Hulk (Marvel)

The Hulk in Immortal Hulk v1 #1.

Hulk is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Bruce Banner transforms in the Incredible Hulk v1 #1.

Robert Bruce Banner was the son of Brian Banner and his wife Rebecca Banner.

While Rebecca loved her newborn child, Brian still considered it a monster and hated it for taking attention away from his wife. One of Bruce's earliest comforts was a star mobile that was hung over his crib. Brian frequently took his wife out of the house on important social functions, leaving Bruce in the care of his abusive nanny Nurse Meachum. The only 'friend' that Bruce had was his beloved stuffed animal named Guardian. Bruce was verbally and physically abused by his father for years (Incredible Hulk v1 #312) Growing up as a child, Banner felt very unloved by his parents. (Hulk 2000 v1 #1) However, Banner was a curious and intelligent child whose curiosity often came to harm, such as when he burned his hand on a radiator as a small infant. (Incredible Hulk v1 #227)

One of his few childhood friends came when he first met his cousin Jennifer Walters. (Marvel Graphic Novel: The Sensational She-Hulk v1 #1)

At family gatherings, he was often with his cousin Jennifer when they were children as they shared a mutual love of books, cartoons and experiments. (Fall of the Hulks: The Savage She-Hulks v1 #2)

Brian was arrested for murdering his wife; however, before the trial Bruce was bullied and abused into telling the judge and jury that he had made up his testimony against his father and that his mother had really died by accident when she tripped and fell while trying to flee from her husband. (Incredible Hulk v1 #403) Brian Banner was originally cleared of all charges, until he was overheard gloating about browbeating his son into making a false testimony. Found guilty by reason of insanity, Brian Banner was hauled off to a psychiatric facility for treatment. (Incredible Hulk v1 #-1) Bruce was then placed in the care of his aunt Susan Drake, who raised Bruce throughout the rest of his childhood. (Incredible Hulk v1 #312) Both the traumatic events and his unique genes caused Bruce to start to develop multiple personality disorder, which he would not be diagnosed with until years later; some of which were reflected from himself, and some which were reflected from others, especially at an early age. Despite this, none of these personalities would manifest, due to the fact his D.I.D. was suppressed, until Bruce was exposed to gamma radiation from the gamma bomb years later. (Immortal Hulk v1 #38) Bruce also developed some anger issues from the abuse. The first sign that Bruce was developing mental problems due to his childhood abuse manifested when Bruce began talking to an imaginary friend that he called the Hulk as a way with coping with his childhood abuse, his mother's death and his loneliness. Concerned, his Aunt Susan took him to mental health professionals who assured her that these were merely coping mechanisms and they would eventually go away. Unfortunately for the world, they never did and the Hulk endured as Banner's 'imaginary friend' for years. (Incredible Hulk v2 #78)

In college, one of her lecturers was Noreen Nolan who became a mentor to Banner and was one of the early analysts of the Gamma Program. (Immortal Hulk: Flatline v1 #1) During his undergraduate days, he was enrolled at Desert State University in Navapo, Mexico where as a science student one of his favourite mentors was Professor Geoffrey Crawford. (Rampaging Hulk v2 #2)

At medical school, he came to meet a fellow student by the name of Angela Lipscombe who was every bit as intelligent as Banner with her being popular in their class. Despite being on the opposite ends of the social spectrum, the two became acquainted where she was said to had had helped him out of his hardened protective shell. The two became friends where she was a calming influence on Bruce's life with the two becoming romantically involved over time. By the last semester, Angela won a research grant from a foundation for her work in neuro-psychiatry. Meanwhile, Bruce's own efforts were stymied as he sent applications concerning his work in spontaneous formation of gamma particles in a vacuum. All these applications were rejected as gamma particles were deemed just a theory where his jealously led to him resenting Angela and he began to stop seeing her. (Incredible Hulk v2 #12)

When he was a young student, Bruce came to attend the 'Forward Thought Conference' at Oxford University headed by Dr. Derenik Zadian. During this time, he came to meet Tony Stark where the two had a rivalry with one another but also a friendship that lasted for many years. (Indestructible Hulk Annual v1 #1) At graduate school, Banner was at the top of his class where one of his classmates was Phillip Sterns. (Incredible Hulk v2 #367)

Though a genius and expert in nuclear physics, he found no source of funding for philanthropic brands of science. (Indestructible Hulk Annual v1 #1) Ultimately, he had to take work at a United States Defense Department where he worked at a nuclear research facility at Desert Base, New Mexico with him working on the Gamma Bomb. (Incredible Hulk v1 #1)

Hulk

During the test, he sighted a young man named Rick Jones and rushed to save the young man. At that moment, the G-Bomb detonated leading to him being exposed to gamma radiation. At first Banner changed into the Hulk at sunset and reverted to human form at dawn. However, Banner's body eventually changed so that his transformations into the Hulk were triggered by the release of adrenaline when he became intensely excited or angry, no matter whether it was night or day. Usually, the Hulk possessed little of Banner's memory and intelligence and was easily enraged. While the military attempted to contain the Hulk, he thwarted their every attempt, with Rick Jones, feeling responsible for Banner becoming the Hulk, trying to help keep him away from the military. The Hulk ultimately thwarted an attempt to destroy America by the Gargoyle, another being mutated by gamma radiation. The Hulk changed back into Banner and help cure the Gargoyle, who helped Banner escape back to the U.S., where, with the help of Rick Jones, he maintained his identity as the Hulk a secret and attempted to keep the Hulk contained at night. (Incredible Hulk v1 #1) When Bruce next turned into the Hulk, his skin was green, a skin tone that remained the most constant for the Hulk. Banner became a target of the so-called Toad Men, who sought to invade Earth. Although at first their attempts to exploit Banner's intelligence made him appear to be a traitor to his country, Banner was able to use his might as the Hulk to thwart the Toad Men's invasion and thereby clear his name. In an effort to control his transformations, Banner began using a Gamma Ray Projector to force transformations into the Hulk and Banner vice-versa; however, his Hulk persona was reluctant to transform back into Banner. (Incredible Hulk v1 #2)

