World Security Council

Enemies

 * Bruce Banner/Hulk - Reluctant Ally
 * Emil Blonsky/Abomination - Former Subordinate
 * Samuel Sterns
 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Nick Fury
 * Leonard Samson

Video Game Only

 * Rick Jones - Enemy
 * Glenn Talbot - Ally turned Enemy
 * Enclave - Enemies
 * Jupiter Leader
 * Ceres Leader
 * Minerva Leader
 * Vulcan Leader

Appearances
In chronological order: {| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" width="100%" ! Appearances for Thaddeus Ross
 * The Incredible Hulk: The Big Picture
 * The Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files (mentioned)
 * Iron Man 2: Public Identity
 * The Incredible Hulk
 * The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week (concurrent events)
 * Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (stock-footage)
 * Captain America: Civil War (unreleased)
 * Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (stock-footage)
 * Captain America: Civil War (unreleased)

Non-canon appearances

 * The Incredible Hulk (video game)
 * Lego Marvel's Avengers
 * }

Trivia

 * In the comics, General Ross eventually becomes a Hulk himself, Red Hulk.