Modern Hulk Stories Have Forgotten His Most Important Aspect And There’s One Key Way to Fix It

The Hulk is one of Marvel’s biggest heroes, and not just because he’s a giant. He’s been a major player for decades, firmly establishing his place as the strongest one there is. There’s no villain, hero, or major threat that the Hulk hasn’t at least tried to smash in his career. Marvel has made it their mission to pit the Jade Giant against every threat that the Marvel Universe could possibly know. The Hulk has been a present force ever since his explosive debut, but despite how iconic the character is, he’s certainly changed a lot over the course of his career. 

The Hulk has been a villain, a hero, an anti-hero, an anti-villain, and just about everything else that he’s capable of being. A being of science, magic, the literal devil, and so much more, the Hulk has been reimagined and reinterpreted dozens of times, with each new incarnation building the mythos of a character that can truly be anything. However, as adaptable as the Hulk has proven to be, some aspects of his character have not and should not change. Yet, while one particular trait fits that bill and might just be the Hulk’s most iconic feature, modern stories have all but forgotten it. The Hulk’s transformation isn’t tied to Banner’s rage anymore, and that’s a massive shame.

A Raging Monster Without Rage

It might seem strange to say that the Hulk isn’t tied to Banner’s rage when anger still plays such a massive role in every Hulk storyline. Yes, anger is still essential to these tales. The Hulk is powered by rage, after all, and he still embraces all the destructive tendencies that anger brings to serve his goals. Even in stories as recent as Infernal Hulk, Banner struggles to be content with a normal life because of all the burning fury he feels. Yet, the Hulk doesn’t transform because of anger anymore. Now, he transforms whenever he wants to.

It started with Immortal Hulk bringing back the idea that the Hulk could only operate at night, reimagining him as a creature of darkness. It also tied Banner’s transformations to his death, rather than anger. This was the perfect choice for this series, returning Hulk to his horror roots and starting what may yet be the greatest Hulk run of all. Yet, this decision opened the door for Hulk to change the rules. Now, the Hulk transforms based on his desires and timeframe, even being able to directly overpower Banner and take control no matter the situation, even when Banner is perfectly calm. This might not seem like a big change, but it has a massive impact on the Hulk’s stories.

The Hulk Divorced From Rage

The Hulk has always represented Banner’s own repressed anger bursting to the surface. While he initially only transformed into the Green Behemoth at night, it was changed to trigger with his anger early on in his career, which immediately stuck. Bruce Banner is a wildly complicated man. He’s a pacifist who wants to make the world a better place, but his abusive childhood and crippling lack of self-confidence, mixed with arrogance and an inability ot process all that happened to him, led to him being a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. He’s a very angry man. That rage is what gives Hulk his power and his presence.

By removing the traditional trigger for Hulk’s transformations, his stories lose the looming presence that they had come to rely on. Sure, the threat of the Hulk emerging is still there, but Banner no longer has any control over it. That small difference makes the story lose a massive amount of tension. See, before, there was always the underlying threat of something setting Banner off, but he also had a variable amount of control. He had learned techniques to temper and control his rage, which let him stave off small incidents. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, a single wrong word or revelation could tip Banner over the edge, unleashing the Hulk.

Now, the Hulk emerges whenever he wants, regardless of what Banner does. Banner has lost agency, which makes the Hulk’s emergences less of a battle he lost and just something that happens when it needs to. Sure, the Hulk is still seen as a massive threat, but it also makes his appearances feel shallow in a way they weren’t before. The thematic tie between Banner, the Hulk, and rage has been broken. Sure, rage is still a massive part of the Hulk’s stories, but Banner never has to struggle with it anymore. Now, it’s just the Hulk, and that deflates a massive amount of the story’s viability to convey those themes.

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