It had been a long time since readers had hoped for a conclusion to the ‘Smashtronaut’ plot arc for Hulk, and that dream was finally fulfilled in print in 2022 with the release of Issue 6 of the ‘Hulk’ series. It’s no surprise, though, because Marvel has been flirting with the idea of the Hulk growing bigger and badder if it’s possible. It turns out that it is!
As the ‘Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War’ narrative approaches, Starship Hulk needed to be pitted against a predicament beyond comprehension. That is precisely what Issue 6 accomplished. With the Jade Giant’s sixtieth anniversary approaching, the combat setup had to be worthy of the occasion.
When the first teaser for the comic was revealed in January 2022, the great threat was given a name, and it was now added to the list of “brutal deals Marvel superheroes will have to engage in.” ‘Titan Hulk’ was the name given to him.
TITAN HULK: The Comic Book Introduction
Ryan Ottley and Donny Cates picked up their pens to create a whole movie out of Issue 6 of Hulk, and that is the least appreciative of the masterpiece that one can be. Continuing right where the previous Issue 5 had left off, Issue 6 showed us how Bruce Banner was losing control of Starship Hulk.
At this point, it seemed to have been almost completely taken over by Betty Ross, the daughter of Air Force General Thaddeus Ross and Bruce’s ex-wife. Surprise, surprise! Of course, it was not Betty herself, but a lookalike – but at this point, it was all about her sending even tougher monsters like Galactus Hulk for Hulk’s psyche to fight against. Meanwhile, she tried to gauge her way to the inside of the machine room.
All this while, the real entity of Starship Hulk that Banner and Ross seemed to be controlling was in fact, trapped in a whole other reality. In that alternate universe, Banner never took up Hulk’s form and Starship Hulk was engaged in a small battle against General Thunderbolt Ross’ creations – the gamma-irritated Abominations brutes. Titan Hulk is that “Hulk’s Hulk” form that Starship Hulk turned into as that battle progressed.
Even the individual cosplaying as Betty pointed out that if Hulk was a rage monster, Titan Hulk was Hulk’s rage monster caged inside of him. She even went ahead to explain, “It seems to me that…well, everyone gets to have a Hulk these days. Bruce has a Hulk. Rick had a Hulk. Ross had a Hulk. Jennifer has a Hulk. Amadeus had a Hulk. Hell…even God has a Hulk. So, really…it’s unfair, isn’t it? I mean…why can’t the Hulk have a Hulk?”
Issue 6 closed the final chapter of the present storyline Hulk was in. As mentioned before, the Green Goliath was thus set to meet Thor, the God of Thunder in an event called “Banner of War”. On April 27th, 2022, Issue 1 of ‘Hulk vs Thor: Banner of War Alpha’ was released and Hulk was included on its cover. Highlighting his presence is the fact that it is Hulk’s 60th-year on-page, and the plots that Marvel is expected to create in the near future might as well be full of dread and angst. Inevitable, one may say, as Bruce has already been battling his feelings about the Hulk and now Titan Hulk has been brought into the picture too.
TITAN HULK: Diving deep into the roots of Titan Hulk and Starship Hulk
With the personalities of Hulk and Bruce splitting at the beginning of this volume of Hulk, the reader now knows of Hulk and Bruce being a part of Banner’s physical body simultaneously. Their consciousnesses are also separate, and this eventually leads to several issues arising from that fact.
To really understand all that is going on with the case of Titan Hulk and Starship Hulk, we’ll start where we should – right at the beginning. Bruce Banner was a genius, so he managed to use science and some magic to make Hulk’s body into a vessel. A vessel that was altered with psychic abilities and the surgical implantation of cybernetic apparatus. What came from that was Banner essentially being the pilot working from a cockpit of sorts from within the Hulk’s body.
The cockpit is more psychically operated than physically, existing in the shared psyche of Banner and Hulk. In conclusion, Bruce Banner controls Hulk’s actions through Banner’s own brain powers instead of Hulk using his. As mentioned earlier, previous situations warranted that Banner’s brains were carried on to his transformation as Hulk and maintained thereby, here, the two brains are absolutely isolated.
The essence of Hulk is held captive in that “Engine Room” cockpit of Banners. Think X-Men’s ‘Danger Room’…but like, if it were a whole cognitive projection. The Hulk’s rage is fuelled by his conscious battling other psychic manifestations of MU’s most powerful beings. Unsurprisingly, it does sound too complex because it is, for real. Where do we go with the two personalities and their independent consciousnesses existing in one body – while there seemingly remains a third anonymous consciousness in control, showing up as the ex-wife Betty Ross…but not really her?
