The Hulk just unleashed some grotesque new powers, courtesy of Garth Ennis – the writer of the original The Boys comic books. Here’s how the ultimate superhero hater just transformed Bruce Banner’s Green Goliath.
Zombie Hulk Has Intestine Tentacles in Dark Reimagining
Garth Ennis Delivers His Take on the Thing/Hulk Rivalry
In today’s Marvel Black, White & Blood and Guts #2‘s ‘And None Shall Walk Away’ – from Garth Ennis, John McCrea, Mike Spicer and Joe Sabino – Hulk is recast as an undead monstrosity. In a ruined future wasteland, a group of marauders have captured the undead Hulk. Having lost his arms and legs, Hulk now wields his organs as superstrong tentacles, killing thousands in gladiatorial battles that are the backbone of the marauders’ settlement.
Hulk is shown killing innocent people and fellow zombified superhumans (including Captain America) until a stranger arrives in town, selling a liquid fighter who is clearly a mutated version of the Thing. The two do battle, with the Hulk lashing out with superstrong guts and the Thing splashing around his flesh-melting form, until the ground beneath them collapses and the two burrow far under the earth.
At that point, Punisher is revealed as the man who sold the marauders the Thing – a way to strip them of their gamma-powered protector so he could lay waste to their entire predatory operation. Given Ennis’ past with the Punisher and proud disdain for superhero stories and concepts, it’s hard not to see the story as at least partly a satire, with Marvel cast as the predatory marauders, preying on the public with endless superhero fights that have no real stakes or consequences.
Garth Ennis and John McCrea famously worked together on the iconic DC series Hitman – another series which treats superheroes like Batman and Green Lantern with open disdain, while going significantly easier on Superman.
Hulk’s Weirdest Power Dialed Up to 11
The image of Hulk becoming an octopus-esque monster is totally in line with Ennis’ past work, where superheroes are turned into grotesque monstrosities – something that happens throughout The Boys. However, it’s actually not off-base from what the Jade Giant is capable of.
As confirmed in Al Ewing and Joe Bennett’s Immortal Hulk #8, Hulk’s gamma allows him to control his body in shocking ways. Hulk was even able to click his fingers when his body was cut to pieces and stored in a series of jars, seemingly willing himself to meld back together. It’s therefore not out of the bounds of possibility that, without his limbs, Hulk would be able to manipulate his exposed innards as new limbs.
Our Take on Garth Ennis’ Hulk Reinvention
‘And None Shall Walk Away’ is an example of what Marvel’s anthology comics can accomplish that other formats can’t. Ennis has expressed little interest in ever working on superhero stories again, but a short story in an anthology is clearly an exception. Likewise, these short stories allow acclaimed creators to tell ‘one and done’ narratives that don’t have to connect to a larger story.
In the recent Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #3‘s ‘Whatever Happened to Master Blood?’, Al Ewing and Juann Cabal introduced a ‘forgotten’ Sinister Six founder who was erased from the timestream by Kang the Conqueror – a great idea that’s perfectly at home in a shorter collection. Likewise, while Ewing may not want to write a Hulk series, Marvel has made it possible to showcase his take by doing more with less.
Given their proliferation, it’s clear that Marvel’s monochrome black and white anthology series will keep coming, and their structure is perfect for short horror narratives like this one, while also attracting top talent. Fans of The Boys would have bet money that Garth Ennis would never write the Hulk again, but Marvel has clearly created the perfect conditions to make it happen.
Marvel Black, White & Blood and Guts #2 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- First Appearance
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The Incredible Hulk (1962)
- Alias
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Robert Bruce Banner
- Alliance
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Avengers, Defenders, Horsemen of Apocalypse, Fantastic Four, Pantheon, Warbound, S.M.A.S.H., Secret Avengers
- Franchise
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Marvel