The Hulk later became a pawn of the Asgardian trickster god Loki, who tricked the Hulk into battling his half-brother, Thor. This plot was foiled, leading to the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp joining forces to form the Avengers and defeat Loki. (Avengers v1 #1)

The Hulk resurfaced back in New Mexico, where he was tricked by the Avengers into aiding them in preventing the Lava Men's attempt to eradicate human life on Earth's surface. (Avengers v1 #5)

While hiding out in a cave near Hollywood, the Hulk was disturbed when the Green Goblin's plot to use the Enforcers to kill Spider-Man encroached into his hiding spot, leading to a brief clash between the Hulk and Spider-Man before the Hulk fled the scene. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14)

Later on, the U.S. military came to establish Project: Greenskin that led to the creation of Hulkbuster Base that was to b a specialised facility tasked with capturing the Hulk. Upon its construction, General Ross came to be replaced with a robotic duplicate by the Leader who himself was disguised as Major Talbot. This was part of a plot to not only destroy the Hulk but also to replace the President and Vice President with robotic duplicates. (Incredible Hulk v1 #146)

Planet Hulk

The Green Scar on Sakaar in Incredible Hulk v2 #92.

Afterwards, he was on-board a special shuttle believing he would be returned to the Earth but it had been specially made by the Illuminati. They came to believe the Hulk was too dangerous to the world and had programmed the shuttle to take him to an uninhabited world where he could live in peace. However, the ship went through a wormhole and crashed onto the savage world of Sakaar. Taken to the arena, he was forced to fight numerous foes for the entertainment of the Red King who decided to personally fight the Hulk to end his growing popularity. In their fight the Red King suffered a cut on his face forcing his Shadow bodyguard Caiera to intervene but the guards were called who stunned the Hulk who was then sent to the Maw. (Incredible Hulk v2 #92) Implanted with an obedience disk, he was enslaved and taken to serve as a gladiator for the arena for the entertainment of the masses and the planet's ruler the Red King. During his fights, he was paired with a number of survivors from other matches with them being reformed into a new team. Among his comrades in the arena included former Captain Lavin Skee, Elloe Kaifi, Hiroim, Arch-E-5912, Korg, Miek and No-Name of the Brood. In time, the Hulk became a popular hero for his actions in the arena with a group of insurgents attempting to recruit the the warrior to their cause. (Incredible Hulk v2 #93) However, the Hulk came to decline their offer though his fellow gladiator Elloe decided to join with the rebels. In the aftermath, the next gladiatorial game was fought where Lavin Shee was killed in the fight. (Incredible Hulk v2 #94) Coming close to achieving their freedom, the Red King decided to have these gladiators killed at the hands of a powerful opponent. Thus, he had his lieutenant Caiera arrange for them to fight the Silver Savage. This was in fact the Silver Surfer who fallen to Sakaar sometime ago and been enslaved after an obedience disk implanted on him. Forced to serve the Red King, he was sent to battle the Green Scar in the arena. During the fight, the Hulk managed to break the Silver Surfer's disk thus freeing the Herald of Galactus. Around this time, Elloe along with two of her fellow rebels had been captured where the Red King had ordered the Hulk to kill them. However, the Green Scar and the Warbound refused to kill their comrade. The freed Silver Surfer in the meantime used his powers to destroy all the obedience disks thus freeing all the captives in the arena. Norin Radd decided to leave Sakaar where he offered to take the Hulk back to his homeworld. However, the Green Scar refused and decided instead to remain on Sakaar. (Incredible Hulk v2 #95)

Following their liberation from the arenas by the Silver Surfer, the former slaves of the Red King wondered what their next move should be as they roamed Sakaar's surface. Miek believed that their leader the Hulk would know their next course of action even though the Green Scar had not spoken since their escape. The stories of the Hulk's glorious victories and the fact that a plant grew from his blood did little to convince one of the detractors. The group came upon a camp where an Imperial Sakaaran fled upon seeing them. Unknown to the group, this person was in fact a spy who reported on the Warbound's location to Caiera who had been tasked with finding and killing the runaway gladiators before the Hulk could challenge the Red King's rule of the planet. She had intended to drop bombs on the site though the Hulk had predicted her course of action with the Warbound having caught the spy and leaving him in the encampment. Thus, Caiera the Oldstrong upon coming to find her quarry's dead bodies instead found the only fatality having been her spy. In response, Sakaaran forces began killing local villagers to drive out the rebels with Elloe wanting to avenge their deaths but Hiroim stayed her hand stating that they needed to find somewhere to train. Miek came upon a perfection location where he guided the group to a location. (Incredible Hulk v2 #96) It was shown that sites where his blood had dropped such as in the arena caused a growth of Eleha'al vines. By this point, the people of Sakaar came to believe that the Hulk was the prophesized Sakaarson who was said to save their world. As a result, a rebellion erupted in the Capital City that was quickly quelled by the Red King using his exoskeleton armor. Meanwhile, his bodyguard Caeira the Oldstrong was still involved in her hunt of the Hulk. Meanwhile, the entirety of the Sakaaran Native people were said to had come to ally themselves with him. Hulk by this point had decimated the village of An-Charr cause the Headman Charr to demand from Caiera to do something about the escaped slave gladiator. The village was later attacked by a tribe of Sakaaran Natives but they were easily killed. Miles away, the Hulk learnt that the Natives had joined his side with Miek revelling in his role as being the saviour of his people. However, issues of feeding all the people that had since joined them but the Hulk had a solution and took the wandering group attacked the Maw. Primus Vand had been involved in a training session with the gladiators who where he tasked the slaves to respond to the attack. However, the slaves refused to raise a hand against the Green Skar with the Hulk easily overpowering Vand whereupon he removed the slave discs on all those enslaved at the maw. Instead of killing Primus Vand, the Hulk decreed that nobody would be a slave again. When Elloe Kaifi demanded that Vand pay for killing her father, the Hulk told her to kill him herself, but she could not bring herself to do it. When one of the Maw creatures tried to attack the Hulk, the gamma-spawned brute removed its Obedience Disc, taming the creatures and taking it as his steed. Soon, they travelled to the Steppes, a sovereign no-mans land owned by the Shadow People that had been desolate after the Spike War which the Hulk thought as being a perfect place for them. (Incredible Hulk v2 #97)