Exactly at this point, Titan Hulk marks his presence. Banner initially wanted the Starship Hulk to be an escape mechanism from Earth and from all those who could be hurt by Hulk, so he powered it through an experimental wormhole that Tony Stark had created. However, instead of landing somewhere else in the MU, Starship Hulk ended up in an alternate reality where there was no Bruce Banner as The Hulk. There, Hulk’s arch-rival General Thunderbolt Ross had taken over Banner’s invention of Gamma tech and used it to his advantage. Violent autocracy had thus prevailed.
Ross, all at peace in his dystopian reality until then, found Starship Hulk about to wreck his plans. That is when he sent his ‘Abomination Monsters’, Gamma-powered and all, to stop the giant. Meanwhile, in the vessel itself, Bruce had been fighting with whoever was disguised as Betty Ross to take control of the Engine Room. False Betty managed to partly win, pushing the cockpit throttle to its upper limit. Then, Hulk powered up to levels never seen before and was pooling with rage set to cause a physical transformation. This physically altered, the 30-foot giant was Titan Hulk, the “Hulk’s Hulk” – a manifestation of Hulk’s rage. So, to say that if the Smash Hulk was Bruce Banner’s enraged Hulk, Titan Hulk was Hulk’s.
One battle was won for Banner, while for the other he seemed to be on the losing side. Titan Hulk easily overpowered Thunderbolt’s army, but Banner himself still had no control over the cockpit. The fake Betty was still doing its worst when Banner managed to awaken Hulk’s consciousness and sent him to the Engine Room and tackled Betty. Betty was torn to shreds, and Banner finally took control of who the Starship Hulk had become – the Titan Hulk in all its glory. Although shaken to his core, Bruce managed to decelerate the Titan and made an escape through another wormhole. Next time around, he seemed to have come upon the core of MU, the Marvel-616 universe. A battle with Thor awaits!
The Titan did just make its debut, and there remains a lot to be unraveled in its history. The how and why of his creation is the top question readers will seek answers to, given that the character only has had a brief moment of presence. It may be expected that a read of ‘Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War’ will give us a detailed insight. That aside, Issues of Thor and Hulk in May will tell tales, and June has brought in a crossover – so things look exciting around here!
TITAN HULK: What Makes Him So Powerful?
Much like the identity of the fake Betty Ross, not much is known about what the Titan Hulk is fully capable of. It can be said though, that a 30-foot giant version of the Jade Giant can’t not be supremely powerful. His physical strength, of course, would know no bounds. Safely assuming that he would borrow quite a few skills from the Hulk himself, given that he is born out of the Hulk’s own rage, we have a little idea of Titan Hulk’s not-so-little prowess.
Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s “The Incredible Hulk” had abilities to truly justify his name. One can expect to see all of that, times 4 or 5 when Titan Hulk is brought into the picture. We say this keeping in mind that The Incredible Hulk was known to TOWER at 7 or 8 feet, and the Titan stands at a solid 30. Wolverine had this to say about The Hulk, “There ain’t many around who can describe what it feels like to get hit by the Hulk… Simple fact bein’ there ain’t many around who can survive to tell the tale.” And we absolutely do NOT doubt the combat skills of Titan Hulk with all his maximized abilities.
Anger or stress would be a contributor to Titan’s abilities as well, giving him copious amounts of strength in certain situations, the gamma-mutate physiology to credit. He will have stamina and durability, quite apparent even in the little peek we have been given at the character so far. The regenerative healing factor, agility, and receptive reworking may not be a surprise either. He may also have heightened telepathic resistance as well as perception skills when compared to normal humans or even Titan’s own primary form of Hulk.
TITAN HULK: Closing In
The hype around Titan Hulk’s appearance was massive. His presence certainly did not do any justice to it because we see half the comic go on without him. Though that leaves us with a hope of seeing more of the character – may even become recurring – and that is for sure, a WIN! Issue 6 does get predictable at some points, but if a reader loves mindless action and fun, Issue 6 is undoubted, their cup of tea.
The art in the Issue is pretty detailed, and the panels may be simplistic but make for quite a quick read. Not to worry though, none of the chaos from Hulk’s life is missing throughout! The tech-talk is impressive, be it the contraptions on Hulk’s back popping out, or the starship’s cockpit gadgetry. The exploration of identity happening here is quite a treat to read through, to be honest….one doesn’t get many of those in comics these days.
Several characters who have become long-beloved don’t really leave the pages, as readers always want to see more of them. The clash between Bruce and Hulk is sort of foreseeable. The Starship Hulk with all of its incredible powers is, after all, a result of extensive control and manipulation of Hulk by Banner. In other words, this plot for Issues 1 to 6 of the Hulk series is an escape and the rawest form of entertainment.