Last year, Marvel Comics announced that it was planning to unleash a titanic crossover that would feature the world’s most popular kaiju. While the first battle on Godzilla’s entrance into the 616 would see the legendary behemoth taking on Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four, the next opponent for the lizard king has been determined. Godzilla will take on Bruce Banner in a brand new battle that will pit the strongest green representatives of both fictional universes. Not only has the release date and creative team been confirmed for the Emerald Giants confrontation but Godzilla’s official social media account has given fans a first look.
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When it comes to the Hulk fighting giant kaiju, Marvel Comics has given Bruce Banner more than his fair share of monsters to fight in the past. Perhaps the most comparable creature in Marvel’s roster to Godzilla is Fing Fang Foom, a beast that Banner has fought more times than we can count. While Foom might be seen as the superior creature to Godzilla thanks to both its intelligence level and ability to fly, the Hulk has been able to beat it back regularly. We’ll need to see how Bruce Banner stands up to Godzilla when the two begin their battle on April 16th.
[RELATED: Godzilla Rampages Across the Marvel Universe (With One Major Catch)]
Green Goliaths Collide
Godzilla Vs. Hulk will arrive on the stands on April 16th, with writer Gerry Dugan and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli creating this wild new crossover. While story details are few and far between when it comes to the larger-than-life fight, this will continue to be one of several different fights that will pit the King of the Monsters against Marvel’s finest. You can check out the full first cover and more details below.
Godzilla Vs Hulk Creators Talk Titanic Tussle
Writer Gerry Duggan has long been a fan of the king of the monsters, hyping up the upcoming crossover, “I grew up loving Godzilla movies and Marvel Comics, and it’s a thrill to be able to collaborate with Giuseppe Camuncoli on the absolute craziest comic I think I’ve ever been a part of, and I worked on over a hundred issues of Deadpool and once wrote a comic about Conan killing a zombie with a call girl’s leg. I won’t tell you who wins – the Hulk or Godzilla – but either way, the fans are going to be thrilled.”
The other side of the equation, artist Giuseppe Camuncoli, shared his excitement in bringing this crossover to life, “When Marvel called with this offer, I was quite thrilled. It felt very cool to draw this titan, although the real challenge was to make the iconic ‘70s version look extra scary and dangerous. Thanks to Gerry Duggan’s blazing script, it was quite easy – lots and lots of super crazy scenes to illustrate, I knew this was going to be so much fun. Two of the most powerful and relentless characters and forces in the pop culture world face to face for the first time… I couldn’t resist to be the one to draw that!”
The official description for the upcoming battle reads, “GENERAL ROSS has no tolerance for monsters in any form. With his anti-kaiju taskforce THE THUNDERBOLTS he’s taken down or imprisoned the biggest and baddest monsters on the planet: Fin Fang Foom, Mothra, Kumonga, even the Hulk. Now all that’s left is his biggest hunt of all…GODZILLA. But the Thunderbolts’ efforts to bring their last monster to heel may just result in the most destructive battle royale to ever rock the earth. It’s time to figure out who’s really the strongest there is!”
The Kaiju Crossover To End Them All
If you want more back story on how this meeting of the green giants came about, Marvel Editor-In-Chief C.B. Cebulski discussed the Godzilla crossover in detail in December of last year. Here’s what the EIC had to say, “We approached them initially for our reprints, but a while after those conversations, it was clear that both of our teams were excited to do more together. These crossovers started coming together over that time, in direct collaboration with Toho, and we felt the perfect time for them was for Godzilla’s 70th anniversary next year. We’ve been thrilled to work with them on these, and we hope this will be a sign for more exciting projects to come.”
Marvel’s President of Comics & Franchises, Dan Buckley, was more than happy to share the company’s history with the lizard king and the creative teams’ method in creating the crossover, “For us, kaiju—and specifically Godzilla—are important parts of Marvel’s comic history, so we knew we wanted to explore something with their teams. We’ve always been fans of Godzilla, but with the steady rise in Godzilla’s popularity over the years, it’s part of our current cultural zeitgeist and a perfect example of the fun that the comics industry can bring. We’re focused on the storytelling first and foremost, but fun opportunities for crossovers like this give both of our fans an entertaining escape that they won’t want to miss.”
Want to see what other Marvel figures the King of the Monsters will fight in the future? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Godzilla and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