World War Hulk

The Worldbreaker comes to Earth in World War Hulk v1 #1.

Upon arriving on the Moon, he confronted and defeated Black Bolt whereupon he made his intentions known to the people of Earth. The Hulk then proceeded to New York City, where he demanded that the city be evacuated and the presence of the Illuminati. This saw the heroes gather with Iron Man utilising his Hulkbuster Armor to battle the Green Goliath. During the fight, he came to remember the death of Caiera and in a rage defeated Iron Man along with badly damaging Avengers Tower. (World War Hulk v1 #1)

The heroes engaged the Hulk and his Warbound, but were defeated. After the Hulk became allied with Hercules, Namora, and the Angel, General "Thunderbolt" Ross called in the U.S. Army to dispatch the Hulk. (Incredible Hulk v2 #107)

He then had his forces build a large gladiatorial arenas as he intended to have his enemies battle to the death. This was interrupted by Doctor Strange who empowered himself with the essence of Zom intending to use the demons great power to fight the Green Scar. (World War Hulk v1 #3)

Warbound member Miek impaled the Hulk's longtime friend Rick Jones and revealed that he had intentionally allowed the mass deaths on Sakaar to happen, knowing they were caused by former followers of the Red King and not the Illuminati. The Hulk and the Brood No-Name attacked Miek in retaliation. Betrayed and enraged, the Hulk unwillingly began releasing energy that threatened the Eastern Seaboard and prompted Tony Stark to activate a series of satellite devices that opened fire and eventually left the Hulk in his Bruce Banner form, whom the devices rendered unconscious. S.H.I.E.L.D. imprisoned Banner in a facility three miles underground, and the other Warbound members were placed under U.S. custody. (World War Hulk v1 #5)

While Banner was incarcerated at Gamma Base, a new mystery revealed itself when the Abomination was found murdered in his homeland of Russia. The perpetrator soon revealed himself as a massive creature referring to itself as the Red Hulk. This new incarnation of the Hulk decimated the likes of the She-Hulk, Iron Man, Rick Jones in his new powered-up identity of a creature named A-Bomb, and even Thor. (Hulk v2 #5)

Fall of the Hulks

Afterwards, Banner was captured by A.I.M., and was detained underneath Gamma Base to be used to create a gamma-powered super-soldier program, headed by M.O.D.O.K. and backed by General Ross. M.O.D.O.K. was responsible for the creation of the Red Hulk, Rick Jones' transformation into A-Bomb, and the evil split personality of Doc Samson. The plot was uncovered by the She-Hulk. To infiltrate an A.I.M. base, Jennifer recruited reporter Ben Urich to help uncover the truth, and Urich, in turn, recruited Peter Parker to aid in the photography. A battle soon ruptured the tank containing Banner, causing him to transform into the Hulk. When the two Hulks clashed, the Red Hulk used his radiation absorption abilities to steal the gamma energy from inside the Hulk, preventing him from ever becoming the Hulk again. As the base reached critical mass, the defenseless Bruce Banner was rescued by a now-intelligent A-Bomb. (Incredible Hulk v1 #600)

Bruce then assembled his own group of Avengers to try and save Betty. (Incredible Hulk v1 #607) Betty, who was angry with him for having married another woman, was used by the Leader to distract Bruce so that he could 'hulkify' many A.I.M. marines and heroes. Bruce was captured by the Leader and hooked up to a virtual reality machine. (Incredible Hulk v1 #608) He was unwilling to leave the virtual world until he was convinced by Doctor Doom, who was also trapped. When Bruce escaped, he was saved from Doctor Doom by the Red She-Hulk, who was stabbed by Skaar and turned out to be Betty herself. (Incredible Hulk v1 #609) The Leader escaped and the Cathexis Ray Generator machinery was reversed, and all the radiation from the Hulked-Out Heroes returned back to the Helicarrier. Bruce then absorbed all the energy to contain it at the behest of Reed Richards. Doc Samson died trying to help. The Helicarrier crashed, and from the rubble, there emerged a new incarnation of the Hulk, who came to be called the Worldbreaker Hulk. (Incredible Hulk v1 #610) Skaar had his chance to fight the Hulk at last. During the confrontation, the Hulk rescued innocent bystanders endangered by their fight. Skaar reacted to this act of compassion by ceasing his assault, but the Hulk continued his, causing Skaar to revert to human form. The Hulk was reminded of Banner's own abusive father and reverted to human form as well, recognizing that he would never be able to continue that fight without Bruce becoming Brian Banner. Banner apologized and embraced his son, and Skaar accepted his love. (Incredible Hulk v1 #611)

Hulk vs. Banner

During Fear Itself, the Serpent came to be freed from his prison whereupon this led to magical hammers following to Earth. Each of these called out to a bearer where Hulk was among those that responded where upon lifting it he came to be transformed into Nul, Breaker of Worlds who was one of the Worthy. (Fear Itself v1 #2)

Bruce's reunion with his persona as the Hulk caused a reversion of the Hulk's intelligence. While spending time alone in the American desert, the Hulk was caught in the middle of a conflict between the army and Aquarius of the Zodiac. (Avengers Assemble v2 #1) The Hulk brought the Avengers a piece of Aquarius' suit that he had torn from the villain to investigate his identity, and he remained with the Avengers to confront the Zodiac. (Avengers Assemble v2 #2)

Indestructible Hulk

R.O.B. alongside Hulk as a Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Indestructible Hulk v1 #1.

