It is difficult to be without love. It is considerably more difficult to be unaware of one’s father. The newest Hulk has no idea how either feels, and it is here that Peter David once again compels us to delve deeply into the human mind, and we end up empathizing with the most sinister incarnation of Hulk yet.
Paul Jenkins, Ron Garney, and Sal Buscema most likely produced the living example of deep-rooted trauma surfacing in even fully-grown adults for the Marvel Avengers’ heroic world. In the 2000 ‘The Incredible Hulk’ run and the Immortal Hulk series, as well as the video game The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, he is one of two key antagonists and, surprise, protagonists.
The germ of the Devil Hulk has been put in Bruce’s mind since his boyhood, owing to his father’s harsh character. He scourges for hobbies of comfort since he lacks a father figure who could fill those gaping voids of affection. After Bruce was exposed to a gamma bomb a few years later, the Devil Hulk would meet the rest of the Earth. As Bruce would morph into the Devil Hulk – literally and symbolically – the dark nights bring out the Devil Hulk. Since they shared a brain-scape, he twisted what the Devil Hulk would say to him because of his innate mistrust and fear of father figures.
The behemoth, on the other hand, was scary and reminded Bruce of the evil it housed, so he chose to imprison the Devil Hulk. This finally led to the Devil Hulk temporarily gaining control of Bruce’s whole brain system, interfering with the management of all of his other alter-egos.
DEVIL HULK: Creation and Manifestation
When Oscar Wilde introduced to the world ‘The Duchess of Padua”, he put in one of the most beautiful lines in literature in there, to describe human beings and their psyche, “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our Hell”. The Devil Hulk is the prime example of how that works. Devil Hulk is pure malice and personifies all of the Hulk’s wrath at being mistreated and battered by the world at large.
Tragic beginnings have given us the worst, most feared version of the Devil Hulk. Even with the ongoing series Immortal Hulk, it is the monster with plans to end the world who has made its mark and the classic Hulk is appropriately set aside at times. With what can only be described as targeting the moral nerves of individuals, the Devil Hulk comes to be seen as a persona brought out of anguish and despair. Issue 39 of the story is that attack, telling us raw and direct that all’s not what it seems – and the Devil Hulk is only so much in need of his emotions to be taken care of, something he has had a lack of since childhood.
If one was to sum it all up, the Devil Hulk has been worked upon by Joe Bennet and others to have a saurian-like physical appearance, with intimidation being central to that. He does have many looks and appearances, but he essentially is bigger than Savage Hulk and has crusty skin, obviously abrasive – almost reptilian. In terms of colour, there appears to be a variety – dark grey, lavender, brown, or even orange. To reinforce the idea of a monster in our heads, the creators did not miss out on the usual glowing red eyes and sharp teeth.
The Devil Hulk is named after references such as the title “Snake Eyes” for his first narrative, as well as mentions of the biblical snake and dragon or beast. He might also be compared to Bruce’s shoulder demon. Al Ewing with his words has given this Marvel Avenger a shady, new character arc, transporting the Hulk to a realm of bodily horror and obscene occult forces.
The depth of truth of this devil with all his ominousness is actually quite deep-bottomed. With the prior establishment of the fact that dissociative personalities resulting from Bruce Banner’s childhood being traumatizing, to say the least, are the reasons for Hulk’s various forms, Devil Hulk is seen as an outlet for the feeling of somewhat virtuous barbarity to punish those who abuse innocent beings.
At first, it so seems that Devil Hulk only sought to break free and command Hulk (and Bruce), and destroy everything that ever hurt them by their roots. This violent form of care would create a ‘perfect world’ in Banner’s mind, and he could live in peace. His tactics to make Bruce lose control are seen in his ways of taunting Bruce as he loathes himself. In fact, in Issue 39 of the comic itself, this so-called “scary monster” is actually seen consoling a juvenile Banner, telling him that his father in no way fits into the mold of being a good human being, let alone a good father.
At several points of the whole story, one will come across instances and realize that the Devil Hulk in no way represents who Bruce is or even wants to be. This Hulk persona is merely a need for Bruce – possessive, mature, and resultantly loving, especially since the first man in a child’s life who should be those things is a father. But in Bruce’s life, it was an alcoholic, abusive, bottom-of-a-trashcan kind of person Bruce was, unfortunately, the child of.
The Devil Hulk is the manifestation of an abused child’s impressions of a good father, as is seen in his protective instinct toward Bruce as well as Savage Hulk. It may even be said that the Devil Hulk is perhaps a warped representation of Bruce’s mother in their instinct to shield him from pain and even referred to Bruce as their “darling boy” multiple times.
