The following was originally posted on WizardUniverse.com:
The Green Goliath returns to Earth with revenge on his mind, and we outline his unstoppable battle plans against the heroes of the Marvel Universe
The time for talk has come and gone—the time for smashing has arrived.
Over a year ago, the Illuminati—Marvel’s secret society consisting of Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange, Professor X, Namor and Black Bolt—deemed the Hulk too dangerous to remain on Earth and banished him to space. They thought they’d found a peaceful planet for his exile; instead, a wormhole knocked the Jade Giant off track and landed him on the savage, war-ravaged planet of Sakaar. Now, the Hulk has found his way home, and he’s not alone.
“To survive [on Sakaar], the Hulk had to be crafty,” says Greg Pak (pronounced “pock”), writer of Incredible Hulk and, starting in June, the five-issue miniseries World War Hulk. “He had to make friends, and they became his warbound companions. He has learned from them, and has a whole new level of smarts when it comes to how he fights.”
During the Hulk’s exile, the Marvel Universe has undergone Civil War, with Tony Stark—aka Iron Man—emerging as the figurehead of a new, more organized superhuman community, but one still feeling the sting of internal strife.
“There’s a whole new level of organization which theoretically should make it easier for them to respond to this kind of threat,” begins Pak. “But there are a lot of people, key people, who have an issue with the current regime. What happened during Civil War may affect who is crazy enough to side with the Hulk.”
Join Wizard as we play armchair Iron Man, pitting the toughest of the Marvel Universe against the Hulk and then watching them fall like dominoes as Pak gives us the inside scoop on Marvel’s most hard-hitting event of the summer.
THE SENTRY
WHAT WORKED BEFORE: The one-time best buddy of the formerly childlike Hulk, the powerful Golden Guardian of Good will likely be Stark’s first line of defense as he marshals his other forces. In the past, the Sentry possessed the power to calm the Hulk and make him docile—and if he can do that here, he can lure Jade Jaws in for the takedown.
WHY IT WON’T ANYMORE: To put it bluntly, this Hulk ain’t dumb. Now a cunning strategist, the Hulk would predict Stark’s deployment of the Sentry and take measures to ensure he will not be ensnared. A shocked Sentry, never the most stable guy to begin with, won’t be able to keep his sh-- together, and the jarring change in his old pal will prove his undoing.
PAK TALK: “It’s worth remembering that the last time the Sentry and the Hulk spent any time together [in the 2000-01 Sentry miniseries], Sentry lied to Hulk, and Hulk ended up getting every bone in his body broken. The old Hulk might forgive Sentry for that, but who knows this time around.”
THE AVENGERS
WHAT WORKED BEFORE: With the Sentry down, Stark turns to his elite strike force, the Mighty Avengers, while the prodigal New Avengers likely also get involved to ensure the safety of team member Doctor Strange. Strength in numbers has always been the advantage that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have held over the Hulk; in this case, relatively minor nuisances like Spider-Man, Black Widow, Iron Fist and the Wasp can keep him distracted as powerhouses Ms. Marvel, Luke Cage, Wonder Man and Ares prepare to knock him out. If all else fails, it’s time for the Sorcerer Supreme to get busy.
WHY IT WON’T ANYMORE: The Hulk’s not alone anymore; his army from Sakaar nullifies the Avengers’ edge in personnel and allows him to pick and choose his targets. Strange, the one guy who might be able to turn the tide, may hesitate, as he felt conflicted over sending his old Defenders teammate into space in the first place. A split second of deliberation is all the cunning Hulk needs to remove the mystic from the board.
PAK TALK: “Would the New Avengers have any sort of interest in helping the Hulk, given that they don’t like this new regime Tony has going on? Would the Hulk ever be able to forgive Strange so that could happen? It should be pretty interesting to see what happens with all that.”
THE FANTASTIC FOUR
WHAT WORKED BEFORE: His personal troops somewhat exhausted, Stark turns to one team that has proven capable of handling the Hulk in the past: the FF. While the Thing slugs it out with his perennial rival, the Human Torch serves as an irritant, buying Mr. Fantastic enough time to cobble together some sort of device to contain their foe. If that doesn’t work, well, the Invisible Woman has knocked down the Hulk before.
WHY IT WON’T ANYMORE: Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman: currently out of the picture. Black Panther doesn’t possess quite the same level of smarts as Reed Richards does, and while Storm boasts an impressive power set, it’s not on the same level as Sue. The Hulk tears through this less fantastic lineup and moves on.
PAK TALK: “[The Thing] and the Hulk have a lot in common. Ben is not susceptible to the same kind of rage, so it’s easier for him to be accepted, but he has still been vilified by ignorant people. In a lot of ways, Ben has more in common with the Hulk than [he does] with Reed Richards.”
