Captain America: Civil War – General Thunderbolt’s Role Might be Way Bigger Than We Thought

We got word last month that the MCU would finally be recognizing the fact that The Incredible Hulk did happen, and we all have to deal with that. And by that, I mean they decided to bring back William Hurt’s General “Thunderbolt” Ross for Captain America: Civil War.

It seemed like a strange move considering, as far as we knew, Mark Ruffalo would not be returning to play Bruce Banner until Avengers: Infinity War.

That is, until a crazy new rumor cropped up… Potential spoilers follow.

Will the Hulk appear in Civil War?

According to a big new rumor, the Hulk may in fact be showing up for a surprise cameo, and he’ll be bringing a “friend.”

The rumor was first circulated by We Are Wakanda, who dropped a few hints, and this image:

That didn’t mean much, until fansite MCU Exchange picked up the rumor, allegedly corroborating it with their own source “close to the set.” According to them, not only is Banner going to be Hulking out, but so is General Thunderbolt. That might sound nuts, but comic book readers may remember a multi-year mystery about the identity of a character called Red Hulk… who turns out to be none other than Thunderbolt Ross.

Ross transformed himself to better fight the Hulk, who he has a serious vendetta/obsession with. The movie version of the character plays a similar role, having spent most of the MCU’s Hulk movie chasing him down, although the two seem to reach a begrudging understanding by the end of it.

The report adds that the two Hulks will duke it out in a battle that will “rival the Hulkbuster fight from Age of Ultron.”

How likely is this?

It’s tough to say. Normally I’d write off sources as unproven as We Are Wakanda and MCU Exchange, but a few months ago, the much more reliable Bleeding Cool also reported that Bruce Banner would be in Civil War. In the same scoop, they also broke the news that Quicksilver would die in Age of Ultron, something a lot of other sites shot down before the movie came out.

That being said, no one else has been corroborating the Red Hulk report, so that seems a lot less likely to me. It’s not impossible (it would make Thunderbolt’s role in the whole thing a lot more clear), just unlikely.

After all, would Marvel really throw in another big Hulk fight so soon after Age of Ultron? I’m dubious, especially given just how many characters there are in this movie already.

On the other hand, it’s totally possible that it might be a small scene in an otherwise extended action sequence, perhaps showing Cap and Iron Man’s respective teams battling. Take it with a grain of salt though, and we’ll know for sure when Captain America: Civil War lands on May 6, 2016.