66 Years Ago The Real Hulk Debuted And You Probably Forgot About Them

The Hulk is one of Marvel’s biggest names, and for good reason. The Jade Giant is a walking ball of nuclear rage who can punch harder than anyone else in reality, but he’s also a deeply nuanced, scarred man whose biggest battle is always against himself. Bruce Banner and the Hulk are two sides of one of Marvel’s most interesting coins, representing the depths of a good man with an unyielding anger that constantly nips at his heels. Banner is a truly unique character in Marvel, but he was not, in fact, the first person to call himself the Hulk.

Bruce Banner debuted in the very first issue of Incredible Hulk in 1962, but the original Hulk actually beat him out by nearly two years. Xenmu the Titan was originally called the Living Hulk, and he blasted onto the scene in Journey Into Mystery #62 on July 28, 1966. This means that not only did Xemnu predate Banner, but it also marks the sixty-sixth anniversary of the original Hulk smashing his way onto the scene. Of course, while the Hulk we know and love is more of a hero than a monster, Xemnu is definitely a villain, and he best demonstrated that in his original adventure. 

The Hulk That Smashed the World’s Minds

Unlike Banner, who was a man transformed into a monster by gamma radiation, Xemnu was an alien criminal. He was incarcerated, but escaped on a supply ship that eventually crashlanded on Earth, where the impact left him broken. A passing electrician by the name of Joe Harper happened upon Xemnu’s body and revived him by replacing his broken bits with cyborg augmentations. The alien repaid the favor by hypnotizing the entire world to build a spaceship capable of returning him home. However, the liftoff would have destroyed the world, so Joe tricked Xemnu and instead paralyzed him and launched him into the sun.

Xemnu would, of course, return, as all comic book villains tend to do. He only appeared once more before Banner debuted, returning to Earth in Journey Into Mystery #66. He also, despite the shared name, has a whole different powerset than the Hulk. Xemnu is a giant creature of incredible strength, but his might caps out around eighty tons, far below what the true Hulk is capable of. Instead of power, his greatest weapon is his telepathy, which is strong enough to hypnotize the entire world at once, at its peak. He can also transform into a gaseous form and possess people to restore his body, which lets the monster keep on coming back. He’s very different from the Hulk, but also shockingly similar.

An Old Idea Evolved and Refined

Both Xemnu and Hulk are creatures of incredible size and power, able to smash everything in their way. Funnily enough, they both have even changed colors since their initial debuts. Hulk was originally gray, and Xemnu was brown, but was recolored white in reprints and future appearances. Both of these creatures were penned as monsters above all else, and were even created by the same legendary duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It’s clear that Stan and Kirby took everything they learned from Xemnu and expanded on it with Banner and the Hulk, which is clear from the one thing that Xemnu lacks: humanity.

The biggest difference between Hulk and Xemnu is that Xemnu is only a monster. He has no empathy for other living things or a desire to do anything that doesn’t further his own goals. He was willing to destroy the world for the sake of his selfish escape back home. The Hulk was originally a totally evil monster bent on destroying the world, but he was also Bruce Banner, who was a man dedicated to preserving peace and life above all else. Banner had room to grow and explore the dichotomy between his two selves, learning where he ended and his rage began. Xemnu, meanwhile, is as one-note as ever.

Xemnu is a monstrous villain who appears and casts his enemies into a hypnotic trance to further his own will, which normally includes consuming them to strengthen or preserve himself. He’s a terrifying foe, but there’s nothing more to him. The Hulk can be a monster, hero, both at once, or something else entirely. His depth allows him to adapt to an endless number of stories, while Xemnu is obscure for a reason. Xemnu is a wonderful trial run of the physical features that would one day belong to the Hulk, but we can all see why he isn’t the main person with that name.

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