The Hulk later came to be officially recruited back into the ranks of the Avengers. (Avengers v5 #1)

Banner came to the conclusion that he could not cure himself of the Hulk and decided that instead he would use his time more effectively. He approached Maria Hill offering her the use of the Hulk for key assignments and outside that time as Banner he would conduct world changing experiments that were funded by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #1) Banner was provided a full equipped lab along with assistants of his choice with molecular engineer Daman Veteri, renewable energies expert Randall Jessup, astrophysicist Melinda Leucenstern and microneural biologist Patricia Wolman being selected to be part of this team. The Hulk was deployed on his first mission in replacing a scientist kidnapped by A.I.M. who attempted to get the Quintronic Man online but their operation was stopped. In the aftermath, Director Maria Hill informed Banner that his activities would be watched over by a drone named R.O.B (Recording Observation Bot) that would keep watch over his actions with this being a requirement of the deal he had made with S.H.I.E.L.D. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #3) He was provided a laboratory in an abandoned town that was the site of neutron bomb testing which was where his assistants were located. During this time, Banner's request at exploring Lemuria was authorised when the underwater warlord Attuma had claimed the area and unleashed its arsenal against the surface. Thus, the Hulk was deployed into the field to battle the Atlantean supervillain. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #4)

The world was then affected by mysterious changes and disruptions in the timeline. This led to Banner being taken to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s T.I.M.E. division where they consulted the captive Zarrko the Tomorrow Man who revealed the danger posed by the Chronoarchists. He suggested that the Hulk be used to end the threat with Banner unwilling to take part until he was shown that his own timeline had been altered to the point that Betty Ross no longer existed. With the Tomorrow Man's help, Banner's mind was placed within a R.O.B. Unit and sent to accompany Hulk into the turbulent timeline as the Jade Giant's body was able to survive the stresses placed on the timestream. Together, they worked to undo the harm that had been made by the Chronoarchists. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #11) The Hulk and Banners mind within R.O.B. thus travelled through time where they ended up in the Wild West where the Chronarchist Tok Baltusar had used the damaged timeline to bring dinosaurs to the era and was using them to establish control over the era. It was only through the aid of the Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt and the Rawhide Kid were they able to defeat the time traveller where his chronometers were damaged thus displacing him into the timestream. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #12) The Hulk was then transported into the era of Camelot to battle the next Chronarchist Valdar Ahd who had deposed King Arthur. With the aid of Arthur and the Black Knight, they were able to defeat the Chronarchist thus restoring this part of history back to normal. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #13) He next travelled to defeat the last of the Chronanarchists named Khotto who was interfering in the Hulk's own origin. Thus, the Jade Giant travelled through the distorted timestream where he was forced to fight numerous displaced villains before arriving at the time of the Gamma Bomb detonation. During this time, it was revealed that Khotto was actually secretly allied with Zarrko with the two working to secure the latter's escape. They had also intended for the Hulk to be exposed to a further gamma radiation blast from the G-Bomb to turn him into a mindless weapon to serve them. Banner managed to restore the Hulk's origin and captured Khotto and Zarrko who were pulled into the timestream where they were taken away by a mysterious master thus defeating them. The Hulk was then rescued by the restored Red She-Hulk who pulled him back into the present thus ending the temporal crisis. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #15)

After Attilan was destroyed, the Terrigen Mists were released into the world creating a global pandemic as the substance transformed those that had an Inhuman heritage. Banner worked in creating a solution that was a bomb-like device but his cohorts among the superhuman scientific community dismissed his efforts and even forced their way into his laboratory. This caused Bruce to become agitated and led to him turning into the Hulk who took the bomb with the scientific superheroes attempting to stop him. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #17) The anti-mutation bomb was intended to use time manipulation as an attempt to stop the Terrigen exposure but it failed to account for the mist's radioactive decay thus making it ineffective. Afterwards, Banner went to find his assistants who went in search for him but found out that they were exposed to the mist that transformed Randall Jessup into an active Inhuman who attacked the Hulk. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #18) It was discovered that Jessup's new form fed on anger and hatred with Hulk managing to help Randall revert back to his human form. Banner then looked to find a means of turning Jessup back to his human state but they were attacked by Dr. Ted Goodrich of the new Enclave who abducted Randall for his own research into artificial human evolution. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #19) With the aid of his team, Banner had the Hulk teleported into the Enclave's Beehive facility where he battled the conclave of villainous scientists and freed Jessup. Randy transformed due to the anger he felt and warned Hulk that the facility's power source was unstable and could damage a large portion of the Earth. Thus, they destroyed the power source and saw to the dismantling of the new Enclave organization. Afterwards, Banner reported Jessup to had died but in reality had him put into hiding to escape being studied by S.H.I.E.L.D. Bruce then determined that having a team support him only put their lives in danger and thus disbanded his science team. Whilst in his laboratory, he was then shot by a mysterious assailant and left for dead. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #20)

