Hulk Lore Changes Forever as Marvel Officially Debuts Its New She-Hulk

Marvel is totally transforming Hulk lore by introducing an entire army of gamma-powered soldiers – a Hulk army led by a totally new take on She-Hulk. In Marvel Comics, there have always been very few gamma-powered beings, with only two or three of those approaching the Hulk’s own power. Now, Marvel’s Ultimate Universe will reckon with an entire gamma army,

In a press release from Marvel Comics, fans just found out that Ultimates #3 will introduce a new take on She-Hulk. Currently, Tony Stark’s group of ragtag heroes are looking for a way to take down Bruce Banner’s Hulk. Looking into the Green Goliath’s powers, the team will discover a new She-Hulk who is the leader of an entire gamma army.

Dike Ruan’s cover shows Thor facing off with a grey-skinned She-Hulk, as the two ultra-powerful heroes come face-to-face for the first time. Marvel’s new Ultimate continuity takes place in the new reality of Earth-6160, where the timeline was rewritten by the villainous Maker, resulting in new takes on the characters fans know and love. Fans don’t yet know if the new She-Hulk will be a hero or villain, nor how or why her army was formed. However, with a gigantic war brewing, this new gamma army could be what turns the tide.

This Reality’s Hulk Is a Deadly Religious Leader

In 2023’s Ultimate Invasion (Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch), readers watched as the Maker rewrote an entire world’s history to serve his own twisted agenda. Having visited Marvel’s main continuity, the Maker knows everyone who might threaten his plans, altering events so that Earth’s heroes were either killed (the Fantastic Four, the Sentry), imprisoned (Thor, Captain America), or turned into his thralls (the Hulk, X-Men’s Colossus.) There are also some heroes who never gained their powers, like Spider-Man. Since learning the truth of the Maker’s actions, the teen Tony Stark – aka Iron Lad – has been visiting the surviving heroes and giving them the powers they should have had all along.

At the same time, Iron Lad’s Ultimates are fighting against the Maker’s regime, which split the world up between a cabal of villains, plunging the world into a constant state of manufactured turmoil. In Ultimate Invasion #4, Tony’s father was able to temporarily defeat the Maker, locking him inside his lab, the Dome, on a two-year time lock. That’s how long Tony, Captain America, Sif, Thor and Doctor Doom have to free the world and raise an army that can stop the Maker upon his return. Their biggest obstacle in doing so is the Maker’s council of villains who are now running the world in his absence, with their actions guided by the Legendary Hulk.

In Ultimate Invasion #1, the Maker hinted that some heroic origins couldn’t be avoided, with Bruce Banner’s transformation being one of them. Fans had assumed this was why the Maker recruited Hulk, bending him to evil. However, it’s now apparent that things didn’t stop there. Someone – perhaps the Maker, perhaps the Hulk himself – kept experimenting with gamma, creating an entire hidden army. If they can be recruited to the Ultimates’ side, She-Hulk’s army could help to free the world, but if they’re determined to be enemies, Tony’s revolution may be over before it’s really begun. The idea of She-Hulk leading a gamma army against Hulk (or even Bruce Banner having a Hulk army under his command) is a total rewrite of everything fans know about these characters.

Hulk Is the World’s Secret Ruler, Transformed by Reed Richards

In the Maker’s new timeline, the Hulk was able to harness his rage and power, going on to lead a religious order known as the Children of Eternal Light. Alongside Hulk, the Children of Eternal Light control one of the seven secret nations of Earth. This ‘Legendary’ Hulk isn’t the rage-filled monster fans know, but a savvy political operator who has slipped into a leadership role following the Maker’s defeat. While the Children of Eternal Light preach pacifism, it’s clear Hulk isn’t committed to this cause, and – in Ultimate Universe #1 (Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli) – he hijacked one of Tony Stark’s satellites to frame the Ultimates for an attack on New York.

What’s so interesting about this Hulk is that he takes the idea of Bruce Banner’s inner ‘monster’ to a very different place. Hulk has harnessed his rage, but that loss of passion has made him a far more dangerous being. Rather than rampaging across America once a year causing property damage, Hulk now makes power plays that kill tens of thousands of people at a time. It’s an inversion of the theme of ‘control’ that’s so key to the Hulk’s stories, turning him into someone who causes chaos not because he loses control, but because he wants to maintain it at any cost.

Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe (Earth-6160) is actually the second continuity to possess that name. In 2000, Marvel launched its first Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610), retelling iconic stories in a world where Marvel’s heroes came to exist in the modern day, without decades of comic lore. The initiative was initially successful but eventually fell by the wayside, ceasing publication in 2015. While the new Ultimate Universe is its own standalone story, it’s informed thematically by the former continuity, putting new twists on the stories told in that cynical, War on Terror-era saga.

For instance, in the original Ultimate Universe, Hulk was able to control his powers by studying meditation in Tibet (at least, until Wolverine came calling, leading to the iconic panel where Hulk tears the mutant antihero in half.) The new Ultimate Universe takes that idea further, essentially turning it into the Hulk’s villain origin story. This makes it particularly interesting to see how the new continuity will engage with the original Ultimate She-Hulk.

The Last Ultimate She-Hulk Empowered a Shock Character

Marvel Failed to Capitalize on Its New She-Hulk

In 2005, Marvel published Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk (Damon Lindelof and Leinil Francis Yu), which introduced that continuity’s version of She-Hulk. In the original Ultimate Universe, She-Hulk was not Jennifer Walters but rather Betty Ross, Bruce Banner’s partner from before his transformation. Rather than being a relucant hero transformed by accident, Betty coveted the Hulk’s power and stole SHIELD’s gamma serum to get it. This She-Hulk only appeared in Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk – while she was recruited by SHIELD at the end of the volume, she was never used in the Ultimate Universe’s other comics, likely because of significant delays with the original series.

The first Ultimate She-Hulk was a reckless, brutal antihero who was willing to hurt others for her own sense of freedom and adventure (this characterization was carried over to Red She-Hulk, Betty’s gamma form in the mainstream Marvel Universe.) Even prior to her transformation, Betty was treated as selfish and cruel, belittling Banner and seemingly attracted to his horrific misdeeds as the Hulk (which included cannibalism.) Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk focuses on Betty feeling liberated by her transformation but with few actual heroic instincts.

The new Ultimate She-Hulk already seems to be Betty’s opposite, leading an army in a position of immense responsibility and secrecy. Whether she’ll be a hero or villain remains to be seen, but it’s likely that the Ultimates will be able to recruit her. She-Hulk is an iconic Avengers hero in Marvel’s main continuity, with the Hulk himself being a founding member of the team. It makes sense that in the Ultimate Universe’s new canon, Tony will recruit She-Hulk early as a major Ultimates ally. Of course, that’s only speculation, and fans will only find out the truth when the new She-Hulk and her Hulk army debut this March.

Ultimates #3 is coming March 13 from Marvel Comics.