The Black Widow movie could reveal Thaddeus Ross as a secret HYDRA agent. A new theory says that “Thunderbolt” Ross may secretly be a HYDRA agent, working to oppose the Avengers through the U.S. government. This theory further explains Ross’ motives for hunting down Bruce Banner as a fugitive, pushing for the adoption of the Sokovia Accords, and criminalizing the non-g Avengers (and superheroes).
According to the theory, posted by Reddit Captain America: Civil War), and it would open the door for countless plotlines involving Ross as Red Hulk, AIM, and the Thunderbolts.
Related: Every New MCU Super Team Rumored For Phase 4
Black Widow is set during the two years between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame. Ross will once again appear in Black Widow when it releases in May 2021.
General Ross Is Back In Black Widow (In The Past)
After Natasha sides with Captain America at the end of Civil War, it was inevitable that she’d wind up on the run from Secretary Ross, who managed to put Ant-Man, Hawkeye, and Falcon in the Raft prison, and threatened to apprehend any more of Captain America’s accomplices. The Black Widow Prelude comic also sets up Ross’s manhunt on Natasha leading up to her solo film. However, what can be seen in the Black Widow trailer doesn’t show Ross hunting her down during the film’s official slot in the MCU timeline (sometime between 2016-2018). Instead, Ross is a de-aged, CGI version of himself, which draws speculation about Ross potentially being involved in Black Widow’s past in a way viewers haven’t known up until now.
General Ross wouldn’t have looked this young in the two years between Civil War and Infinity War. In fact, he is shown at an even younger age than he is in the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, which occurred roughly ten years before Black Widow. This means that General Ross’ appearance could be even further in the past than previously expected.
Ross Could Be Hunting Widow
Black Widow will provide the information on Natasha’s past fans have been waiting for since Agent Carter season 1. And since Peggy later helped Howard Stark create S.H.I.E.L.D., it’s possible she would’ve kept tabs on the Red Room’s disturbing tactics.
It's also known that Black Widow showed up on Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) radar when she worked for the KGB. She said as much in The Avengers when she told Loki (Tom Hiddleston): “Barton was sent to kill me; he made a different call.” So another option is that Black Widow could reveal the backstory on this: if Ross attempted first to kill Black Widow, and failed, it would warrant Fury asg the task to Hawkeye. Black Widow’s past infractions could be a set-up for a run-in with General Ross in the film’s present day. Again, it’s been set up for Ross to be hunting Black Widow due to her noncompliance with the Sokovia Accords in Black Widow Prelude, but perhaps this isn't the first time he's gone after her.
Someone Leaked Superhero Information To Taskmaster
Taskmaster’s photographic reflexes, or the ability to perfectly mimic any movement he has seen, will make him a terrifying villain for Black Widow to take on alone. The short clip in the trailer shows him mimicking abilities of Captain America, Black Panther, and even Black Widow herself. But just who has been leaking this information about the Avengers to Taskmaster?
Taskmaster is shown studying Nat’s movements and techniques on high quality video in a state of the art facility. The video shown is security footage of Natasha fighting off employees of Hammer Industries at the end of Taskmaster’s identity is rumored to be Rick Mason, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, which raises the possibility that he worked with General Ross at some point.
Ross' Sokovia Accords Obsession Undermined The Avengers
Due to all the destruction in Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as Scarlet Witch accidentally setting off an explosion in a civilian building in Civil War, the U.N. created the Sokovia Accords, a treaty the Avengers must sign - or be forced to retire. Secretary Ross is the driving force behind the Accords, calling the Avengers “dangerous” and accusing them of being unconcerned about what their actions leave behind. The Accords would disallow the Avengers from operating as a private organization, and it would seize control over where and when they could operate.
This decision causes a fundamental divide between Steve Rogers, who believes in individual freedom, and Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), who wants the Avengers to be put in check. The Avengers are divided into factions that don’t fully heal until Endgame, and despite Nat’s friendship with Steve, she initially sides with Tony. The rift caused by the Accords throughout Phase 3 cripples the team, and the idea that Ross was intentionally trying to divide-and-conquer fits HYDRA’s stated mission of sowing chaos and reaping war.
According to Thor: Ragnarock). The U.N. (or HYDRA) in charge of the Accords would have no opposition in barring the Avengers from acting on any given threat.
Instead, Steve Rogers survived and helped influence Scarlet Witch and Falcon not to sign. Not only are the non-g Avengers divided from the team, but Ross is able to label them as criminals and fugitives, leaving them on the run for the next few years. War Machine tells Ross in Avengers: Infinity War, "They're only criminals because you’ve chosen to call them that.” Still, Ross' tactic of tacking fugitive status onto Earth's mightiest heroes keeps them from operating at the status quo, even if HYDRA didn't succeed (as it wished) in controlling all of them under the Accords.
Ross Worked For HYDRA To Undermine Their Enemies
Ostensibly, Ross’ superhero vendetta stems from the Hulk putting Ross’ daughter Betty in danger. However, it seems Ross goes too far in pursuing this agenda against Hulk/Banner - even after Betty recovers from her injuries in The Incredible Hulk, Ross continues to vilify Banner. He traps the helpless non-transformed Bruce in a skyway and blasts him with tear gas. General Ross sheds light on his agenda when he mutters, “Now [Betty]’ll see.” Bruce Banner explains to Betty why the General wants to catch him: “He wants to dissect [the Hulk formula]; he wants to make it a weapon.” Ross labels Banner as a fugitive who stole government secrets, and claims he murdered a laundry list of people, which keeps Hulk on the run for years before The Avengers.
As Nick Fury says at the end of super soldier program was implemented by HYDRA, it would make sense that the “us” Ross was talking about was HYDRA. He may have assumed that, as a loyal HYDRA member and distinguished Army General, he was the ideal candidate. In Civil War, Ross claims that a heart attack five years ago gave him perspective. Some fans think this alludes to him taking the gamma radiation treatment that created Red Hulk; and so, Ross’ hatred for the Hulk and other superheroes drives him to become the very thing he hates, as he says in World War Hulks.
In the comics, Taskmaster, Yelena Belova, and Ross are AIM . So there is room in the future of the MCU for a revival of AIM: it was teased in the mid-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, showing it more as the HYDRA-rooted subversive organization that it is in the comics (rather than Aldrich Killian’s company, as it appeared in Iron Man 3). Though that specific base was destroyed in Age of Ultron, the return of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier). If Ross had already been working with AIM and secretly setting up the Thunderbolts, it would explain Helmut Zemo's unsettling answer when asked how he felt about how his plan failed at the end of Civil War. A Thunderbolts project is rumored to be in early development at Marvel, after all.
