Hopes for Hulk

Steve GMan

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I was thinking today, with the upcoming mini-series and the Ultimates 3 on the way, what everyone wants to see out of the gray goliath.

Personally, I'd like to see Banner start to embrace his bestial side more, maybe even come to terms with it. Perhaps to the point where he wants to be the Hulk more, or even have Hulk become his default form. I think that'd be an interesting twist on the character.

I just don't want any multiple personalities (Mr. Fixit, the Professor), though as cool as they were, they wouldn't really fit within the Ultimate Universe.
 
Steve GMan said:
I was thinking today, with the upcoming mini-series and the Ultimates 3 on the way, what everyone wants to see out of the gray goliath.

Personally, I'd like to see Banner start to embrace his bestial side more, maybe even come to terms with it. Perhaps to the point where he wants to be the Hulk more, or even have Hulk become his default form. I think that'd be an interesting twist on the character.

I just don't want any multiple personalities (Mr. Fixit, the Professor), though as cool as they were, they wouldn't really fit within the Ultimate Universe.
I'm pretty sure Banner loving the Hulk is a direction they will explore sometime in the future, if not soon, since Millar has pretty much made it a point of hammering that theme across to his readers in Ultimates.
 
ourchair said:
I'm pretty sure Banner loving the Hulk is a direction they will explore sometime in the future, if not soon, since Millar has pretty much made it a point of hammering that theme across to his readers in Ultimates.
Yeah, Banner using the Hulk to do what he cannot is the key to any modern day use of the Hulk outside of a WMD analogue.

"I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean it, I was just drunk." would be the second excuse on the list.

I've written before about Banner being a charming child and using the Hulk to explain away his actions, I'll have to give that some more thought.
 
ourchair said:
I'm pretty sure Banner loving the Hulk is a direction they will explore sometime in the future, if not soon, since Millar has pretty much made it a point of hammering that theme across to his readers in Ultimates.

Yeah, fair enough. Hopefully future writers will stay true to that then.

Guijllons said:
I've written before about Banner being a charming child and using the Hulk to explain away his actions, I'll have to give that some more thought.

Sounds really interesting, I'd like hear more after you've given it more thought.


On a side note, I hope we never see She-Hulk. I've always hated the character, and if she has to appear, let it be done as a joke or bit cameo. Though I hear the current series is great, her character on the whole just seemed pointless.

But I can't deny that there was something strangely attractive about her.
 
Steve GMan said:
On a side note, I hope we never see She-Hulk. I've always hated the character, and if she has to appear, let it be done as a joke or bit cameo. Though I hear the current series is great, her character on the whole just seemed pointless.

But I can't deny that there was something strangely attractive about her.
I like She-Hulk. I wouldn't mind seeing an Ultimate incarnation of her for the sole reason that a young career woman using her superhuman status to revel in attention and sublimate her Ally McBeal-esque neuroses seems fitting in an Ultimate context.

But not as a series, just as a cameo or small guest appearance. If they must do a mini, let it be one written by compound: http://www.ultimatecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2046
 
Steve GMan said:
On a side note, I hope we never see She-Hulk. I've always hated the character, and if she has to appear, let it be done as a joke or bit cameo. Though I hear the current series is great, her character on the whole just seemed pointless.

But I can't deny that there was something strangely attractive about her.
She-Hulk: No. Not cos I hate the character (i'm enjoying her new series ALOT) but because she would be totally unecessary here. Put it like this: Would a She-Hulk movie make sense?
On the other hand, I'd LOVE to see Jennifer Walters. Perhaps as someone Bruce seeks help from at some time during his exile.

As for what I'd like to see from Hulk/Bruce personally. A bit more of his childhood. But I'd prefer if it was different to 616.
Instead of having Bruce be this completely innocent little child and have his dad be the bad guy, I'd have Bruce be something of a bastard. He'd still be babied by his mom though.
Imagine, if you will, Bruce on Christmas Eve. His mom would hear some noises downstairs and come have a look, and find the living room trashed with the paper from the presents and whatever. And Bruce would be there all innocent like and he'd blame "Joe" (his imaginary friend) for the mess. In fact, I think Bruce having an imaginary friend named Joe as a kid would be awesome! It'd be a great tip of the hate to Joe Fixit without actually including him (though this gray Hulk is more like him than the Savage on in some ways).

