Hulk Isn’t Just Green: All 11 Colors of Hulk in Marvel Lore Explained

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Bruce Banner’s Hulk is the strongest and greenest one there is, but did you know the Jade Giant comes in a range of other colors? Since being introduced in 1962, Hulk has adopted many different forms, including grey, blue, red and black. In fact, Bruce Banner’s green form wasn’t even the first.

Here are the 11 different colors of Hulk in Marvel lore. We’re focusing on the times that Bruce Banner’s Hulk in particular took on a new hue, however we’ll also share when there’s another Hulk who made a given color their own, like General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross’ Red Hulk, coming to the MCU soon in Captain America: Brave New World, portrayed by Harrison Ford.

Most Hulks Are Green Because of Their Connection to an Ancient God

The default ‘Hulk’ color, most gamma mutates are green, including Bruce Banner’s Hulk, She-Hulk, the Abomination, Amadeus Cho’s Brawn, and more. While various theories as to why have been advanced throughout Marvel history (like Hulk’s skin being one big bruise), Al Ewing and Joe Bennett’s Immortal Hulk revealed that Hulks are green because they draw energy from Marvel’s ultimate villain – an eldritch god named the One-Below-All.

The One-Below-All – and its home, the Below Place – are the source of gamma energy, which is both a scientific and mystic substance. This realm is where Hulks gain the extra mass needed for their muscles, but the connection also allows the One-Below-All to influence and possess them in its eons-long goal to destroy all reality. Immortal Hulk concluded by revealing that the One-Below-All is the destructive alternate persona – or ‘Hulk’ – of Marvel’s God, the One-Above-All.

Gamma radiation unlocks the hidden identities we suppress, turning those it transforms into “metaphor people.” Because of this, Bruce Banner actually has multiple Hulk forms, with his green identities including the original savage Hulk, his smarter Doc Green persona, the warrior Green Scar, and the apocalyptic Devil Hulk. However, one of Bruce’s most prominent personalities has always been a different hue…

10

Grey Hulk (aka Mister Fixit)

Stan Lee’s Original Vision for the Hulk

While Hulk’s green skin is iconic today, Stan Lee originally intended the Green Goliath to be grey, and the character was in early printings. However, issues with ink supplies forced Marvel to turn Hulk green, with later copies of his first appearance recolored to match. However, this tidbit contributed to Bruce Banner’s most famous alternate Hulk persona – a morally flexible gangster named Joe Fixit.

Joe is a result of Bruce Banner’s childhood enjoyment of gangster movies, and briefly worked as a Las Vegas enforcer. Joe isn’t as strong as the green Savage Hulk, but he’s significantly smarter. While he’s a shifty operator who helps Bruce survive on the run with criminal schemes, he has a heart of gold buried deep down.

In modern comics, the most famous grey Hulk is Weapon H – a superhero created by infusing mercenary Clayton Cortez with Hulk and Wolverine DNA. This gave Clayton a range of unusual powers, including the ability to fire his claws as projectiles.

It seems that something about Wolverine’s DNA results in Hulk turning grey, as this was also the case when Wolverine gained Hulk powers in 2015’s Civil War Volume 2, as shown in the last image in the image gallery above.

9

Red Hulk (Thunderbolt Ross’ Gamma Form)

While Ross Is More Famous, Bruce Has Also Turned Red

While Hulk is naturally green thanks to the gamma energy in his cells, adding in the form of radiation known as ‘cosmic rays’ turns him red, granting new powers in the process. Cosmic rays are the energy that created the Fantastic Four, and have long been Hulk’s only true weakness, capable of melting his body to the point of death. However, in Immortal Hulk #49, the Joe Fixit persona absorbed cosmic rays, taking a Red Hulk form that merged with the Savage Hulk, removing this vulnerability.

Of course, by far the most famous Red Hulk is Hulk’s nemesis, General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross. Ross underwent experiments by the super-smart villains known as the Intelligencia, who infused his body with Bruce Banner’s gamma energy and a dose of cosmic rays. The result was a gigantic Hulk who isn’t quite as strong as the original, but does have some cool powers of his own.

