Marvel Confirms a Shock MCU Figure Is a Secret Ally of Mutantkind

Warning! This article contains spoilers for X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday #2 Based on his Marvel Comics track record, probably the last person fans would expect to put his career and even his life on the line for mutantkind just did so when it mattered most, confirming that a truly shocking MCU figure is actually a secret X-Men ally: General Ross.

General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross made his MCU debut in The Incredible Hulk, and would go on to appear in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Black Widow, and he is expected to play a pivotal role in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World. While his character in the movies is almost identical to his Marvel Comics counterpart, the one thing that hasn’t been as pronounced in the MCU is how utterly obsessed Ross is with capturing the Hulk. Time and again, General Ross is comfortable crossing moral and ethical lines just to get his hands on Banner. In fact, the MCU did a great job of portraying that in The Incredible Hulk, as General Ross was actually responsible for creating the classic Hulk villain Abomination. However, despite how borderline villainous Ross has pretty much always been when it comes to the Hulk, both in the comics and the MCU, it seems there are some lines he won’t cross, and the official prequel to X-Men’s Days of Future Past event shows fans exactly what those lines are.

General Ross Is A Mutant Ally, Despite His Hatred For The Hulk

In X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday #2 by Marc Guggenheim and Manuel García, readers are seeing the transpiring of events that led to the dystopian wasteland they first saw in the original Days of Future Past storyline. As mutants are being portrayed more and more as a threat, Henry Gyrich (a ruthless government official and famous enemy of the X-Men) mounts enough political power to start giving generals in the military orders, and one such general is Thaddeus Ross. However, when Gyrich orders Ross to aid in the relocation of mutants through military force, Ross refuses, stating that the order is illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral. Gyrich counters, saying the legality of what he’s asking is fluid (meaning no one will get in trouble for ‘rounding up’ mutants). However, Ross sticks to his morals, and he is subsequently relieved of his command.

This scene was a surprise to everyone, including General Ross himself. He told Gyrich that he imagined many times what it would take for him to go against a direct order, and that apparently, this is the thing that did it. While a surprise to Ross, this scene was way more shocking to readers, as they are used to seeing Ross hunting a ‘mutant’ to the ends of the Earth, crossing every kind of moral boundary that exists just to see him in cuffs. While the Hulk isn’t technically a mutant, he is a superpowered individual who’s just as dangerous as a number of mutants in the Marvel Universe, making the comparison more than fair. However, there’s a difference between trying to catch someone Ross knows is dangerous, and using the military to essentially imprison U.S. citizens that might be dangerous, and that difference was prominent enough for Ross to put his entire career on the line.

At his core, Thaddeus Ross is a good man who loves his country and everyone in it, and just wants to make sure everyone is safe and treated with the fairness and equality the United States promises all its citizens. In his mind, the Hulk is a direct infringement on the public’s safety, and that’s why he’s obsessed with capturing him, but mutants are included in the very citizens Ross strives to protect and continues to fight for. So, when he’s ordered to turn against them, General Ross simply cannot, which confirms that – as shocking as it may seem on the surface – this MCU figure is a secret ally of the X-Men and all mutantkind.

X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday #2 by Marvel Comics is available now.