While Marvel's Jade Giant may have helped found the Avengers, Hulk's time as a misunderstood hero is over, and a slate of new cover art from Marvel proves it. In these jaw-dropping pieces, different artists focus on different aspects of Hulk, but all treat the Green Goliath as a genuinely monstrous presence.
Recently, Al Ewing and Joe Bennett's acclaimed Immortal Hulk came to an end, quickly followed by the new status quo of Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley's Hulk. Immortal Hulk saw Bruce Banner's various personas fall under the sway of the Devil Hulk - a formerly villainous aspect of Bruce that sought to "end the world." Ultimately, it emerged that this actually described a type of radical activism, with Devil Hulk utilizing his powers to tear down a flawed society so something better could flourish. Though the series ended with Banner unifying his other personas, the new era of Hulk has taken a hard right turn, as the scientist breaks bad, imprisoning his Hulk self in a mental prison in order to take control of their body and explore the cosmos.
What the series have in common is establishing that the rest of the Marvel Universe sees Hulk as a threat, even when he's trying to make the world better or strike out on his own. Each series handles this differently - Immortal Hulk asked big questions about how to balance necessary change with unavoidable collateral, and Hulk is playing with the idea that Bruce's human side is the true monster - but crucially they both accept the premise that Hulk is at least in part a genuine monster; someone people fear because he can be dangerous and cruel, not merely because their prejudice drives them to make assumptions about his motives. This characterization of Hulk is one of several Marvel has offered over the years, but a new slate of cover art - beginning with amazing variant covers from Maria Wolf and Pepe Larraz - suggests fans are now in an era where whatever else he is, Hulk is legitimately scary.
Maria Wolfe's grotesque Hulk (appearing on select copies of Devil's Reign: Superior Four #3) is actually a variant of the hero whose mind was colonized by Otto Octavius - one of three 'Superior' heroes brought into Marvel's mainstream reality by the efforts of the original Doctor Octopus. Bold colors and packed detail make this Hulk absolutely diabolical, and yet stand in direct contrast to Pepe Larraz's variant cover for Hulk #5, which achieves the same effect. Here, Bruce Banner's other self is shrouded in dust and about to go to war with a demonic army, glowering down with glowing red eyes. Similarly, Marco Mastrazzo's variant cover for the same comic sees Hulk leaping at the reader. Mastrazzo's variant for Hulk #4 goes even further, featuring a devilish Hulk who couldn't look any more like a villain.
Past stories have imagined Hulk as everything from a misunderstood, childlike being who is only dangerous to others when pursued to a Spartacus-esque hero capable of uniting an entire planet. The flexibility of Hulk's archetype is one of the remarkable things about comic heroes, and yet in 2022, it seems that fans are once again ready for him to be a figure of terror, and Marvel is happy to oblige.
Cates and Ottley's Hulk clearly has a long game in mind - one in which Bruce Banner's humanity is more in question than that of his other half - but comic twists build over months and years, and for now the Hulk in Marvel Comics is a bestial antagonist overflowing with power. Fans who prefer a more heroic, put-upon Hulk will have to wait until the narrative pendulum swings once again, but for those who love Hulk at his most ferocious, it's time to make some very hard decisions about which awesome cover art to take home.
Source: Maria Wolf, Pepe Larraz, Marco Mastrazzo (1, 2)
