Since the beginning, Marvel’s Hulk has been defined by change. Whether it’s the transformation from Bruce Banner to the Green Goliath, the Grey Hulk, Smart Hulk, Monster Hulk, etc, etc, every writer has their own take on the dual personalities of the hero. The same has held true for writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson during his run on The Incredible Hulk. But as he revealed during a recent appearance on Comic Book Club’s podcast, what’s publishing now is just the beginning.
“I’m so proud of what we’re about to do in Hulk… [It’s] insane,” Johnson teased. “Marvel has been so supportive, getting us over the plate and making sure it’s going to hit big, [the] biggest status quo change in Hulk’s history, ever.”
That’s a pretty bold promise, but Johnson isn’t really known for hyperbole… Particularly because his wild runs on characters like Superman have delivered massive storytelling on an epic scale, and big, wild swings for the characters. That includes Hulk, who has seemingly purged the Banner part of his personality (he hasn’t) and is battling an eldritch evil called Eldest.
And while Johnson was mostly mum on details about what’s coming for the Hulk, while discussing this past issue and upcoming issues, he did let slip what will happen in the lead-up. In the most recent issue, Incredible Hulk #26, Winter Soldier stopped by to give a message to Hulk about gamma-powered characters disappearing. In the process, Hulk’s sidekick Charlie discovered that Hulk had, in fact, done something horrible to Banner and suppressed that part of his personality.
“[Charlie] accepts that he is a legit monster, and she’s finally pushed away,” Johnson explained. “We just lost Charlie. Charlie is now out of the book as of this issue, at least for now. I don’t want to spoil what’s coming. And then the next one is also a one-and-done that’s a grounded personal story. And then we go big. We’re about to go as big as it gets. Every question that we have posed about Eldest and the Mother of Horrors, all these big, cosmic, crazy fights that happen Endless Caverns, all the big, crazy, epic visuals… That’s about to happen on a scale that I don’t think we’ve seen in the whole book. We’re about to take a swing that is so f**king big. I think it’s the biggest status quo change to Hulk in his history.”
So what possibly could Johnson be teasing? As noted, the Hulk has been multiple colors, he’s integrated his personalities, he’s split Banner and Hulk into two people… For a character defined by status quo changes, what could be bigger than that? Well, the solicit text for August’s The Incredible Hulk #28 seems to indicate it has to do with those missing gamma-characters, and a murder in New Orleans. Meanwhile, September’s issue #29 reveals the origin of the Mother of Horrors, a “classic Hulk nemesis returns,” and it leads into what marvel is calling the “landmark” issue #30.
That hits in October, so chances are we’re going to know what happens to Hulk very, very soon.
You can watch the interview, where Johnson discusses more about Hulk, as well as Batman and Robin, and the upcoming Book of El, below.
Comic Book Club Live Info:
https://open.spotify.com/show/18M5oZdgLLw3tFdj3jHOMU?si=824cfc28f9de49f0
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