Rather than becoming stronger the angrier he gets, Red Hulk gets hotter, and can even explode with the force of an atomic bomb. He’s also capable of absorbing other forms of energy. When he debuted in 2008 (in Hulk Volume 3 #1, from Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness), Red Hulk made a name for himself by beating up the Watcher and Silver Surfer. However, it was later revealed this wasn’t due to his inherent strength, but because he stole their own energy to do it.

8

Orange Hulk (Age of Apocalypse Hulk)

Like Superman, This Hulk Is Solar-Powered

The Orange Hulk made a blink-and-you’ll-miss it appearance in Uncanny X-Force #12, from Rick Remender and Mark Brooks. This issue takes place in the Age of Apocalypse timeline, where figures like Mister Sinister, Dark Beast and Sugar Man carry out extreme experiments to create superhuman soldiers. The Orange Hulk draws his power form solar radiaiton (like DC’s Superman) and seemed to be similar to the green Savage Hulk in strength level and intellect.

Other versions of an orange Hulk include an unlockable skin in Marvel vs. Capcom, a construct created by Infinity Stone Bearer Multitude, and the ‘Infernal Hulk.’ Introduced in John Layman and Juan Doe’s Deadpool Annual #1, this Hulk hails from an alternate reality where Bruce Banner became Sorcerer Supreme and banished the Hulk to Hell, where he took on a new demonic design.

7

Yellow Hulk (Enhanced by A.I.M.)

Captain America’s Nightmare World Created a Yellow Behemoth

Introdued in Matthew K. Manning and Marcio Fiorito’s Marvel Action: Avengers #9, the Yellow Hulk is a result of the godlike Nightmare messing with Captain America’s mind. Nightmare brought Steve Rogers’ nightmares to life, creating a pocket reality where his Avengers allies had been corrupted by the terrorist group Advanced Idea Mechanics, aka A.I.M. The Yellow Hulk is seemingly identical to the Savage Hulk in power and personality, but now A.I.M.’s signature shade of yellow.

6

Blue Hulk (Fused with the Enigma Force)

Merged with the Ultimate Symbiote, Hulk Got a Major Power-Up

One of Marvel’s most underrated heroes is Captain Universe – a shifting identity created when the cosmic Enigma Force bonds with a mortal in order to protect the universe from outsized threats. In Jay Faerber and Carlos Magno’s Captain Universe/Incredible Hulk #1, the Enigma Force chose the Hulk as its new host, granting Hulk cosmic awareness, enhanced strength, flight, energy blasts, and the ability to transmute matter on the atomic level. Of course, the upgrade was temporary, and the Enigma Force later went on to bond with other hosts, including Deadpool and Venom.

Someone else who might deserve the title of the Blue Hulk is Rick Jones. When Rick was exposed to gamma radiation by the Intelligencia, he became a new type of Abomination, christening himself the ‘A-Bomb.’ Strong, durable, and retaining his human intellect, Rick fought alongside the Hulk in this new form, with the extra power to camouflage his gigantic body like a chameleon.

It’s not clear why Rick became blue as the A-Bomb, though it’s likely that the weapon used to transform him mingled the gamma radiation with other forms of energy. At the same time, given gamma energy’s mystic properites, it’s possible Rick simply didn’t want to be green, having been present for many of the Hulk’s most tragic moments.

5

Purple Hulk (Possessed by Shanzar)

This Hulk Gained Immunity to Doctor Strange’s Magic

In Peter David and Dale Keown’s Incredible Hulk #370-371, Hulk is possessed by Shanzar – the evil Sorcerer Supreme of an alternate dimension. This seemed to increase Hulk’s strength and give him immunity to magic, since Shanzar wasn’t governed by the mystic laws of Earth-616. Shanzar’s right to call himself the Purple Hulk is questionable, since the comics’ interior art actually depicts him in stark black and white. However, the issue’s cover shows him as purple, and adaptations like the animated Incredible Hulk show have used purple coloring when adapting the story.