THOR
WHAT WORKED BEFORE: If Stark’s lucky, Thor will still answer his calls after that clone cyborg debacle during Civil War. Should the Thunder God enter the fray, he can prove the difference maker, as he boasts physical strength on par with the Hulk as well as abilities that tall, green and gruesome lacks, such as flight and a nifty all-purpose uru hammer.
WHY IT WON’T ANYMORE: Again, Hulk’s got an army—one that includes former Thor sparring partner Korg, one of the stone men from Saturn—and there’s nary an Asgardian in sight these days. Sakaar’s finest fighting forces swarm Goldilocks, then Hulk swoops in with a smirk and a nasty right hook.
PAK TALK: “Part of the thing about this warbound crew from ‘Planet Hulk’ is that they’re not scared of anybody. They have fought in legendary mythic battles against foes nobody should be able to defeat and they’ve triumphed. If Earth wants to throw a god at them, they’re perfectly ready to go for it.”
IRON MAN
WHAT WORKED BEFORE: Bodies strewn about him on the battlefield, Tony Stark has no choice but to finally pull himself out of reserve and enter the fray. No dummy, when Iron Man has gone up against physically superior specimens such as Thor and the Hulk in the past, he doesn’t just go in swinging; historically, he builds bigger, badder armors designed specifically to take out his target. With a souped-up version of his old “Hulkbuster” gear, Shell-head cranks the repulsor rays up to 11 and does the job himself.
WHY IT WON’T ANYMORE: The Hulk has faced Iron Man’s toys before, but this time he brings a few of his own to the table. Having spent months on an alien planet with exposure to a multitude of advanced cultures, Hulk possesses some technology even Iron Man will find impossible to combat. Nobody has earned the ire of the Hulk more than Tony Stark, and the king of Sakaar will leave nothing to chance in this final battle.
PAK TALK: “Whether or not you agree with [Tony], you can’t deny his belief in what he does or that he’s willing to play the villain and have everybody hate him if the result is that the world is safe. That may be his greatest weapon in this fight: He will do whatever is necessary. Just as Iron Man has never really had to deal with a Hulk who won’t hold back, the Hulk has never had to deal with an Iron Man who won’t hold back.”
THE INITIATIVE
WHAT WORKED BEFORE: Before he takes off to battle the Hulk himself, Tony Stark leaves the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. with one final order: “If I don’t come back, get that superhero army we’ve been training on standby.” Once Iron Man falls, the true war of attrition begins.
WHY IT WON’T ANYMORE: Actually…this could work, but the scale of destruction would make Civil War look like a minor schoolyard scuffle. Armies, superhuman or otherwise, mean all-out war, and that means major collateral damage and casualties. To paraphrase Dalton from “Road House,” no one wins in a fight like this.
PAK TALK: “The Initiative is one of those things that Hulk, having been away over the course of Civil War, doesn’t know anything about. They may indeed be the ace in the hole.”
SMASH HITS
'World War Hulk' carries the Earth-shattering battle into these tie-in titles
GHOST RIDER The Spirit of Vengeance journeys to New York City in June’s issue #12 by writer Daniel Way and artist Javier Saltares. Johnny Blaze may have the flaming stones to go head-on with the Hulk, but will he get barbequed? The action flows into July’s issue #13.
HEROES FOR HIRE It’s four issues of all-out war for the HFH crew beginning with June’s issue #11 courtesy of writer Zeb Wells and artist Clay Mann. While the Avengers of the world take on the Hulk, Misty Knight and company take it to his troops.
IRON MAN The guest creative team of writer Christos Gage and artist Butch Guice pit Tony Stark against a rampaging Green Goliath intent on kicking his iron ass in issues #19 and #20, due out in June and July, respectively.
IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN The chaos reaches a fever pitch in July, as issue #10 finds Ant-Man trying his best to take advantage in an adventure by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Phil Hester.
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONT LINE A six-issue miniseries launching in June and shipping every other week, this latest edition of the street level look at the Marvel Universe reunites Civil War: Front Line creators writer Paul Jenkins and artist Ramon Bachs as well as stars Ben Urich and Sally Floyd, who do their best to get the story behind the Hulk’s angry return.
WORLD WAR HULK: GAMMA CORPS What does the war mean for other irradiated friends and foes of the Hulk? Writer Frank Tieri and artist Carlos Ferreira answer that question in this four-issue mini-series beginning in July.
WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN When the Hulk attacks Professor X seeking to know what role the telepath played in the Illuminati’s decision to launch him into space, it will be up to every single X-Man to halt the path of destruction in this three-issue June-launching miniseries by Gage and artist Andrea Di Vito.
WORLD WAR HULK: YOUNG AVENGERS Earth’s Mightiest Teenagers have their first encounter with the Hulk in this August one-shot by the all-star creative team of writer Jeph Loeb and artist David Finch.
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