Red Hulk #4

History

The 2025 Red Hulk ongoing series was conceived by writer Benjamin Percy after Marvel announced the 'One World Under Doom' event; Percy pitched a story in which Ross — as a decorated military strategist — would be exactly the kind of asset Doom would imprison before making his global move. Marvel paired Percy with artist Geoff Shaw, the two having already built a working shorthand together on the 'Sabretooth War' arc in Wolverine (2020) and the Wolverine/Ghost Rider Weapons of Vengeance crossover. The series launched February 26, 2025, deliberately timed to the theatrical debut of the Red Hulk in Marvel Studios' Captain America: Brave New World (February 14, 2025), with a prelude story seeded in Incredible Hulk #19 — the milestone 800th issue of the Hulk line — giving Percy and Shaw a runway to establish Ross's captivity before the ongoing began. Editor Mark Paniccia shepherded the series throughout its 10-issue run, which concluded in November 2025.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Issue title: 'Enemies of the State' — released May 14, 2025 (cover-dated July 2025).
• Written by Benjamin Percy; art and cover by Geoff Shaw; colors by Bryan Valenza; letters by VC's Cory Petit; edited by Mark Paniccia.
• Serves as a tie-in to Marvel's 'One World Under Doom' event (listed as issue #35 of 76 in the event's catalogue on League of Comic Geeks).
• The dramatic climax of the issue: Deathlok hacks Doom's weapons satellite to launch a nuclear missile at the trio's location — Machine Man and Deathlok escape, but Ross absorbs the full radiation blast and re-emerges as the Red Hulk for the first time since his inhibitor collar was removed earlier in the arc.
• The issue features the core escape trio — Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross, Machine Man (Aaron Stack), and Deathlok (Luther Manning / Deathlok Prime, Earth-10511) — being hunted by Doombots across a dark, snowy landscape after breaking out of Doom's coerced 'Think Tank' prison in Latveria.
• Ross discovers via an abandoned house's PC that Doctor Doom has achieved global conquest, deepening the stakes of the series from a prison-break story into a full-scale resistance narrative.
• No new first appearances occur in issue #4 itself; the series' new character introductions (cartel boss Hugo Perez and Harvard professor Li Wan Tang) occurred in Red Hulk #1, where they were also killed off by Red Hulk #2.
• The first five issues of the series were collected in the trade paperback Red Hulk Vol. 1: Prisoner of War, released October 2025; the full series ran 10 issues, concluding November 2025.

Cast · 5 characters

Full credits

Variants (2)