While serving with the Avengers, Bruce began to grow suspicious of Tony Stark. During an incident with an alternate reality team of Avengers, Bruce learned of the impending death of the multiverse. Finally putting all the pieces together, Bruce realized that the Illuminati had reconvened, despite all they had done to him. Furious, he confronted Tony Stark, using tranquilizers to prevent himself from transforming into the Hulk. Backed into a corner, Tony was forced to reveal all he knew about the incursions and the Illuminati's actions in fighting them. Seeing no other solution, Bruce agreed to join the Illuminati in their work, protecting the Earth in secret while looking for the answers to saving the multiverse. (Avengers v5 #28) While with the Illuminati, Bruce designed a device that would allow him to control when and to what degree he turned into the Hulk. Shortly after joining the group, they faced an incursion with Earth-4290001. The heroes of this reality, the Great Society, had also been fighting the incursions, but like the Illuminati, had run out of ways to avert an incursion without bloodshed. The two groups met to discuss what to do next, but tensions between the two groups flared up, and a battle for the survival of their respective Earths began. (New Avengers v3 #19) The Great Society quickly took the upper hand. Bruce fought their leader Sun God, but despite fully unleashing the Hulk, he was defeated and knocked unconscious. The Illuminati won the fight when Doctor Strange unleashed an eldritch horror which killed the Great Society. With no other choices left, the Illuminati debated whether to destroy the other Earth. None of them were willing or able to pull the trigger, until Namor took the matter out of their hands and did it. Tensions between Namor and Black Panther spilled over, with the two nearly killing each other before Bruce separated them. After confessing that he had been behind the destruction of Wakanda at the hands of Thanos' forces, Namor left the group. (New Avengers v3 #22) Facing another incursion immediately afterwards, the Illuminati resolved to die with their world. Bruce travelled to the place where he had first become the Hulk, buying a six-pack of beer and declaring that this was how he would finally be rid of his alter-ego. When their world survived despite the timer reaching zero, the Illuminati reconvened, debating what this meant. They were unaware that Namor had released the Illuminati's prisoners, formed the Cabal, and razed the other Earth. (New Avengers v3 #23)

Doc Green

The wounded Banner was taken for surgery where a team of scientists were looking to harvest his body. However, one of the nurses removed the anaesthetic thus awakening the Hulk as she had been saved by him in the past. Once awakened, Banner transformed and escaped but the trauma to his brain meant that Banner had reverted to a child-like persona with his memories being gone along with his intelligence. (Hulk v3 #1) He was kept under the care of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a town where agents operated as citizens in the Kentucky-based settlement. During this time, Maria Hill was investigating who was responsible for the assassination attempt but her investigation was cut short when the reborn Abomination was dispatched in the town to kill the Hulk. (Hulk v3 #2)

To repair the injuries to his brain, Tony Stark consulted with his brother Arno Stark where they decided to use the bio-electronic serum Extremis to repair the traumatic injuries. An operation was conducted with it being a success as the wound began to heal thus allowing Banner to recover his memories. (Hulk v3 #4) However, the process gave rise to a new Hulk persona known as Doc Green who sought to eliminate the spread of gamma mutations and weapons. This new persona re-assembled Banner's science team where he gave them a new base of operations at the Beehive with them assisting him in his mission. This began with them creating a serum designed to remove gamma mutation with this being administered in an injection. Upon the creation of the serum, he decided to target Rick Jones but he instead turned into A-Bomb as he refused to give up his powers. (Hulk v3 #5) Despite Rick's resistance, he was unable to stop Doc Green from injecting him with his serum that stripped him of his gamma powers making him completely human again. Afterwards, Doc Green broke into S.H.I.E.L.D. to threaten M.O.D.O.K. to prevent the supervillain from ever experimenting with gamma radiation again. (Hulk v3 #6)

By this point, the Extremis within his brain and amalgamated into a tumour in his brain. To remove it, he went to the abandoned Weapon X facility in Canada that was being used as a headquarters for Cyclop's X-Men. Once there, he enlisted the aid of Kitty Pryde where under his instructions she used her Mutant power to phase the tumour out of his head. Doc Green then returned to the Beehive where he managed to sleep for the first time since he attained his intellect. During this time, he reverted to Banner who attempted to escape the chamber but Doc Green had initiated a failsafe to force Bruce to submit to his will. This included using an artificial intelligence based on Doc Green that threatened to kill Betty Ross thus forcing Banner to transform back into his Hulk-form. (Hulk v3 #9) He next went to Nelson and Murdock about acquiring documents that Banner had left Matt Murdock but the lawyer refused to give them unless he saw Bruce personally give authority. Doc Green though used this to draw out Thunderbolt Ross and ambush him as he was the next target to be removed of his gamma mutation. This led to a battle as Ross became the Red Hulk and came to battle the Hulk who was operating under a new personality called Doc Green. Doc Green had attempted to use a syringe to remove the power of the Red Hulk from Ross but he was prepared with him wounding the Hulk who attempted to escape through a teleportation door back to his base. Red Hulk pursued him and they next battled him within Doc Green's headquarters in the Beehive where he continued to badly wound his opponent until Hulk's allies used a teleportation door to drop Ross above a volcano thus giving them a reprieve from further fighting. He evacuated the Beehive with his A.I. Project Omega accompanying him as he planned his next move. (Hulk v3 #10) Doc Green then next targeted Llyra who he intended to send back to her reality but the A.I. he used saw her as a threat and instead sent her into a dimension populated by monsters. This showed Doc Green with the A.I. stating that it viewed her as a threat to it's creator and thus looked to eliminate her. Furthermore, it stated that it was based off its creator's mind which was now unravelling as the Extremis formula was fading away thus meaning that Doc Green's intelligence was disappearing. The Doc Green artificial intelligence then downloaded itself away before its creator could destroy it leaving the Hulk uncertain about the future due to his own actions. (Hulk v3 #11)

