I LOVE How Much Marvel Is Making Me Hate Its New Version of the Hulk (Making Him a Villain Was a Genius Choice)

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Warning: Spoilers for The Ultimates #6!Marvel’s newest Ultimate Universe version of the Hulk is absolutely detestable for a multitude of reasons, and I couldn’t be happier about it. By tapping into some very real political attitudes, this villainous version of Bruce Banner is supremely unlikable in a way that makes you want to keep reading just to know how he’ll get his comeuppance.

For me, The Ultimates #6 by Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee, and Travis Lanham really bumps up the Hulk to one of the most despicable villains of the entire Ultimate line simply by spotlighting his attitude towards the titular heroes. I'm not complaining about this attitude - not at all.

In fact, it’s a testament to the skill of the creative team and particularly Camp, who injects the Hulk with a perfectly detestable façade of self-righteousness. This Hulk is a supposed pacifist who talks about lofty ideals of enlightenment and surrounds himself with the aesthetic trappings of Buddhism. All the while he actually acts brutally as part of the secretive council that rules this universe with an iron fist.

Ultimate Hulk's Smug, Fascist Attitude Makes Me Hate Him So Much

And I Absolutely Love It

ultimate hulk summons the immortal weapons

The Hulk’s first appearance in the miniseries Ultimate Invasion by Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch introduced his supposed pacifism and suggested that he was a utilitarian who only went along with this world order because he believed it led to peace. The Ultimates #6 reveals that the Hulk’s pacifism is rubbish. In the issue, he proclaims "peace through strength," and my first thought was that it was the most overtly fascist sentiment I’ve heard from a supervillain in a long while - only to realize, upon reading Jake Murray’s brilliant review of the issue at ComicsXF, that it's a classic Republican Party stump speech phrase.

I didn’t know just how well Camp would subvert that original appearance.

The Ultimates #6 only builds on the characterization of the Hulk that we got a glimpse of in the third issue. In The Ultimates #3, Bruce Banner is revealed to have experimented on the native population of the pacific archipelago that his researchers dismissively coined "Monster Island" in order to study the effects of Gamma Radiation on humans. I was curious at the time about how Camp was going to square that characterization with the Hulk’s "pacifist" role, but I didn’t know just how well Camp would subvert that original appearance.

Ultimate Hulk Is the Ultimate Phony of Marvel's New Continuity

Deniz Camp Expands on His Intentions

What’s so genius about this Hulk is how he’s a symbol of cultural appropriation - as called out by Camp himself on Twitter/X, referring to the character as "the Incredible Appropriating Hulk." Bruce Banner is still a white man under his mystic trappings, and his dual role as this world’s Iron Fist is an obvious reference to how Danny Rand, the classic Iron Fist, definitely falls into some "white guy mastering Kung-Fu" stereotypes of his own.

Like so many appropriators - nay, colonizers - this Hulk takes the bits he likes from other cultures (the trappings of meditation and "peace") and uses them for his own ends. However, his cruelty in The Ultimates #3 tells the real story of how appropriation leads to dehumanization and, ultimately, violence.

Looking for another, more independent take on the role of violence and ethics in superhero storytelling? Check out The Power Fantasy by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard, available now from Image Comics.

The Hulk’s role in this series is the perfect illustration of what Camp is doing time and again in this series. The villains in The Ultimates represent different facets of real-world issues but warped by the context and scale of a world full of superheroes and villains. Dr. Midas from The Ultimates #2 is a literal gold-plated villain who owns the White House and preaches a sermon of capitalism. The new Hawkeye, who debuts in The Ultimates #5, fights against the construction of a pipeline on their native land, a "plot" that barely even needs to be changed from real life to be considered cartoonishly evil.

Each Version of the Ultimate Universe Has an Awful Hulk

It's a Constant in the Multiverse

The original Ultimate Hulk was also detestable, but funnily enough, I still hate this one more. The Hulk of the original Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch was a literalization of Bruce Banner’s insecurities, a misogynistic crybaby obsessed with Betty Ross to the point of violence. The first Ultimate Hulk feels more like a parody of the original Marvel Hulk, but still succeeds in capturing the dysfunctional failure that's at the heart of the original Ultimates. If he had even a shred of self-awareness, then maybe I’d hate him as much as this new Hulk.

hulk and the hulked out immortal weapons-1

Hulk Lore Changes Forever, As Bruce Banner Creates Marvel's Strongest Team of All Time (Sorry, Avengers)

Hulk just blew away fan expectations, revealing his personal superteam the Immortal Weapons - Earth's greatest fighters, now transformed into Hulks.

The best comparison to this new Hulk is the "heroes" of the original Ultimates, specifically Nick Fury and Captain America. Those heroes embody a sense of self-righteousness in their belief that they are doing the right thing even as all evidence points to the contrary. This attitude is only made worse by the fact that, as the story’s heroes, they actually get to survive and thrive (their eventual deaths are beside the point). It seems that no matter the Ultimate Universe, there are classic "heroes," including this new, detestable version of the Hulk, who are always going to be awful.

The Ultimates #6 is available now from Marvel Comics.

Sources: ComicsXF, Deniz Camp

Hulk

The Hulk, a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, is physicist Bruce Banner transformed by gamma radiation. He morphs into a giant, green-skinned creature of immense strength and invulnerability when angered. Struggling with his transformations, Hulk allies with other heroes, battling villains while balancing his intellect with uncontrollable rage, making him a central figure in Marvel's universe.

First Appearance The Incredible Hulk (1962)

Alias Robert Bruce Banner

Alliance Avengers, Defenders, Horsemen of Apocalypse, Fantastic Four, Pantheon, Warbound, S.M.A.S.H., Secret Avengers

Ultimate Marvel

Created in 2000, the Ultimate Marvel imprint redesigned the entire Marvel Comics universe with a new set of origin stories and relationships. The reboot reinterpreted Marvel continuity from scratch in an attempt to simplify and update the company's 60-year history for modern audiences. With famous comic book writers such as Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Mark Millar at the helm, the Ultimate universe (named Earth-1610 within the Marvel multiverse) lasted 15 years and provided plenty of inspiration for the MCU.