Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Ultimates #8! Planet Hulk is one of the Hulk’s most iconic story arcs in Marvel Comics, as it is a drastic change from the Hulk stories fans are used to reading. An average Hulk story will see the Jade Giant rejected by society, hunted by a powerful force (government, monsters, etc), and eventually come out on top against all odds. In Planet Hulk, however, the Hulk is a gladiator, a revolutionary, and ultimately a king. And now, that storyline is getting a perfect sequel.
In The Ultimates #8 by Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri, the Guardians of the Galaxy travel in time from the 61st Century to the 21st Century to retrieve America Chavez, who - in the Ultimate Universe - is one of their members, hailing from a distant future. While America decides to stay in the modern day with the Ultimates, the Guardians try their hardest to convince her to go back to the future with them. America suffers from amnesia, so the Guardians remind her of the life she had forgotten, including one fact in particular: the existence of a ‘Planet Hulk’.
The Guardians telepathically show America everything she had forgotten about the 61st Century, and one of the things they showed her was an entire planet populated by Hulks. Every Hulk in this world is a direct descendant of Bruce Banner himself, all ten billion of them. Due to the Maker’s timeline-tampering, the future collapses, and the residents of this Planet Hulk try to use their combined strength to hold up the collapsing universe. The mere belief that they could possibly do that proves how unbelievably powerful these Hulks are, and now, their story needs to be told.
The Ultimate Universe’s Planet Hulk Could Be a Better Sequel Than World War Hulk
World War Hulk is Marvel’s Original Sequel to Planet Hulk
The original Planet Hulk storyline saw the Hulk being sent to the distant world of Sakaar by the leading ‘heroes’ of Earth. The Illuminati decided that Hulk was too dangerous to remain on Earth, so they trapped him in a spaceship and sent him as far away as they could. When he arrived at Sakaar, the Hulk was enslaved and was forced to be a gladiator before ultimately breaking free and joining a rebellion against the Red King. In the end, the Hulk defeated the Red King and became king himself, and even had a wife and two children.
The immediate follow-up to Planet Hulk was World War Hulk, which saw Hulk going back to Earth seeking vengeance against the ‘heroes’ who sent him off-world to begin with. While that story arc was as epic as it was crucial to Hulk’s future in Marvel Comics (indeed, he needed to get back to Earth somehow), it effectively undoes everything Planet Hulk did for the character. In the Ultimate Universe, however, it seems Hulk was sent off-world in a similar manner as his Earth-616 counterpart at some point, and rather than returning to Earth, he simply populates the planet with Hulks.
The Ultimate Universe has a chance to delve into this Planet Hulk society. By the 61st Century, there are ten billion Hulks, all who seemingly have enough combined strength to fend off a collapsing universe (even if that effort was ultimately futile). The storytelling potential on this planet is limitless, and raises a number of questions. What is this society like? Are the Hulks on this world interplanetary conquerors or planet-bound warriors? Is there a King Hulk? Are there different classes of Hulks? Honestly, the only limit is one’s imagination, and every possibility has the makings of a fascinating story.
An Ultimate Universe Planet Hulk Story May Sadly Never Happen Because of 1 Person: The Maker
The Maker’s Meddling in the Ultimate Universe Might Have Erased This Planet Hulk from Existence
While a Planet Hulk story that takes place on this planet of ten billion Hulks would be an awesome story, and a perfect spiritual sequel to the original Planet Hulk (perhaps an even better sequel than World War Hulk), it sadly may never happen. As this issue of The Ultimates has already revealed, the universe collapsed on this planet of Hulks, erasing it and the rest of the 61st Century from existence, and it did so because of the meddling of the Maker. The Maker changed Earth-6160 to his liking, and during those changes, he may have permanently obliterated Planet Hulk.
Related
The Hulk Family Is Expanding All Thanks to a Marvel God
Marvel Comics has been steadily growing the Hulk Family for decades, and thanks to a few in-world gods, a new member has just been added to the clan.
If the Maker made it so this Planet Hulk never came to be in the first place, then it seems unlikely that the Ultimate Universe will dwell on what could have been, especially in the distant future of its universe. However, if there’s even a chance that the Ultimate Universe will explore this Planet Hulk, then it absolutely should, as Marvel totally laid the groundwork for this perfect potential Hulk ‘sequel’.
The Ultimates #8 by Marvel Comics is available now.
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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.
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