The Devil Hulk is really misanthropic and despises mankind in general, becoming a major motivator for the more intellectual version of the Hulk’s more destructive activities. Transformations are the essence of Immortal Hulk and are very humanly familiar, yet unsettling. Be it man to monster or the Devil Hulk becoming the perfect example of going from what appears to be a horror movie killer character to a well-rounded, caring one – it’s all superheroic and attaches itself to the human psyche alongside every other superhero on the shelves of our lives.
DEVIL HULK: His Presence
In the year 2000, the Devil Hulk made his first appearance in Issue 12 of the Incredible Run. Therein, he posed as the narrator, as he did for a good portion of that year by regularly talking to Banner even if he went unheard by Bruce, per se. In Issue 13, the Devil Hulk appeared as himself, having been released from being chained in the darkness long ago, by the Guilt Hulk. This happened while Bruce was running from the Guilt Hulk and went deeper into his own subconscious.
As Ryker first captured and then messes up experimenting on Hulk, the Devil Hulk broke free as all other Hulk personas were essentially wiped out. In exchange for obtaining control over Bruce’s body, the Devil Hulk offered an illusionary fantasy, but Bruce refused to concede and defeated the Devil Hulk in essential.
The Devil Hulk was contained, albeit temporarily, as he was restrained by Savage and Grey Hulks and the Leader helped. When he returns in “The Immortal Hulk”, Banner transforms into the Hulk but the Devil Hulk takes over as the dominating intellect, leading him to become considerably more vicious, clever, and sneaky than the Hulk typically is. Bruce even admits at one point that Devil Hulk is “subjectively brighter” than his usual Bruce Banner intelligence.
DEVIL HULK: The Powers
As Bruce’s inner rage manifests itself in the Savage Hulk, all his inner evil is seen in the Devil Hulk. Dark, ominous, and objectively raging, this incarnation seems to be pure evil. The Devil Hulk mirrors the Hulk and the latter’s capabilities and superpowers, hence becoming an almost equal match.
Brawny and brainy, the Devil Hulk is bigger than the Savage Hulk on both fronts. The brains are probably the combined intelligence of Bruce himself and Merged Hulk. That in fact, leads him to be seen as cunning as he should be, and he attacks Bruce’s vulnerability to manipulate him into trying to free him.
Games show him as possessing some elemental powers as well, as seen in ‘The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction’ when the boss fight moments give glimpses of a flame-throwing claw during attacks, as well as the ability to shoot an icy blast from the palm of his hand that could freeze an attacked player. It can be assumed that due to this thick, scaly skin, the Devil Hulk resists extreme temperatures. In the same game, we see instances of the Devil Hulk’s capabilities of ‘terrakinesis’, which means to be able to affect terrain and rock formations.
In Bruce’s mental landscape, we see him achieve that when he attacks Hulk by raising and throwing big stalagmites at him. During conflicts, he would go into a big “waist-deep” trench that he had likely built himself, maybe to escape Bruce’s thoughts. This might imply that he can also dig or burrow, which would explain why he has such enormous claws to chop at strong rock formations.
Needless to say, the Devil Hulk can intimidate to no limits. The deep voice, large body, and extreme cunning come into play for him to achieve that psychological advantage over his opponents. Panic or loss of focus of opponents gives the Devil Hulk an incredible advantage during attacks as he can catch them off-guard.
DEVIL HULK: Wrapping Up
Brian Banner and Bruce Banner’s relationship as father and son was incredibly troubled and unhealthy, and that is what ‘The Immortal Hulk throws light on. The results and impact of years of abuse and torment continued to affect the scientist even as he transformed into the Hulk. The Jade Giant’s rage wasn’t just a persona perhaps, it was the representation of loss and grief.
Al Ewing once answered a fan’s letter and claimed that the dark side of Hulk appeared on the page earlier than most people assume. He says, “….I think his first appearance was in Incredible Hulk #1, as the very first Hulk alter to emerge on the page!” This is a surprise development, given that most people connect the Hulk’s initial appearance with his more classic, Savage Hulk character.
The development of Devil Hulk took a few Issues. The initial association of the Hulk is with his classic, brawny although less intelligent ‘Savage’ form, the early issues notably project the Hulk as having a slyness and what can only be called ruthless intelligence against friends and foes alike. The irony of Devil Hulk being a force of good is already chuckle-inducing, to say the least, but if we see that Bruce’s and Devil Hulk’s intentions do not align, there may be a shift in this idea for the readers.
And, given Ewing’s understanding of the Devil Hulk’s origins, it will be impossible to totally evict this wicked form of the Hulk from Banner. Many of the assumptions made about the Hulk up to this point have been called into doubt by Al Ewing’s comments. It appears that the Devil Hulk isn’t only a repressed aspect of the Hulk’s several personas, but rather the basis upon which the Gamma-irradiated hero has been created up to this point.