Marvel's New Hulk Is The Most Twisted Version Of The Character Yet

Published Jul 24, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows. Marvel makes history with the first version of the Hulk and Bruce Banner where both the man and the monster are just as unmistakably evil as each other. Among the Marvel heroes who carry a dark side alongside their great power, Hulk is perhaps the second most destructive, only behind Sentry and his Void counterpart. Bruce Banner's valuable contributions to science and his desire to help protect the world are often overshadowed by the Hulk's destruction, and Hulk often ruins his own heroic attempts when he loses control of his rage. Getting rid of the Hulk is a lost cause, both for Bruce Banner and for Earth's entire population. Every time Banner has tried to either eliminate or restrain his gamma counterpart, he only makes the Hulk angrier and stronger; and every time other characters try to erase the Hulk from the equation, they end up regretting it. The most famous example might be World War Hulk, where the Illuminati's attempt to banish the Hulk from Earth results in the Green Scar's revenge against Earth's heroes. In other timelines, like Hulk Smash Everything, humanity's survival is a matter of luck when the Hulk decides to attack. Fortunately for the world, Bruce Banner genuinely wishes to control the Hulk's destructive nature, and the Hulk himself has learned to be a hero that planet Earth can count on, accidental outbursts aside. Spider-Man: Long Way Home #2; Written By Jonathan Hickman; Art By Adam Kubert & Arthur Hesli In Spider-Man: Long Way Home's continuity, Hulk doesn't hesitate to annihilate AIM and Frank Castle's squad to protect the Cosmic Cube. However, Hulk's destruction goes beyond his regular loss of control. In Spider-Man: Long Way Home #2, as the Punisher travels back home, Bruce Banner locates Frank's best friend and unleashes the Hulk on him before leaving a taunting message on the wall, written in blood. As if Hulk's calculated attack weren't enough to reveal his evil heart, Bruce Banner smirks while giving Frank Castle an anonymous call to threaten him before assassinating his friend. Elsewhere in the Marvel multiverse, Bruce Banner is doing his best to revert the Fractured Son's transformation into the Infernal Hulk. Possessed by Eldest, the Infernal Hulk successfully extends his conquest of Earth, awakening a variety of monsters and turning several heroes into horrifying creatures. But while the Infernal Hulk is a clear embodiment of evil and an inheritor of the Mother of Horrors, Spider-Man: Long Way Home's Bruce Banner and his Hulk alter ego are simply evil for evil's sake. They aren't possessed by any supernatural entity, and they don't seem to be manipulated by any other character or organization. Hulk's rage usually follows his instinct, and he won't attack innocents during his rampages, at least not intentionally. Bruce Banner understands gamma radiation better than anyone in the Marvel Universe and possesses enough scientific knowledge to create weapons that could wipe out entire populations. If Bruce Banner loses his morality, he could weaponize his biological research or devise contingency plans against nearly every other major hero. When threatened, Banner only needs to tap into his inner rage and unleash Hulk's destruction upon the world. Several Hulk stories have already hinted at the frightening possibility of an evil Bruce Banner by separating Banner's intellect from Hulk's sheer strength. Future Imperfect features the ultra-intelligent and overly ambitious conqueror Maestro, The Immortal Hulk reveals how deeply Bruce's fractured psyche influences his many Hulk personas, and The Infernal Hulk shows how Banner needs to stay permanently tethered to the Green Goliath in order to keep him from developing truly dark impulses. Since Spider-Man: Long Way Home's Bruce Banner seems to lack all morals, he could easily transform the Hulk into a truly unstoppable supervillain. Should the Hulk be allowed to be fully evil more often? Spider-Man: Long Way Home #2 is now available from Marvel Comics Alias Robert Bruce Banner Created By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby First Appearance The Incredible Hulk (1962) Alliance Avengers, Defenders, Horsemen of Apocalypse, Fantastic Four, Pantheon, Warbound, S.M.A.S.H., Secret Avengers Franchise Marvel