The Avengers in both the comics and the movies, but his reason for leaving the team in the comics is far more tragic than in the films. When the Avengers first assembled, they counted the Hulk among their numbers, but a case of mistaken identity led the Jade Giant to quit the team—a move that may have had huge implications for his career.
When the Hulk first appeared 60 years ago, there was no other character in comics quite like him. A riff on the classic story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the Hulk was created when Bruce Banner was caught in the rays of an exploding gamma bomb. A brutish monster, the Hulk fought not only against vile villains such as the Leader and the Abomination, but against himself, as he struggled to contain the monster within. The Hulk was also the catalyst for the founding of the Avengers; Loki manipulated the heroes into fighting the Hulk, leading to them coming together as a team. However, the Hulk’s tenure in the Avengers was cut short, thanks to a shape-shifting villain called the Space Phantom.
In 1963’s Avengers #2, written and illustrated by the legendary Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Space Phantom arrives on Earth, in a bid to conquer it. The Space Phantom can change his shape and when he assumes someone’s form, that person is banished to Limbo while the Phantom impersonates them. He impersonates the Hulk and attacks the Avengers. During the course of the battle, the Hulk’s teammates reveal how they truly feel about him, including Iron Man. He tells the Hulk he had reservations about him ing the Avengers, and this confirmed it. When the real Hulk returns from Limbo, he helps the Avengers defeat the Space Phantom, who is banished to his own prison. After the battle, the Hulk, now knowing how his fellow Avengers feel about him, leaves the team in anger.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Hulk quit the Avengers as a form of self-sacrifice. He believed himself a threat to everyone, including Black Widow, and he left the team, and Earth. However, in the comics, he made no sacrifice, leaving the team in disgust. As the Hulk walks out on the team, they make no effort to stop him, and only double down on their dislike of him. Giant Man speculates on Hulk’s future, and Iron Man wonders what will happen without the Avengers to keep Hulk in check. Indeed, if the Hulk had remained with the team, they may have tempered his worst instincts and been able to keep him on a tight leash. This could have done wonders for the Hulk’s reputation, which is not the best. The Hulk also has an adversarial relationship with the rest of the Marvel Universe, and that can trace its roots to this story as well.
If the Space Phantom had not intervened, the Hulk’s career could have taken a different trajectory, one far more positive than the one he has been on. Thanks to the Space Phantom’s manipulations, the Hulk left the Avengers, a move that had huge ramifications for his career.