Also, they should touch on Bruce's longing to be Captain America (as he's stated) by showing him reading old comic books as a kid and having the Captain America trading cards (which Tony mentioned in vol.1 #6). He could even have a poster of Cap on his wall...or old newspaper clippings or something.
It'd be neat as hell.

Bruce is a total loser, but there are also some awesome parallels to be examined between himself and Hank Pym.
Hank is the monster trying to put on a lab coat or a costume and disguise himself as a man. Bruce is a man who wants to be a monster. Both want to be big, but Hank wants to be "big" as in "famous", while Bruce wants to be "big" as in "BIG"!!
 
Hulk is essentially Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adapted to the comics book.

So I hope they explore that myth. Hyde is the physical expression of everything dark and ugly about Jekyll. We have already seen a bit of that so far and I want to see more.
 
E.Vi.L. said:
Hulk is essentially Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adapted to the comics book.

So I hope they explore that myth. Hyde is the physical expression of everything dark and ugly about Jekyll. We have already seen a bit of that so far and I want to see more.
I'd be sorely disappointed if that's as deep as they explored it.

Thunk about it, Bruce banner is a tiny little scientist, he's wracked with neurosis' and is dating a woman that could probably have Freddie Prinze Jnr. if she wanted. Bruce is just lucky?

The way he stormed off after Hank was about to suggest Steve Buscemi as a candidate to play him in the Ultimates movie, what did he do? He turned himself into the Hulk.

Sure, we can say that he needed to turn into the Hulk to prove to himself and others that he wasn't a wimp, but that's not the end of the story, he absolutely did it for the attention and he was fully aware of what the Hulk is capable of. He's a genius let's not forget.

To simply suggest that Hulk is an evil version of Bruce is massive over-simplification. Bruce, no matter how brilliant, would not have reached the top of the SHIELD supersoldier program if he was without ambition. Furthermore, I think that he was tried justly by the court.

The guy is charming, as a child can be, he is needy and he can and does get what he wants.

If the Marvel universe Hulk is an antihero then that idea is crystalised even further in the Ultimate Universe. He's no innocent with a terrible curse, he uses Hulk's innocence to get ahead.

THAT is the Hulk I want to see explored.
 
Guijllons said:
I'd be sorely disappointed if that's as deep as they explored it.

Thunk about it, Bruce banner is a tiny little scientist, he's wracked with neurosis' and is dating a woman that could probably have Freddie Prinze Jnr. if she wanted. Bruce is just lucky?

The way he stormed off after Hank was about to suggest Steve Buscemi as a candidate to play him in the Ultimates movie, what did he do? He turned himself into the Hulk.

Sure, we can say that he needed to turn into the Hulk to prove to himself and others that he wasn't a wimp, but that's not the end of the story, he absolutely did it for the attention and he was fully aware of what the Hulk is capable of. He's a genius let's not forget.

To simply suggest that Hulk is an evil version of Bruce is massive over-simplification. Bruce, no matter how brilliant, would not have reached the top of the SHIELD supersoldier program if he was without ambition. Furthermore, I think that he was tried justly by the court.

The guy is charming, as a child can be, he is needy and he can and does get what he wants.

If the Marvel universe Hulk is an antihero then that idea is crystalised even further in the Ultimate Universe. He's no innocent with a terrible curse, he uses Hulk's innocence to get ahead.

THAT is the Hulk I want to see explored.

Fascinating thesis, Doctor Sams...uh...I mean, Guijllons. I agree. Bruce is clearly aware of what he's doing.
In fact, whereas 616 Hulk is usually the embodiment of another side of Bruce Banner's personality, a more primal and unchecked side, I would see Ultimate Hulk as Bruce Banner is himself. It is clear that he has more sway over Hulk's actions than what 616 Bruce has over his Hulk.
And look at what Hulk does when Betty is being flown away (in #5), he leaps after her and says, "Don't leave Banner alone again!!!". This shows that Hulk's motives for his temper tantrum are not because of his own need to be free or left alone (as with 616 Hulk) but because of Banner's need/want for attention, particulalry that of Betty Ross.

