r/hulk • u/Kabuto10101 • 5h ago
General I hate how people misrepresent the Hulk as just a big angry rage monster
One thing that really annoys me is how a lot of people I see on TikTok and Instagram say that they hate Hulk's direction in the MCU being pushed to the side and want to see a more "big, angry rage monster" in the future. Hulk being a 'monster' is a HUGE exaggeration of who he is. I'm not against Hulk being angry and destructive; that's an important part of his character, but I feel like people often overlook the tortured, fractured man behind the rage, reducing him to a problem to be controlled rather than a person whose trauma needs to be understood.
Savage Hulk is a direct representation of Bruce's childhood trauma, where he was abused and made to suppress his rage and raw emotions, resulting in the Savage Hulk. We see in The Immortal Hulk that his anger derives from people trying to contain, diminish, or harm him, which is something that's incredibly superficial in his modern media portrayals. Hulk was, in my opinion, more of a child than an actual monster. We see him wanting to play with toys and animals, things he finds solace in because they don't judge him for being what he is. However, the abuse from his father and his godly strength still bleed through, sometimes causing him to destroy the toys and harm the animals. But Hulk is much more than that. He wants to be left alone and to be himself ā to be cared for and to have a father figure.
Devil Hulk is, in my opinion, the second most captivating personality after Savage Hulk, stemming from Bruce's need for a father and protector. Devil Hulk's worldview regarding the destruction of mankind comes from how humanity treats Banner and Savage Hulk like monsters, when the true culprit behind the damage Hulk causes is actually how people perceive him and their fear of him as a supernatural monster. Devil Hulk's demise comes directly from his desire to protect Bruce, with Savage Hulk holding him back from killing the Leader in the form of Brian Banner, unwilling to hurt Savage Hulk to protect Bruce. From when Bruce was young, Devil Hulk would tell him that Brian was a bad father for abusing him (he was, don't get me wrong), but Devil Hulk was always there for him. "I love you. I'll always be here for you." That part really broke me. It shows how much Devil Hulk cared for Bruce, always offering him food but sometimes wanting to kill Brian for how he treated him.
Grey Hulk (Joe Fixit) represented a different idea of what a father and protector should be, as well as what Bruce thought a man should be like during his childhood. He had a silver tongue and was willing to do whatever it took to end up on top. But really, this is a flawed mindset: the idea that hurting and swindling others is a way to become successful and happy. This mirrors Thunderbolt Ross, who was almost like a man who wouldn't take anything from anybody and looked down on the weak, calling Banner a "milksop" for not being physically strong and for holding on to things from his past, whether that be his emotions or the doll his mother gave him.
We see how multifaceted Hulk is compared to his MCU counterpart, where his character is often pushed toward being a problem to solve rather than a person struggling with his own mental issues and trauma. Some people want to see a more monstrous Hulk again, and I have no problem with that, as his anger and destruction are important parts of his character. I just think there's so much more to him than that. His different personalities and his relationship with Bruce reveal the years of abuse and emotional suppression behind his rage. I want the MCU to explore that complexity again, because Hulk can be an unstoppable force of destruction while still being a deeply vulnerable and tragic character.
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u/ZardozSama 4h ago
I disagree.
I do think that there is more to hulk then the 'big green rage monster'. But I also think that 'get righteously angry and smash shit' is a big part of the appeal of the character. Having hulk not smash things is like doing a Starwars Movie with Jedi but no light sabers. You cannot go wall to wall smashing, but you need to build up to it and when it does happen you need to go be and impress.
Peter David's run that created professor Hulk had banner's mind with Grey Hulks attitude. It mixed action and comedy well, like that classic scene with Hulk holding a tank cannon, a machine gun, and wearing pink fuzzy bunny slippers.
The MCU version of Professor Hulk had Banners mind, banners attitude, and essentially no scenes of Hulk smashing anything. The Russo's botched it while managing to nail every thing else in Endgame.
Bottom line, to do the Hulk justice, having an angry hulk show up should result in some combination of "Oh Shit!", "Holy Shit!", and "Fuck Yeah!". The only time professor hulk delivered any of that was in Spiderman Brand New Day when being mind controlled.
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