The Hulk only one got solo outing in the MCU, and fans were introduced to one of the most important characters in to his comics: Elizabeth “Betty” Ross. Betty is the daughter of General Thunderbolt Ross, and was in love with Bruce Banner. However, with the changes to the character in the MCU, Betty has faded away. The same can’t be said for the comics. Betty has been a major part of the Hulk’s life in the comics, and her life has often taken many of the same terrible twists and turns that Bruce’s did. There’s definitely a sense that they love each other, but there’s a deep resentment, one that has manifested more on Betty’s part after she gained gamma powers.
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The Jade Giant is going through another change thanks to The Infernal Hulk. In the last volume of his series, Bruce and the Hulk were separated, Betty lost her powers, and the Eldest took over the Hulk’s body. The book’s first two issues followed the new monster, with the third issue finally showing what us what happened to Bruce and Betty. They’ve started a new life, one that Bruce is content in but Betty isn’t. This issue gets raw rather quickly, as readers quickly realize that more is wrong with Betty than meets the eye. The Green Goliath has had a terrible effect on her life, and it’s only gotten worse.
The Hulk Has Always Hurt Betty the Most
The Infernal Hulk is fantastic so far, and the third issue takes it even further. It reveals that the Hulk was the one to save Bruce and Betty, with both of them losing their powers. Betty had become Red She-Hulk years ago, and has since taken on a harpy form named, well, Harpy. She’s hid from Bruce for ages, mostly because so much of the bad in her life was his fault. She died because of him once, years ago. She’s lived in hiding, been targeted by his foes, and put through a special Hell that most superhero girlfriends never have to experience.
The Hulk has been a terrible thing for everyone involved, but Betty has been especially victimized by it. All of the horrors that Bruce has wrought and all that has been done to him has been done to her. Her gamma form finally gave her freedom and power, something that she never had for the vast majority of her time with Bruce. It’s allowed her to do amazing things, and now it’s gone.
Hulk “saved” her again, but by saving her, he took away the one thing that made her terrible life livable. Without her powers, she’s trapped in a little world where she’s weak again. Where she could be hurt. Where she could die. Things that were easy are hard. At one point in the issue, she talks about flying and her sadness is palpable. Bruce notices bandages on her arm, foreshadowing when he finds screaming, covered in blood and self-harming. The Hulk has taken everything, like it always does and Betty is paying.
Eldest becoming the Hulk is a disaster, but for Betty, the rest of the world doesn’t matter. Her life has been constantly wrecked by the Hulk and this latest loss might be her worse. In the classic The Immortal Hulk, Betty hated Bruce because whenever Bruce came around, things broke. She even warmed to the Hulk during this period because he wasn’t Bruce. However, he proved something Betty has always known: the Hulk is a walking disaster, even to those he loves.
The Infernal Hulk #3 is on sale now.
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