Betty Ross

The character has also appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) portrayed by Liv Tyler in the films The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Captain America: Brave New World (2025).

Stan Lee originally portrayed Betty Ross as a strong willed and independent-minded, yet conventionally polite woman.

Mid-1980s The Incredible Hulk writer/artist John Byrne portrayed her as more wilful and confrontational, characterizations which would remain in place during Peter David's long run as the series' writer.

Fraction said, "The way I write her is somewhere between Indiana Jones and Johnny Knoxville; after a lifetime of being fought over and treated like a human football, she's [now] seven foot tall and 62-52-62 or whatever and bulletproof.

In October 2012, as part of Marvel NOW!, Hulk was retitled Red She-Hulk starting with issue #58 by writer Jeff Parker and artist Carlo Pagulayan.

"[12] The only daughter of General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross, Betty spent her formative years firmly under her father's strict supervision.

The result would have permanently cured both of them, if not for Bruce purposefully re-exposing himself to the siphoned Gamma energy, as a means to combat Samson who had also done so, and was subsequently flirting with Betty.

Talbot takes part in a successful rescue mission, but is captured in the process, held prisoner by the Gremlin at Bitterfrost (a top secret Soviet installation in Siberia), and believed dead.

Banner agrees to repair the machines that cause the city to float in exchange for permission to use the advanced equipment to cure Betty.

Blaming the failure of his marriage on Banner, whom he also tried to have court-martialed, Talbot steals the War Wagon prototype and dies in Japan while trying to destroy the Hulk.

[volume & issue needed] When Betty learns that her father had conspired with MODOK to kill the Hulk, she accuses him of treason.

[26] When Doctor Strange banishes Hulk to the Crossroads, an alternative reality/inter-dimensional portal,[27] Betty begins dating a man named Ramon.

Betty's father appears at the wedding, armed with a gun and demanding that the marriage not take place before shooting Rick Jones, who tries to stop him.

Betty confronts her father, accusing him of domineering her throughout her life, as well as calling him out on his hostility towards Banner over the years, and cows him into surrendering the gun.

General Ross later dies before his daughter's eyes, sacrificing his life to destroy an unnamed mutant that nearly killed both Betty and Banner seeking a strong host to whom to be parasitically linked.

[30] Betty becomes distraught on learning that Banner had sometimes consciously triggered his transformation in the past and is willing to become the Hulk to deal with menacing threats.

[32] In a later story arc, Betty is seemingly revived by the Leader, undergoes surgery which considerably alters her appearance, is granted superhuman strength, and adopts the alias "Mr. Blue".

[volume & issue needed] Ross' allies, aware of his intentions to betray them, send Betty, as the "Red She-Hulk", to help assassinate her father, who is hunting Domino, after she witnesses him transform from his human form.

[36] After Ross fakes his own death, Betty also appears as herself at his "funeral", accompanied by a Life Model Decoy of Glenn Talbot to constantly monitor and control her, and expresses distrust of Bruce due to his recent marriage to Caiera on Sakaar and his subsequent attack on Manhattan.

[37] During the "World War Hulks" storyline, after Skaar stabs her with his sword, the Red She-Hulk reverts to her human form, exposing her true identity.

[40] When Bruce gains the upper hand in the ensuing final battle against Ross, Betty becomes worried for her father, which, combined with her heightened aggression when transformed, leads to conflict with the original She-Hulk, who prevails.

During the "Fear Itself" storyline, the Red She-Hulk travelled to Brazil, along with Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel, and the Protector, to fight the Hulk, who was transformed into Nul: Breaker of Worlds.

[44] Following the "Original Sin" storyline, the Hulk persona emerges as the result of an attempt to assassinate Bruce and efforts to save his life using the Extremis virus.

[46] During the "Civil War II" storyline, Betty Ross was among those who learned about Bruce Banner's death and attended his funeral.

[47] In The Immortal Hulk, Bruce Banner visits Betty after his resurrection and explains that he had not contacted her for months due to emotional turmoil.

In addition, she could project blasts of nuclear energy she called "hellbolts" from her hands and had razor-sharp talons which were strong enough to cut through metal or carry heavy objects.

[49] As the Red She-Hulk, Betty possesses immense superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability, and a healing factor that allows her to easily survive what would normally be fatal injuries to humans, such as stab wounds to the leg and abdomen by Wolverine's claws.

[50] Similar to her ex-husband, Betty's strength level is so vast that it warps the laws of physics even further than standard for other characters in the same fictional continuity; for example, allowing her to punch her way through dimensional barriers between different universes.

[57] The sword is later taken by a massive global machine called "the Terranometer" during the Hell Hath No Fury story arc and is held there until the Red She-Hulk is able to stop the U.S. government from inadvertently creating a dystopian future in which gamma-enhanced super-soldiers take over Earth.

[67][68][69][70] Betty Ross appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed by Liv Tyler.

The first appearance of Betty Ross in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962).
Betty Ross as the Harpy on the cover of The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #168 (Oct. 1973)