WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Immortal Hulk #24 from Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, Belardino Brabo, Marc Deering, Roberto Poggi, Paul Mounts and VC’s Cory Petit, on sale now.
Bruce Banner’s Devil Hulk has recently been tied to the Green Door and the One Below All, making Al Ewing’s The Immortal Hulk a game-changer for the character. The story has been more horror-influenced than anything else as Banner finds himself on course to be the new destroyer of the Marvel Universe and the possible creator of the next one.
In Issue #24, we see him take his first steps — albeit ones that seem a bit small in scope. This comes by way of “The Steel Throne” arc where the Devil Hulk, or “the Big Guy” as Banner calls him, takes over Shadow Base and begins running gamma experiments of his own that could result in deadly ramifications for mankind.
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General Reginald Fortean, the ex-protege of Thunderbolt Ross, has been such a powerhouse as the new Abomination, pushing Hulk to his limits after the latter attacked Shadow Base. It’s about time he went on the offensive, though, especially after Fortean used a resurrected Rick Jones and Betty Ross (in her Harpy form) as pawns. As they battle, Fortean keeps spewing his acid vomit on Hulk, but the Jade Giant keeps retaliating in a true clash of titans.
Fortean, sadly, kills some of his own soldiers to cut a path to the Green Goliath, which leads to Doctor McGowan, his right-hand woman at the base, ordering the army to turn on Fortean as he’s corrupted. She assumes command and this proves to be the catalyst for Hulk taking control. As he gets ready to kill Fortean, the general’s mind is taken to the Green Door and there at this mystical place, where we know all gamma radiation is connected to some supernatural dimension, we see Rick, Doc Samson and the One Below All — in the form of Bruce’s dad. Fortean’s neck is snapped there by Joe Fixit, killing him in the real world and cementing Banner as the strongest there is.
Hulk savors the victory and moves quickly to assume the throne of Shadow Base, literally sitting on the steel chair Fortean ran his operations from as Abomination 2.0. Samson’s shocked by how conniving Hulk is but Banner’s alter-ego makes it clear McGowan not only fears him, she wants to make up for Fortean’s wrongdoing. She’ll easily cower to him and with this high-tech lair — plus a black budget that’s off the radar and an army who’ll have no choice but to follow him if they want to live — Hulk has a kingdom at his disposal.
He doesn’t see the point in wasting such talent and with McGowan, Rick and Betty there, he believes he has the royal council he needs to conduct experiments of his own. Samson agrees to stay on to keep watch but Hulk warns him not to get in the way. We don’t know if his reporter friend, Jackie McGee, will let this slide, however, as she’s an investigative journalist but she does owe Hulk her life so he could call this favor in.
What’s intriguing is that we know Banner’s looking to study gamma’s mystical components even more now, so if he unlocks its secrets, he could be one step closer to taking out the planet and even figuring more about the Green Door and the One Below All.
In the Absolute Carnage spinoff, we saw Hulk at the end of time eating the Sentience of the Cosmos to more or less become the new Galactus, not to mention we also discover his origin is tied to the cosmic radiation that gives birth to Galactus and the Fantastic Four. Shadow Base could be the start of him realizing how all these pieces tie together the chessboard.
That said, Hulk pulls a move straight from Game of Thrones by sacking a kingdom and taking the crown for himself, and only time will tell what his next crusade will be about.
The Immortal Hulk #25 goes on sale Oct. 23.
