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Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Incredible Hulk #24! The Hulk is one of the strongest heroes in the Marvel Universe, and while his most notable superpower is his super-strength (and god-tier durability), the Hulk has another power that’s easily his most extreme. That power was highlighted in a previous story arc, but after that story came to an end, it seemed as though the Hulk had lost this power forever. But now, in the Hulk’s most terrifying storyline to date, it’s clear that this power is back, and it’s here to stay.
In The Incredible Hulk #24 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Kev Walker, Bruce Banner and his sidekick, Charlie Tidwell, go to Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, but they don’t find Doctor Strange there. Strange is actually in Asgard at the moment, trying to become the Asgardian Sorcerer Supreme in order to defeat the new Sorcerer Supreme of Earth: Doctor Doom. Instead, Clea is at the Sanctum, and she invites the two travelers in. But, there’s a catch. Clea leads Bruce Banner into one of the rooms in the Sanctum that’s actually a pocket dimension where gamma has no power. In other words, this room suppresses the Hulk.
Clea explains it’s for the protection of herself and Charlie that Bruce waits in that room, since the Hulk could potentially destroy the entire Sanctum and kill Clea and Charlie. Since the two came to Clea for help, given that Charlie is possessed by the Mother of Skinwalkers, Lycana, Banner agreed to her conditions. Except, Clea wasn’t Clea at all, but another Skinwalker hunting Charlie, and she wasn’t there alone. A horde of Skinwalkers ambushed Bruce within the anti-Hulk room, tearing him apart and consuming his flesh. And that’s exactly where the Skinwalkers made their biggest mistake.
After eating Bruce Banner and leaving the room, gamma suddenly had power again. That means that the Hulk was free to be unleashed, even after Banner’s corpse was split-up inside the stomachs of multiple Skinwalkers. The separate parts of Banner’s body morphed into fractions of the Hulk, which tore through the Skinwalkers before coming back together. The Hulk then pulverized the Skinwalker pretending to be Clea, and Hulk and Charlie were free to continue on their quest to free Charlie of Lycana, or at least find a way for her to control it.
The Hulk is Immortal Once Again in Marvel Comics
The Hulk’s Immortality was Thought to Have Gone Away After The Immortal Hulk
The Hulk’s most extreme superpower is his immortality, which was put on full display in the comic series The Immortal Hulk. However, after the events of The Immortal Hulk, it was believed that the Hulk’s immortality had gone away. Why? Well, that comes down to the nature of his immortality, and the source of his power.
Bruce Banner became the Hulk after being exposed to vast amounts of gamma, and gamma is a supernatural element from another dimension: the Below-Place. Since the Hulk’s powers come from the Below-Place (and, by extension, the One Below All), he has limited access to it through a portal that’s only open to gamma-mutates: the Green Door. Whenever the Hulk is killed, his spirit goes to the Below-Place, and he’s free to return to the mortal world through the Green Door.
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This is all deeply explored in The Immortal Hulk, but the thing is, the Green Door was shut at the end of The Immortal Hulk, leading many to assume that the Hulk was no longer immortal. If the Hulk can no longer travel through the Green Door, then he can’t come back to life, meaning the next time he faces death will be his last. But, this issue of The Incredible Hulk proves otherwise, implying that the Green Door has been reopened, and the Hulk is immortal once again. This time, permanently.
What Being Immortal Again Means for The Hulk’s Future
The Hulk Still Isn’t Rid of the One Below All
As explained in this current Incredible Hulk comic run, the Mother of Horrors (the Hulk’s current main villain) is the ancient enemy of the One Below All. Therefore, all the monsters the Hulk is fighting are the champions of the Mother of Horrors, while the Hulk himself is the champion of the One Below All. However, that doesn’t mean they are friends. Indeed, the One Below All is the main antagonist in The Immortal Hulk, as he tried to cross over into the mortal plane to take over the world, and the Hulk closed the Green Door to stop him.
The Hulk’s recent resurrection seems to confirm that the Green Door is now open once more, which means the One Below All is free to continue his world-conquering mission from The Immortal Hulk. While the Mother of Horrors’ monsters are the Hulk’s main focus (as is helping Charlie), his real enemy is actually the One Below All just like it was during The Immortal Hulk, and the proof that the Hulk is once again immortal proves it.
The Incredible Hulk #24 by Marvel Comics is available now.
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