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Quote1 All right. Hulk plug-in-- DO YOUR SLUGGIN'! Hhrrrh. Need to work on that catchphrase. Quote2
Red Hulk[src]

History

General Robert L. Maverick worked for Project: Troubleshooter, the United States' latest off-the-books facility for the production of human weapons. He oversaw the procedure that turned Corporal Todd Ziller into a giant lizard monster, who would be nicknamed "American Kaiju" by Maverick.[5]

When Avengers Idea Mechanics performed an illegal operation to rescue Rick Jones from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Maverick suggested to retaliate with the American Kaiju.[6] Maverick later observed as the American Kaiju was deployed against A.I.M. and witnessed as it was defeated and reverted back to his human form.[7]

Robert Maverick (Earth-616) from U.S

Some time later, when A.I.M.'s leader Bobby Da Costa defeated the villainous Maker, he decided to bring him to the United States' government and for Maverick to be in their good graces and motivate cooperation between them.[8] Da Costa's alliance with Maverick resulted in A.I.M. being absorbed by S.H.I.E.L.D. and working with the American government, having become American Intelligence Mechanics.[8] With the rebranding of A.I.M., Maverick became a member of its U.S.Avengers. Using an improved version of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Hulk Plug-Ins, Maverick became the new Red Hulk.[2]

The time-limit imposed by the Hulk Plug-In power caused Maverick to feel feeble. A Hydra double-agent named Kyle working within A.I.M. took advantage of this to offer Robert a nanite injection that could bypass the safety cutout.[9] The nanites also allowed Hydra to take control of Red Hulk's body,[10] forcing him to do their bidding and spent Hulked-out for the entirety of their short-lived reign in control of the United States.[11] Even though da Costa burned the nanites from Maverick's blood,[12] the nanites prevented him from turning back. Additionally, he had remained in Red Hulk state for roughly 800 times longer than he should've.

Robert Maverick (Earth-616) from U.S

Maverick's human form after having overtaxed

Following Hydra's defeat, Maverick underwent a painful and long process to revert back to his regular form because he couldn't remain as the Red Hulk due to pressing health concerns. Robert emerged from the procedure with heart damage, bone density loss, muscle tearing, high blood pressure and with his skin's pigment being permanently red.[13] Maverick could still access to the Hulk Plug-In, but making use of it wasn't recommendable.[14]

When the different teams of Avengers were caught in the middle of a contest between the Grandmaster's Lethal Legion and the Challenger's Black Order, the Red Hulk was part of a group of Avengers deployed in Peru to investigate a fight between the competing teams to seize a Pyramoid.[15] Maverick tried to claim the Pyramoid himself, but was beaten by the Human Torch.[16] Luckily for Maverick, whoever touched a Pyramoid was teleported away in such a manner it looked like they were disintegrated.[17]

Avengers Vol 1 685 Textless

Red Hulk's final stand

As soon as his Hulk Plug-In gave in, Red Hulk was benched and retreated to the Avengers Auxiliary Headquarters.[18] The final Pyramoid was teleported to the Auxiliary Headquarters by the Avengers infiltrator and the Grandmaster's secret player, Voyager, who locked herself in a safe room with it. When the resurrected Hulk attacked the Auxiliary HQ on behalf of the Challenger to claim the Pyramoid in Voyager's possession, Red Hulk faced him sporting Toni Ho's Iron Patriot Armor.[4] Maverick barely managed to fend off the Hulk, and was rather quickly overpowered. The Hulk drained all of the gamma energy from the Hulk Plug-In, additionally returning Robert his original skin tone. The Vision managed to distract the Hulk, giving Quicksilver enough time to step into the scene and take Maverick to safety.[19]

Attributes

Powers

None.

Abilities

Skilled Combatant: as a trained soldier, Maverick is an expert in hand-to-hand combat.

Weaknesses

Health Issues: As a consequence of overtaxing his body when Hydra forced him to stay in Red Hulk form for longer than he should, Maverick suffers of severe health issues, including heart damage and high blood pressure. Because of this, he would need to be regularly medicated for the rest of his life.[13]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

None.

Trivia

See Also

Links and References

References

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