Someone with more claim to the Purple Hulk name is, surprisingly, the Spider-Man villain Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin. During the Dark Reign era, Osborn replaced Nick Fury as the leader of world security. He later stole all the Avengers’ powers at once, taking on a gigantic Purple Hulk form after sampling Red Hulk’s gamma radiation. However, the combined genetic abilites of so many different beings quickly destroyed his physical form.

Another potential purple Hulk was introduced in What If…? season 2, episode 3, when Happy Hogan is transformed using Bruce Banner’s blood. This character is seemingly actually a take on ‘Brute’ – an alternate reality Reed Richards – but he’s purple and has gamma powers, which means he definitely qualifies for the title.

4

Silver Hulk (Galactus’ Herald)

Hulk Gains the Power Cosmic

Designed by Ron Lim, the Silver Hulk is the star of the one-shot comic What If…? Galactus Transformed Hulk? #1. The story sees Galactus choose Bruce Banner as his new herald, imbuing him with the Power Cosmic. At time of writing, this comic has yet to come out, but it seems Hulk will have Silver Surfer’s powers, which can warp reality itself and unleash energy blasts even gods should fear.

3

Black Hulk (Hulk’s Titan Form)

Eldritch Magic Unleashes the Hulk’s Hulk

Bruce Banner’s Hulk has assumed two notable black forms – Titan and Kluh. Both were the result of magical tampering allowing Hulk to experience unbridled rage, causing him to manifest a new form referred to as “the Hulk’s Hulk.” Kluh was created in the AXIS event, when a spell cast by Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch went awry, flipping the moral alignments of various heroes and villains. Meanwhile, the volcanic monstrosity Titan appeared in Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley’s Hulk Volume 5 – a result of the demonic D’Spayre restructuring Bruce Banner’s mind.

Both Titan and Hulk were orders of magnitude stronger than Hulk, however Titan also had the ability to unleash blasts of gamma energy and absorb it from others, allowing him to defeat an entire planet of gamma irradiated Hulks. One final candidate for ‘the Black Hulk’ is the Asgardian monster Nul, who was referred to as such in Defenders Volume 4.

Introduced in the Fear Itself event, Nul is also known as the ‘Breaker of Worlds,’ and embodies entropy, causing all things in its vicinity to erode and collapse. Nul briefly possessed Hulk during the event, and was later destroyed.

2

White Hulk (Hulk Clone)

He May Be Silly, But He’s Out There Somewhere

Appearing only in James Kochalka’s ‘Hulk Squad, Smash!’ from Strange Tales Volume 5, the White Hulk is essentially a joke character from an anthology of weird and wild stories. However, the nature of Marvel’s multiverse means this character does officially exist in Marvel canon, and he’s described as part of “a team of experimental Hulk clones created by the government.”

Another candidate for ‘the White Hulk’ is the psychic predator Xemnu. Xemnu debuted in 1960’s Journey Into Mystery #62, by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, and was referred to as “the Hulk” before Bruce Banner’s version even existed.

The Immortal Hulk saw Xemnu try to take back the title, psychically controlling humanity so that they forgot Bruce Banner and remembered Xemnu in his place. Thankfully, the Green Goliath triumphed.

1

Skin-Tone Hulk (Doc Samson and ‘The First Hulk’)

Not Every Hulk Changes Color

Our final color of Hulk is no color at all. In some cases, those mutated by gamma radiation get new bodies that remain essentially human. This was the case for the superhero Doc Samson – a psychiatrist who attempted to steal Hulk’s powers. While Samson became incredibly muscular, only his hair turned green. In the past, Bruce Banner has shown the rare ability to use his Hulk strength when still in human form, suggesting he too qualifies for the ‘skin-tone Hulk’ title.

Marvel’s original Ultimate Universe continuity had a lot more skin-tone Hulks, thanks to the introduction of Tyrone Cash. Known as “the First Hulk,” Cash was a scientific mentor to this world’s Bruce Banner, and used his early Hulk research to achieve a gigantic new form. The Avengers of this world later used Cash’s powers, turning Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Blade, the Punisher and War Machine into gigantic, musclebound fighters.

That’s every color of Hulk in Marvel lore, from Green to, well, none – let us know if there are any colorful Hulks we missed in the comments below, and share your favorite non-green gamma mutates!

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