I mean, Hulk goes looking for Betty after she dissed Bruce, so that he can do what Bruce can't...but obviously wants to. Hulk also takes on Hank Pym, not because Hank was slowing him down, but because of what Pym did to Banner. He has less of a reaction to Iron Man or Thor (though he does call Thor a "hippie", which seems like more of Banner's knowledge and opinion than his own).
And then, in #13, when Bruce/Hulk is dropped into the chaos of the alien invasion, the first person he goes after is Captain America. And that is clearly motivated by Banner's rage for what Cap did to him after his second rampage (in #5, his first being the one in UMTU) and no other reason.


So Hulk is not the evil Hyde to Banner's Jekyll. Instead, he is something much more sinister. He is Jekyll disguised as Hyde!
 
Actually in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Jekyll enjoys being Hyde he wants to do it more, but he started to lose control and killed a man out of greed, then he tried to completely stop Hyde but it did not last. There's alot to explore with the jekyll and hyde relation
 
Random said:
Actually in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Jekyll enjoys being Hyde he wants to do it more, but he started to lose control and killed a man out of greed, then he tried to completely stop Hyde but it did not last. There's alot to explore with the jekyll and hyde relation
Having read the story, I knew this. I thought about possibly relating my last comment to that, but then figured it would be overkill. Bruce (when he's Hulk)is essentially what Jekyll was when he first invented the identity of Edward Hyde, a relatively good man who enjoys acting out his evil fantasies in his alternate identity.
I suppose that in that sense, there are definitely some parallels to be called on, but I would prefer if this particular dynamic lasts longer than Jekyll's control over Hyde, which he lost (at least in his narration in the story) rather quickly.
 
Guijllons said:
To simply suggest that Hulk is an evil version of Bruce is massive over-simplification.

And this statement shows you don't know the Jekyll and Hyde mythos at all.

Hyde isn't an evil version of Jekyll. It's the evil within Jekyll. That's the whole point.
 
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E.Vi.L. said:
And this statement shows you don't know the Jekyll and Hyde mythos at all.

Hyde isn't an evil version of Jekyll. It's the evil within Jekyll. That's the whole point.
You know what, this does work well as compared to Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. The more we "talk" about it, the more I see that.

Fascinating.
 
E.Vi.L. said:
And this statement shows you don't know the Jekyll and Hyde mythos at all.

Hyde isn't an evil version of Jekyll. It's the evil within Jekyll. That's the whole point.
And that shows that you don't know what the I'm talking about.

Neither Banner nor Hulk are evil, nor is Hulk necessarily a release for Banner's frustrations.
 
Of course Banner himself isn't evil the way Hitler or a psychopath is. Doesn't mean he doesn't have evil inside him. We all do and that's part of the moral of the Hyde story. The Monster within, a story as old as humanity.

And of course Hulk is a release of sort for Banner. Hulk has no inhibition and does what Banner can't do.
 
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Guijllons said:
And that shows that you don't know what the I'm talking about.

Neither Banner nor Hulk are evil, nor is Hulk necessarily a release for Banner's frustrations.
Waitasec! Hulk is a release for Banner's frustrations and that's been shown many times. I mentioned most of them in my post a bit above.
 
I was thinking today, with the upcoming mini-series and the Ultimates 3 on the way, what everyone wants to see out of the gray goliath.

Personally, I'd like to see Banner start to embrace his bestial side more, maybe even come to terms with it. Perhaps to the point where he wants to be the Hulk more, or even have Hulk become his default form. I think that'd be an interesting twist on the character.

I just don't want any multiple personalities (Mr. Fixit, the Professor), though as cool as they were, they wouldn't really fit within the Ultimate Universe.

I thought Hulk was green?
 

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