5 Worst Version of Hulk Even Marvel Wants You To Forget

The Hulk is the Strongest One there Is, and he’s been one of Marvel’s biggest and meanest heroes since he smashed onto the scene way back in the ‘60s. Bruce Banner is one of the world’s smartest scientists, but when he gets angry or the sun goes down, he transforms into the unstoppable Jade Giant. The Hulk is a pretty simple concept, at the end of the day, being one of Marvel’s many takes on the Jekyll and Hyde dynamic. However, even though he’s a simple concept of a man constantly on the edge of becoming a walking bomb, the Hulk has changed a lot over the years.

Comic books have a reputation for sticking to a status quo, but that’s never stopped Marvel from trying new ideas with the Hulk. He has dozens of alters inside his mind, and countless other heroes have Hulked out after touching gamma. There’s even more multiversal variants of our beloved Green Giant, too. However, while a lot of those other Hulks are cool, some of them never, ever should have been made. A few are so bad that Marvel and the fans collectively wish they could forget about them. Today, we’re taking a look at five of the absolute worst Hulks Marvel has ever made, and wondering why on God’s green Earth these things were put onto a comic page.

5) Kluh

The Hulk is the living embodiment of Banner’s rage, and, apparently, Kluh is the Hulk’s Hulk. There have been several different versions of the Hulk pushed past rage into something greater and becoming something else, but Kluh is the worst offender. He’s a merciless beast who wants to torture and destroy everything and everyone, but that’s all he is. The Hulk is interesting because he’s Banner’s very human rage pushed to the extreme and unlocked. Kluh is so over the top and evil that he doesn’t feel human at all. He’s a monster who defeats the purpose of the Hulk. The Incredible Hulk is meant to be living rage, but if he has repressed rage, then what the heck is he, right?

4) Banner Doom Clone

One of the worst Hulks is, without a doubt, the clone of Banner created by Hulk. Doom created a clone of Banner’s body, free of gamma radiation, and put the man’s consciousness in it. The Hulk was happy to be alone, but Banner lost his mind. He became obsessed with becoming the Hulk again, and went from tortured and flawed but good man to a megalomaniac scientist who would slaughter beings who called him father in the name of power. Banner isn’t perfect, but he tries to be kind despite priming with rage. This is one of the worst character assassinations in Marvel history, and that’s saying a lot when Captain Marvel and Professor X exist.

3) Old Man Hulk

The Old Man Logan storyline is a classic Mark Millar story, and that means that everything was darker and grittier than sandpaper at midnight. In this universe, the Hulk went absolutely bonkers. He took over Calfinora and ruled it with his army of hillbilly children, all of whom came from a horrible incestuous relationship with She-Hulk. There’s evil Hulks, and then there’s redneck-coded despots who eat their enemies and look like the Hulk does. This Hulk was downright regrettable in every regard and has absolutely zero redeeming qualities. He even had Wolverine’s family killed just so he could have a good fight, which is somehow the least distburbing this he did. 

2) Nerd Hulk

This version was a clone of the original Ultimate Universe’s Hulk, but retained Banner’s intelligence. Unfortunately, that intelligence meant he lacked the rage to become terrifyingly strong. Nerd Hulk was an absolute joke. He was made to be a punching bag for every nerd and geek joke imaginable. Not only is that incredibly mean-spirited, but also dumb, because that was Marvel’s target demographic, especially when Nerd Hulk was released. He didn’t improve when he became a vampire, either. Nerd Hulk was just a regrettable clone that had nothing interesting going on, and even when he was taken in a new direction, it was just such a nonsensical and boring one. Nerd Hulk deserved better, but you can say that about most of the Ultimate Universe.

1) Ultimate Hulk

The original Ultimate Universe had not one, but two terrible Hulks. Instead of a mindless raging beast, this Hulk was a being of desire and id. He did every action hedonistic Banner wanted with zero restraint. That could be an interesting spin on the Hulk persona, but it was the original Ultimate Universe, so he was a horny pig who screamed about sexually assaulting everyone and acted like the world’s most insecure teenage boy. Like, any Hulk who screams about how straight he is just shouldn’t exist. He also ate people, because, again, it was the Ultimate Universe. Actually, the only Hulk on this list who didn’t at least try to eat someone was the Doom Clone. Cannibal Hulk is always a terrible idea, as it turns out.

Which of these regrettable Hulks do you wish you could forget the most? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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