The MCU’s Hulk Would Be Impossible Without The Legendary Run That Ended 28 Years Ago

The Marvel Cinematic Universe made the heroes of the Marvel Universe palatable for a new audience, and created a titan that bestrode the entertainment world for a decade. One of the most popular aspects of the MCU is the Hulk. Fans got only one solo movie starring the Jade Giant before he became a secondary character, but he played a key role in many events. Fans loved this new version of the Hulk, but he wasn’t actually all that new. In fact, he was the son of the greatest Hulk run of all time time, one which ended 28 years ago: the legendary Peter David run on The Incredible Hulk.

David wrote the Hulk for eleven years, starting with issue #328. When he came to the character, this was the Green Goliath that everyone had known for years: the monster trying to be a hero, and David asked a simple question: why? Why was the Hulk the way he was? Why is he a monster? Then he answered that question over the course of a run that contains many of the greatest moments in the history of the character. Every great Hulk run since he left is indebted to his run, like the legendary The Immortal Hulk. However, no matter how much the Hulk has changed over the years, David’s run on the character was the best and it integral to understanding the strongest one there is.

Peter David’s Run Made the Hulk a Much More Complex Character

David had a long career writing comics and he was known as one of the greatest of the medium. He always did amazing work, but The Incredible Hulk is where he became a superstar. He come onboard the book at a time when the Hulk was stuck in a cycle of fighting monsters and fighting heroes; the character was still popular, but he was stale. David started laying the groundwork for the more psychological direction he would take the book almost immediately and realized that the key to the character was the way he could be changed.

David dug into the Hulk and decided that the best way to make sense of the monster in Bruce Banner was that he was an extremely abused person. His father Brian Banner was an alcoholic, jealous monster, hating the son took his wife from him. Brian terrorized the family, and was responsible for his wife’s death. David would use this to make sense of who Bruce Banner and the Hulk were, revealing that the scientist had DID, disassociative identity disorder, creating various personalities to protect him from the monsters that surrounded. The various Hulks we saw over the years were all made by a little boy whose life was pain and suffering.

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My favorite issue of David’s run os The Incredible Hulk -1, a story that took place before he became a superhero and told the story of the death of Brian Banner. This heartbreaking issue is all about Brian getting out of prison and living with his son, trying to fool Bruce into thinking he’s changed but secretly out to destroy “the monster” that ruined his life and forced him to kill his wife. It ended at her grave, as Bruce kicked his father into his mother’s gravestone, killing him. It’s an intense issue that digs into who the Hulk is but most importantly, why the Hulk is.

David’s run didn’t just dig into the character’s psychology; he also gave readers so many amazing stories. He brought back the grey Hulk (and gave readers one of the greatest fights ever with Wolverine in The Incredible Hulk #340) and made him into Joe Fixit, the first (but not last) completely new personality for the Hulk. He pit the Hulk against his most powerful villains (I love the Infinity Gauntlet tie-in where a shrunken Hulk, who had been shrunk by Thanos, acting as the Abomination’s consciousness in The Incredible Hulk #384). He introduced us to the Pantheon, the immortal children of Agamemnon and their twisted purpose. He gave us Professor Hulk, the marriage of Bruce and Betty Ross, a new kind of savage Hulk, made Rick Jones cool in the ’90s somehow, and redefined what the Hulk could be.

The MCU’s Hulk Would Never Exist Without Peter David

Hulk’s journey through the MCU was different from the comics in many ways. We never really learned his origin, but anyone who read the Peter David run of The Incredible Hulk recognized him. David was able to take a very simple hero, one who was basically just a monster doing the right thing, and make him into one of the most interesting, tragic characters in the Marvel Universe. I started reading comics in 1991 and I became a massive fan of the Hulk because David made him into a character that was different than the one I saw in reruns of The Incredible Hulk as a child.

The MCU did their best to evolve the Hulk, eventually introducing Professor Hulk, the creation of Peter David. While some fans dislike this version of the Hulk (mostly because many diehard MCU fans don’t seem to like a Hulk who isn’t punching everything all the time), it was the perfect evolution and fit the guidemap of the David run. Peter David’s last issue of The Incredible Hulk #467, and it was a story that saw the Hulk at this most introspective as he looked back on his own demons. It was a beautiful way to end a run that completely changed what the Hulk could be.

What do you think about Peter David’s run on the Hulk? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!