WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Hulk #3 by Donny Cates, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Frank Martin, Federico Blee, and VC’s Cory Petit, available now from Marvel.
Since Bruce Banner took control of his brutish alter-ego, he has smashed his way into another dimension. Unfortunately, upon arriving he was confronted by none other than himself, or at least a variant of him. Even worse, this alternate Bruce Banner has been subjecting his world’s Gamma Mutates to the Hulk’s greatest nightmare. As tragic as that fate might be, it also happens to be what the Hulk has spent nearly his entire life looking for even if he doesn’t realize it.
Discovering another version of himself was nothing that Bruce Banner had expected when he first ventured into the unknown. Even more shocking, however, was the fact that this other Bruce had spent years rounding up his world’s Gamma Mutates, exiling each of them to the same void from which the primary Hulk fell from. Of all the plots that the titular behemoth of Hulk #3 could have found himself in the middle of, seeing others like him cast from their own world proved to be an especially enraging one. Then again, it is one that he has grown to have a particularly complicated relationship with.
The Hulk has been one of Marvel’s most tragic heroes ever since Bruce Banner was first exposed to the Gamma radiation that unleashed the beast. Over the years he has gone from being hunted by the military to fighting alongside Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to having those very same allies turn against him in horrifying ways. The first time the Hulk was exiled by the Avengers was all the way back in 1984’s Incredible Hulk #300 by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema. Following a rampage set off by the Fear Lord Nightmare, the Hulk was a castaway into the Crossroads, an interdimensional nexus that threatened to strand the hero on any world but his own. The Hulk ultimately managed to return to Earth from this bout of exile, but another was just a few decades away when he was jettisoned into the depths of space by Nick Fury and the Illuminati in Incredible Hulk #91 by Daniel Way and Juan Santacruz. Both of these instances left a profound impact on the Hulk, making it perfectly understandable why he became dangerously serious at the notion of others going through the same experience.
On the other hand, the void which the alternate Banner had been sending his world’s Hulk’s into was the very same which the primary Banner walked into of his own volition. In fact, escaping the rest of the world to be on his own has been one of the most iconic and consistent themes of the Hulk’s story for decades. Trying to escape the cycle of violence and destruction that comes with being the Hulk has seen Bruce Banner seek out isolation to varying degrees of success in the comics, on television, and even in the MCU. Not only that, but stepping through the portal that brought him to where he is now was a decision Bruce made specifically to strike out on his own once again. Whether out of concern for others or to escape what they have put him through, the Hulk and Bruce Banner have always tried to find ways to exist alone when they could.
The way that the Earth-616 Bruce Banner has gone about leaving behind the rest of humanity might put him firmly back in mad-scientist territory, but that doesn’t diminish the reason he has done so. Of course, choosing to walk away is far different than being forcefully exiled, so Bruce does have good reason to be angered at his most recent discovery. Hopefully, the Hulk will be able to find some justice for the other Gamma Mutates that have been driven from their own world without tearing it to pieces.
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