Glenn Talbot

Glenn Talbot
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales to Astonish #61 (November 1964)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Steve Ditko (artist)
In-story information
Full name	Glenn Talbot
Team affiliations	United States Air Force United States Army

Major (later Colonel) Glenn Talbot is a fictional character and an armed villain in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created in 1964 and first appeared in Tales To Astonish #61.

Talbot appeared in the 2003 film Hulk, portrayed by Josh Lucas.

Fictional character biography

Glenn Talbot was a military man who hunted The Incredible Hulk while under the command of General Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross. Talbot was also security chief for Gamma Base where Ross was the commanding officer. He was brought there for two other reasons, both of which were at the General's own behest: the first was to keep a close eye on civilian scientist Robert Bruce Banner, whom Ross and Talbot both suspected not only to being a traitor because of Banner's constant disappearances, which, unknown to them at first, was due to his uncontrollable transformations into the Hulk, who prowled the area near the base, but they also believed there was some mysterious connection between the two. The second reason was for Talbot to win the love of the General's daughter Betty Ross, who had fallen in love with Banner. Whether Banner was a traitor or not didn't matter to Ross. He intensely hated the slim young scientist all together and objected to Betty's love for him because he felt that Banner was too timid and Ross believed that Talbot, a real military man like himself, would be a much better suitor for his daughter. Talbot's romantic efforts later redoubled when he (and the rest of the world) later discovered that Banner and the Hulk were one and the same. He succeeded and married Betty all the while attempting to keep her away from Banner and the Hulk.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Then, while on a mission he was taken hostage by the Gremlin and made a mindless husk upon his rescue. In order to unblock his mind, Doctor Leonard Samson had the Hulk (who was Banner under control by a special helmet) unblock what was keeping him in a mindless state. The process was a success, however, Talbot's marriage to Betty became strained.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Later, he returned to the military as a Major. Yet he did take a leave from Gamma Base and soon divorced Betty. Talbot continued battling the Hulk and tried to have Banner court-martialed. When General Ross had a breakdown, Talbot was promoted to Colonel. His life remained relatively uneventful until the Hulk stormed into Gamma Base, looking for his deceased love Jarella, who was still cryogenically frozen. It was revealed Talbot had fired a ray gun that sent the Hulk to the Sub-Atomic universe. This caused his relationship with Betty to be further strained. Soon Congress cut funds from Gamma Base and Talbot decided once and for all to stop the Hulk by using the War Wagon.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Glenn Talbot was killed fighting the Hulk in Japan while piloting the War Wagon prototype.^{[volume & issue needed]} Recently, however, he was seen alive and well, in the company of Betty Ross; at the time, the circumstances of his apparent resurrection were not revealed.^[1]

As the attempted coup d'état of Washington, D.C. takes place, Major Glenn Talbot appears on national TV as part of the Intelligencia's plan to seize control - only to be revealed as an L.M.D. himself when the Red Hulk decapitates him.^[2]

This L.M.D. was so thoroughly reprogrammed that it believed itself to be the resurrected Glenn Talbot, complete with all of Talbot's memories including his love for Betty Ross. The real Talbot is presumed to have remained dead all this time.

During the Chaos War storyline, Glenn Talbot returns from the dead after what happened to the death realms.^[3]

Family

Since his "death" two of Glenn's relatives have also appeared. His younger brother Brian Talbot who was a member of the Gamma Corps and his nephew Matt Talbot who was also a military man.

Other versions

House of M

In the House of M universe, Glenn Talbot is married to Betty Ross.^[4]

Ultimate Marvel

In Ultimate Marvel universe, a version of Talbot appeared in Ultimate Fantastic Four as General Talbot. Talbot is portrayed as a colleague and friend to General Ross. He operates in the Baxter Building's think tank. His full name is General Glenn M. Talbot.

In other media

Television

• Glenn Talbot appeared in the 1980s Incredible Hulk TV series voiced by Pat Fraley. In this version, Major Talbot's first name was changed from Glenn to "Ned". He was nicknamed by the troops secretly as "Noodle-head Ned" because of the fact that he was very clumsy, was somewhat cowardly, he sucked up to General Ross, and is often deceived by the enemy throughout the 13 episodes.

• Glenn Talbot also appeared in the 1996 UPN animated series adaptation of The Incredible Hulk voiced by Kevin Schon. He was shown acting as the right hand man of General "Thunderbolt" Ross. He is also shown to have a romantic interest in Betty Ross, but she constantly rejects him because he doesn't do a good job of hiding his disdain for either Bruce Banner or the Hulk. After he met the Ghost Rider, he reflected his own bad side and become more serious and selfless.

Film

• In the 2003 Hulk film, Maj. Glenn Talbot is played by Josh Lucas and is a minor antagonist in the film. In this version, he is a former military officer-turned-bioscience executive—at a company that is also a politically powerful Defense Department contractor. He is a long-lost acquaintance of Betty Ross (who knew him back when she was in college, and he was an officer under Gen. Ross' command). This Talbot is ambitious, pushy, and obsessed with making a big fortune quickly; he targets Betty and Bruce's lab for hostile takeover, if they keep refusing his offers to quit the lab in order to work for his firm. Later in the film, he becomes bent on getting a tissue sample of Hulk for military "super-soldier"-type applications. Throughout the film, his attempts to bully Banner constantly result in his being thrashed by the Hulk. Upon capturing Banner, Talbot begins the tissue extracting process, but fails when Banner manages to break free. Ross orders Talbot to come to him, in order to have a full evacuation of the underground detention center. However, Talbot ignores Ross' orders for a lockdown. Talbot is killed when he fires an explosive missile at the Hulk, and it ricochets off of the Hulk's impenetrable skin and back towards Talbot. In an earlier version of the script, Talbot (instead of Emil Blonsky) becomes the Abomination and later battles the Hulk.^{[citation needed]}

Video games

• Major Glenn Talbot appears in the 2008 The Incredible Hulk video game voiced by Michael Gannon. As in the comics, Talbot views both Banner and Hulk as threats to mankind. Later in the game, he becomes a boss, as his actions against Banner/Hulk escalate to the point where Talbot himself is a danger to civilian safety, his strategies varying from attempting launch missiles in a civlian area to destroy the Hulk to donning a nuclear-powered Hulkbuster suit to fight him directly, intending to pass off civilian casualties as the Hulk's fault once his foe has been dealt with. When he is defeated, a self-destruct mechanism activates in his Hulkbuster, intending to kill Hulk along with him and the entire city. Hulk throws Talbot's suit into the upper atmosphere, then his Hulkbuster armor explodes safely, killing Talbot.

References

1. ^ Fall of the Hulks: Gamma (December 2009)
2. ^ Hulk (vol. 2) #23
3. ^ Incredible Hulk #619
4. ^ Hulk: Broken Worlds #1

External links

• Glenn Talbot profile at Hulknews.com
• Col.Glenn Talbot in Marvel Directory.com
• Glenn Talbot in comicvine.com