Doc Green then looked to confront Red Hulk at the Yucatan volcano and hired he mercenary Deadpool to fire a special bullet that would remove Ross's radiation absorption ability. This saw the two Hulk's battle with Doc Green becoming the victor of the fight with him using the serum to remove Ross's gamma mutation. Returned to normal, Doc Green then called the U.S. military who proceeded to arrest General Ross for violation's of the Uniform Code for Military Justice. (Hulk v3 #15) He then went to meet She-Hulk with the entire superhero community assembling in response in order to stop his possible attack on Jennifer Walters. However, Doc Green revealed to Jennifer that his intellect was fading and though he had a solution to cure himself he feared he would turn into an even greater monster as a result. Thus, he refused to take his cure but in the time he had left he intended to rescue Lyra and stop his rogue A.I. now known as Gammon. (Hulk v3 #16)

Immortal Hulk

Sometime afterwards, an incident occurred on Kiber Island where an energy reactor threatened to explode. The Hulk arrived at the scene where his body began to absorb the power but it threatened to detonate thus causing a large scale disaster. To stop this, the Avengers top minds gathered where they decided on a course of action where they concluded to send the Hulk into the Negative Zone to detonate harmlessly there but at the cost of his life. Upon learning this, Amadeus Cho intervened where he used nanobots to absorb the gamma energy from Bruce Banner. This act transferred the power from Banner to Cho making the latter the new Hulk whilst leaving the former depowered. (Totally Awesome Hulk v1 #4)

Afterwards, Bruce began to experiment on himself with gamma-irradiated cells at his laboratory in Utah. (Civil War II v1 #3) This brought him to the attention of the Inhuman Ulysses Cain whose precognitive visions identified Banner as a threat and danger to the world. (Civil War II v1 #2) A group of superheroes came to confront Bruce about his work causing him to be agitated where he came to be shot in the head with a custom-made arrow fired by Hawkeye. As a result, Hawkeye had effectively killed Banner and ultimately went to trial for his actions. However, he had instructions from Bruce Banner to kill him if he became a danger and even supplied the archer with a special arrow for the task. (Civil War II v1 #3)

In the aftermath of the Xemnu Incident, Roxxon filed for bankruptcy from the scandal and the Hulk was hailed as a hero by the people. However, Banner found that the Devil Hulk was still imprisoned within his mind and attempted to free him. Betty Ross by this point decided to leave Shadow Base as she felt caged in it with an argument with Banner causing her to depart. Afterwards, the Savage Hulk persona later attended a ceremony in Georgeville that honoured him when a mysterious power caused him to explode which killed the people around him. (Immortal Hulk v1 #35)

In his weakened state, the Hulk was easily overpowered and outnumbered where the U-Foes came to kill him. This saw the Hulk and the remaining alter's within him once again found themselves within the Below-Place. (Immortal Hulk v1 #44)

Starship Hulk

Banner then targeted an A.I.M. installation where he stole equipment which he outfitted on the Hulk that he turned into a living suit of armor that was under Bruce's direct control. Fashioning a mind palace, he came to cage the Hulk personalities which he used as fuel for an engine as Banner controlled the body. (Hulk v5 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Bruce Banner struggling with his alter ego in Hulk v5 #1.

One of Banner's mentors in college was Noreen Nolan who was an early analyst in the Gamma Program. (Immortal Hulk: Flatline v1 #1) Another one of his mentors was Professor Geoffrey Crawford at Desert State University who was a brilliant physicist. (Rampaging Hulk v2 #2)

It was said that the Hulk tended to be a reactionary being who did not attack people unless he was attacked. (Dark Reign: The List - Hulk v1 #1)

During medical school, he became involved with a beautiful blonde haired woman named Angela Lipscombe. She was shown as being as intelligent as him though she was popular among the boys. Angela came to be friends with Banner and the two were romantically involved but he ultimately broke off their relationship out of jealously due to her gaining grants over her work in neuro-psychiatry whilst he was rejected constantly. This resulted in him one day not seeing her anymore and breaking up as a result. (Incredible Hulk v2 #12)

Caeira the Oldstrong referred to him by the name of Holku. (Incredible Hulk v2 #92)

Within the mind of Bruce Banner, there were a number of alternate Hulk-based personalities that included:

• Grey Hulk :
• Devil Hulk : a personality that was said to represent all the negative aspects of Banner's personality such as his resentment of the world and his self-hatred. (Incredible Hulk v2 #13)
• Guilt Hulk : (Incredible Hulk v1 #377)
• Joe Fixit : (Incredible Hulk v1 #347)
• Professor Hulk : (Incredible Hulk v1 #377)
• Green Scar : the personality to arise during his time on Sakaar where he became a cunning and intelligent gladiator. (Incredible Hulk v2 #93) He came to depose the Red King of Sakaar where he ruled the world as the Green King who married Caiera the Oldstrong who became his wife and referred to him as Hulko. (Incredible Hulk v2 #105)
• Kluh : a darker persona referred to as the Hulk's Hulk that drew his power from darker emotions of sadness and depression with it being a malevolent personality born from the Inversion. (Avengers & X-Men: AXIS v1 #4)
• Doc Green : a new highly intelligent persona that developed following the Hulk's treatment with Extremis to repair Bruce Banner's brain after a gunshot wound to the head. He hated to be called the Hulk as he felt the name was one given to him by his captor and also sought to eliminate gamma mutations in the world along with gamma weaponry. This persona was noted for being able to create his own technology and made a number of inventions to aid him in his quest. (Hulk v3 #5)

