‘Infernal Hulk’ Is The Natural Next Evolution Of Marvel’s Green Goliath
by Tony Thornley
In December, the next evolution of Marvel’s strongest hero hits stores. Infernal Hulk is the Hulk’s natural next step, and it’s one that Marvel should consider more often.
The Hulk has had a hell of a past twenty years. He’s gone from fugitive to Worldbreaker, to one of the world’s greatest heroes, to dead to… immortal. It’s been a fascinating evolution, especially for one of Marvel’s top five characters. Typically superheroes see an illusion of change, but Hulk has constantly been evolving.
In December’s Infernal Hulk from Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein, an elder god (the Elder God) has separated Hulk and Banner and taken the Hulk’s body for itself. Evolving their horror story from southern folk horror to a full cosmic horror is a fantastic next step for the story the duo have been building together. It’s a bit disappointing that the current chapter of the story is getting spoiled to reveal it, but that’s just the nature of modern media.
But it’s fascinating to compare this story to others in the Marvel canon. The X-Men has been in a cycle of evolution and regression since 1992. Spider-Man will seem to make progress in life but then get held back by apparent editorial mandates to make his life miserable. Hell, the Avengers have been cycling through new status quos every five years or so for decades. But Hulk has done nothing but evolve since at least 2006’s Planet Hulk epic.
Sure some of it definitely seems to be a result of the company not being sure what to do with him. It’s undeniable that killing him and replacing him with a legacy hero in Totally Awesome Hulk wasn’t at least in part an attempt to rest Banner and figure out what was next.
Without that era though, we wouldn’t have gotten the character redefining Immortal Hulk, and the growth the character has made.
So what’s different about the Hulk that these changes don’t just stick, but build on each other? I couldn’t say for sure, but even with the weakest stories in the chain have been additive to the Hulk’s legacy.
That just means I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Infernal Hulk #1 will be available in December from Marvel Comics.
