The Hulks are back in the focus of Marvel for the first time in a long time thanks to Disney plus’s new series, She-Hulk. While it’s not Bruce Banner, it’s still a very welcome return for gamma-ray powered heroes and foes alike. The last time Hulk got a solo project outside of comic books was in 2008 with The Incredible Hulk— which is very different from the Hulk who would later appear in Avengers and Thor. She-Hulk sadly falls short of the bar many Marvel fans have set for the MCU, but it’s still setting a lot of exciting things for the future of both Hulks. It seems to be mostly the tease of what’s to come for the original angry green monster, Bruce Banner.
Bruce Banner hasn’t gotten much solo time since The Incredible Hulk, which is odd given the Hulk’s great character in Marvel Comics history. One of the biggest criticisms of the MCU’s treatment of the Hulk is how much of Hulk’s edge the character has lost, making him seem a bit of a side character rather than a mainstay.
But Hulk fans don’t worry anymore, big things seem to be headed towards Bruce, especially some that may have come from one of Hulks, the greatest stories in the comics, Hulk from the World War. It’s an understatement to say Hulk from the World War is a book of enormous scale in terms of the characters involved and the events that take place in the story. If fan speculation is correct that this story is where Bruce is headed, it’s safe to say Bruce won’t be overlooked for much longer.
But as tasty as a massive Hulk series and/or WWII movie sounds, when it comes to delving deeper into Bruce Banner and Hulk’s character in the MCU Hulk from the World War maybe not the best choice. That does not mean that Hulk from the World War is a bad choice, because it would be a good choice to go deeper with the Hulk and give him the attention he deserved in the beginning and even give the MCU back a little bit of that advantage. But there’s a comic book that, if used in the MCU, would bring something fresh and edgy, introducing so much Hulk knowledge to the MCU audience that maybe they don’t know too much about the character in the past that they have seen in the movies and series. It seems impossible to do all those things, but comic book writer Al Ewing is coming. As of right now, he’s not currently writing Hulk, but it was his run that wrapped up recently that really set him up when it comes to fan appreciation and hype.
It’s Al Ewing’s Run Immortal Hulk that definitely catapulted both him and the character into the spotlight of comic books. Immortal Hulk was even the best-selling comic book at one point, which is very impressive because Hulk comics don’t usually come close to the figures Spider-Man and Batman do. But it’s easy to see why fans were so drawn to this book. This book covers a lot and talks about a lot related to the Hulk. But a basic description of the general story is after the events of Civil War 2 when Bruce Banner is supposedly murdered, he, like many other comic book characters, comes back to life. But that’s where the book starts, a deep dive into Hulk lore where Ewing explores why Hulk is immortal, hence the title.
It is revealed that all gamma-powered characters are immortal and that gamma has linked them to The One-Below-All, mainly just the Devil. The series goes on an absolutely wild dive into all forms of Bruce Banner’s alters like Joe Fixit and Devil Hulk, villains like Abomination and The Leader, and even the concepts of good and evil. This is the absolute bare bones way to describe this book with no spoilers, and it doesn’t do it justice. This book is easily one of the best comic book experiences anyone could have.
But the reason the MCU needs a story like this now is that it’s everything the MCU doesn’t have and lacks right now, especially in regards to the Hulk. Immortal Hulk has gained such a strong following with fans because it extends to other genres like horror. This book features one of the few instances where Hulk kills someone on purpose, and he does so by putting his severed body parts back together, but absorbing into his body the man who took him apart. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Immortal Hulk’s horror images. The book takes full advantage of his immortality and his ability to change form from human to Hulk and back to human again. It takes a deep dive into the bizarre and intense so much that it’s almost impossible to explain, only seeing it will do it justice.
The MCU has a big Hulking problem and it seems to be trying to fix it. But the best answer to the question of where the Hulk and the MCU should go is Al Ewing Immortal Hulk. The book would be a new look, look and atmosphere for the MCU and a stepping stone into the deeper knowledge of the Hulk that the MCU hasn’t even begun to explore yet.
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