Banner's dissociative mental disorder led to him forming an inner world in his mental space that was a site for all his alters to reside in. (Immortal Hulk v1 #35) It was said that the reasoning and intelligence of the Hulk varied with it depending largely on a number of factors at the time of transformation. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #10) Through unknown means, he came to create a massive mind palace at one point where he caged the Hulk personalities that were used as a fuel source to power his control over the gamma controlled body. (Hulk v5 #1)

According to Jennifer Walters, people always underestimated her cousin due to his Hulk side and that if people got to know Bruce himself then they would find a good friend. (Fall of the Hulks: The Savage She-Hulks v1 #2) At one point, Banner sought to rebuild his reputation and name as a scientist by creating devices for the betterment of mankind. In his words, "Hulk Breaks, Banner Builds" with him looking to forget curing the Hulk and instead being a scientist in those times he was human. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #4)

It was said that the more Bruce Banner trusted and liked a person than the more influence he had over the Hulk. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #9)

Powers and abilities

Banner was said to possibly the fourth smartest person on the planet. (Dark Reign: The List - Hulk v1 #1) He was regarded as one of the U.S.'s most famous scientists. (Incredible Hulk v1 #1)

Exposure to Gamma Radiation from the Gamma Bomb's radiation led to Banner being able to transform into the powerful monstrous Hulk. (Incredible Hulk v1 #1)

The Hulk was identified as being among the ranks of Omega-class entities. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #600) For a time, the Hulk was a doorway to a deadly cosmic being and was referred to as the One Below All. (Immortal Hulk v1 #3)

As the Immortal Hulk, it was shown that he had incredible regenerative abilities allowing his body to reform and re-attach itself even after being dismembered. (Immortal Hulk v1 #1)

Cosmic Rays were said to be the pure concentrated anti-gamma and acted as pure poison on his body. (Immortal Hulk v1 #44)

At one point, the Hulk came to be possessed by Nul, Breaker of Worlds who was one of the Worthy and use his body as a host vessel. (Fear Itself v1 #2)

With his advanced intellect, Bruce was noted to had created a number of advanced pieces of equipment and technology referred to as Bannertech with these including:

• Orion Missile : (Tales to Astonish v1 #81)
• Absorbatron : (Tales to Astonish v1 #86)
• Recordasphere : inspired from Bereet's Star-Eye, this floating spherical machine was designed to observe and record Banner's daily research as a form of mobile journal that was programmed with an intelligence. (Incredible Hulk v1 #286)
• Banner B.O.X. : the Banner Brain Omnicompetence Examiner was a small hand-held controller-like device that offered a series of mental tests to determine the intelligence quotient of the user. (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur v1 #13)
• Flyspy : a small surveillance device that was deployed in large numbers and got track DNA signatures of a target. (Incredible Hulk v1 #607)
• Gammascope : a device able to seek out unseen gamma energies and remove the harmful radiation. (Incredible Hulk v1 #294)
• Gammon : an artificial intelligence based on Doc Green that looked to accomplish his goals. (Hulk v3 #9) It was based on Doc Green's intelligence and built originally to be a failsafe to prevent Bruce Banner from taking control. However, the A.I. came to operate independently from its creator and later went rogue with it inhabiting an L.M.D. body. (Hulk v3 #11)
• Hercollider Synchrotron : a large computer that acted as an artificial Hypermind capable of scanning the entire Multiverse at high speeds through quantum observation of realities. (Heroic Age: Prince of Power v1 #1)
• Gamma Bomb : a powerful weapon that harnessed the use of gamma rays. (Incredible Hulk v1 #1)

He was known to make use of Bannertech personal shielding that protected Bruce Banner from physical strikes. (Hulk v2 #20) It was capable of using gamma energy and Old Power to sustain it thus protecting the wearer indefinitely.(Incredible Hulk v1 #601) The protective shield could redirect its power to temporary strength augmentation allowing the wearer to throw an adult person. (Incredible Hulk v1 #603) Another feature he used as a Gamma Dome that was a protective barrier that also shorted out all non-Bannertech within range. (Incredible Hulk v1 #606) For transport, he was noted for using a Bannertech teleporter moved him and others from one location to another. (Incredible Hulk v1 #607) In one instance, he was able to create a taser that drew on the Old Power. (Incredible Hulk v1 #603)

Banner maintained Strength-Metrics Analysis Subordinate to Hulk (S.M.A.S.H.) Files where he kept profiles on the Hulk's allies that were on a similar power level as him. (Incredible Hulks v1 #620)

Notes

• The Hulk was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where he made his first appearance in the Incredible Hulk v1 #1 (May, 1962).
• In Hulk v3 #16 (2015), the implication was that the Doc Green personality would eventually morph into the Maestro.

Alternate Versions

• In Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect v1 (1992), an alternate version of the Hulk known as the Maestro operated in an alternate reality designated as Earth-9200 in the Multiverse.
• In Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size v1 #1 (2009), an alternate version of the character was shown who took the name of Pappy Banner that was native to the world of Earth-807128 of Old Man Logan.
• In Hulk v5 #2 (2021), an alternate version of Dr. Bruce Banner appeared to be an inhabitant of the reality designated as Earth-122. This variant shared a similar history as the mainstream version except there was no issues with the Gamma Bomb testing allowing it to be successfully deployed. The technology then became widely adopted by the United States where in this time Banner married his world's Betty Ross. However, the gamma technology was exploited to turn the U.S. into the largest empire in their world's history with Thaddeus Ross becoming President. Devastation cased by gamma weaponry resulted in many people being turned into gamma mutates where President Ross came to banish them into the Superflow. At some point, he came to take a young boy named Peter Parker as his research student who had been bitten by a radioactive spider where he worked to cure him. Dr. Banner came to feel guilt over his actions bringing about this state in the world here he went into hiding and used multidimensional technology to retrieve a gamma mutate in order to find a cure for them. This led to him accidentally bringing the Earth-616 Hulk onto his world.

In other media

Television

• In The Marvel Super-Heroes, the Hulk appeared in the 'Incredible Hulk' segments of the 1966 animated motion comic where actor Max Ferguson voiced the Hulk and actor Paul Soles voicing Bruce Banner.
• In The Incredible Hulk, the Hulk appeared in the 1980s animated television series where Bruce Banner was voiced by actor Michael Bell whilst Hulk was voiced by actor Bob Holt.
• In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, the Hulk appeared in the animated television series in the episode "Spidey Goes Hollywood" where he was voiced by actor Peter Cullen.
• In X-Men, the Hulk made a cameo appearance in the 1990s animated television series in the episode "The Juggernaut Returns". A robot version was present in the Danger Room that was used in training scenarios and was used to delay the Juggernaut though was easily destroyed by the villain.
• In Wolverine and the X-Men, the Hulk appeared in the animated television series where Bruce Banner was voiced by actor Gabriel Mann and the Hulk voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Hulk appeared in the animated television series where Bruce Banner was voiced by actor Gabriel Mann and the Hulk voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In Avengers Assemble, the Hulk appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., the Hulk appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the Hulk appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was once again portrayed by actor Mark Ruffalo.

Films

• In Hulk, Bruce Banner appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Eric Bana. Young Bruce is a withdrawn and closed child, rarely outwardly expressing emotion even in extreme cases, with patches of green skin that appear when he feels intense emotions. The elder Banner, under extreme guilt for his unintentional damage to his son, is feverishly attempting to find a cure for the child's condition when the government, represented by Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, shuts down his research after learning of his dangerous experiment. David Banner, in a fit of rage, causes a massive explosion of the facilities' gamma reactor. After the accidental death of his wife, David Banner is arrested and locked away in a mental hospital, while 4-year old Bruce is sent into foster care and adopted, taking on the last name of Krenzler and believing that both his biological parents to be deceased. During his life, the repressed memories of his parents, the explosion and his young life manifest themselves as intense nightmares that leave Bruce shaken and disturbed but unable to conjure the memories. 20 years later, Bruce Banner is a brilliant researcher at the Berkeley Nuclear Biotechnology Institute. He has a published molecular biophysics paper titled Molecular Self-Assembly in Configurable Potential Wells. Bruce uses nanomeds, activated by gamma radiation from a device called a Gammasphere to regenerate living tissue; the nanobot experiments result in out-of-control cellular growth and are invariably fatal to their test subjects. Presenting a fusion of gamma radiation, nanotechnology and congenital mutation as responsible for the transformations, the screenplay modernizes Hulk's origins somewhat. The military-industrial complex, represented by the unscrupulous major Talbot, becomes interested in the research to build self-healing soldiers. David Banner reappears and begins infiltrating his son's life, working as a janitor in the lab building. "Thunderbolt" Ross, now an army general, also begins to investigate when he learns of Bruce's involvement in the research through Talbot. Ross, the estranged father of Bruce's girlfriend and co-researcher Betty Ross, becomes concerned both for his daughter's safety around Banner, but also because Bruce is working in the same field as the father he does not remember.
• In Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Hulk appeared in the animated film where Bruce Banner was voiced by actor Ken Kramer and Hulk voiced again by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Hulk made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting:
  • In The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Edward Norton.
  • In The Avengers, Bruce Banner appeared in the 2002 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Mark Ruffalo.
  • In Thor: Ragnarok, the Hulk appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed again by actor Mark Ruffalo.
  • In Avengers: Infinity War, the Hulk appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed again by actor Mark Ruffalo.
  • In Avengers: Endgame, the Hulk appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed once more by actor Mark Ruffalo.

Video games

• In The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, the Hulk featured in the setting of the video game where he was primarily voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore with Neal McDonough voicing Bruce Banner.
• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, the Hulk appeared as a playable character in the video game where he was voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Hulk appeared as a playable character in the Facebook video game.
• In Marvel Heroes, Hulk appeared as a playable character in the MMORPG where he was voiced again by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Hulk appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game.
• In Marvel: Realm of Champions, Hulk appeared as a playable class of character in the setting of the mobile video game.
• In Marvel: Future Fight, the Hulk appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game.
• In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: the Black Order, the Hulk appeared as a playable character in the setting of the Switch video game where he was voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In Marvel's Avengers, the Hulk appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 2020 video game where Bruce Banner was voiced by actor Troy Baker whilst the Hulk was voiced by actor Darin De Paul.
• In Marvel: Future Revolution, the Hulk appeared as a character in the setting of the mobile video game.

Other

• In X-Men and the Avengers: Gamma Quest, the Hulk appeared in the setting of the non-canon novel.

Appearances

• Incredible Hulk v1: (1962)
• Avengers v1:
• Defenders v1:
• Hulk v1:
• Incredible Hulk v2:
• Planet Hulk v1:
• World War Hulk v1:
• Hulk v2:
• Incredible Hulks v1:
• Dark Reign: The List - Hulk v1:
• Incredible Hulk v3:
• Avengers & X-Men: AXIS v1:
• Indestructible Hulk v1:
• Secret Avengers v2:
• Avengers:
• Hulk v3:
• Totally Awesome Hulk v1:
• Civil War II v1:
• Uncanny Avengers v3:
• Avengers: No Surrender v1:
• Immortal Hulk v1:
• Hulk: The Best Defense v1:
• Avengers: No Road Home v1:
• Fantastic Four v6:
• Incoming v1:
• Immortal Hulk: Flatline v1: (2021)
• Hulk v5: (2021)
• Incredible Hulk v4: (2023)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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