"World War Hulk" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled limited series and various titles published by Marvel Comics in 2007, featuring the Hulk.
The series consists of five main issues titled World War Hulk, with Greg Pak as writer and John Romita Jr. as penciller, and three other limited series: World War Hulk: Front Line, World War Hulk: Gamma Corps, and World War Hulk: X-Men. It also ran through several other Marvel comics series.
The plot is the culmination of a series of events that began with the Hulk being banished to the planet Sakaar by the Illuminati in the "Planet Hulk" storyline, which immediately precedes "World War Hulk" and ends with the Hulk return to Earth to seek revenge on the Illuminati.
Publication history The story, a crossover throughout various series, began in the one-shot World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker (May 2007), written by Peter David and penciled by Sean Phillips, Al Rio, and Lee Weeks. Marvel followed this with Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #106–111 and World War Hulk: Frontline #1–6 as parallel stories following the impact of the Hulk's return on various characters. The crossover extended into regular issues of Avengers: The Initiative, Ghost Rider, Heroes for Hire, Irredeemable Ant-Man, The Punisher War Journal, and Iron Man, as well as a miniseries starring the Hulk and the X-Men and a newly created group, the Gamma Corps. The stories ran from summer through fall, beginning in issues cover-dated July 2007. Initially scheduled to end in October, Marvel announced through the October 10 Diamond Dateline retail newsletter that the final titles in the crossover would be delayed until mid to late November.
Plot After the Illuminati (Black Bolt, Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, and Reed Richards) banished Hulk from Earth,New Avengers: Illuminati one-shot (2006) the spacecraft they used explodes, killing Hulk's pregnant wife Caiera. Blaming the Illuminati for her death, and more powerful than ever because of his time spent absorbing the radiation levels on Sakaar, Hulk returns to Earth for revenge with his allies, the Warbound: Hiroim, Korg, Elloe Kaifi, Miek, No-Name of the Brood, Arch-E-5912, and Mung.
Stopping at the Moon, the Hulk defeats Inhuman king Black Bolt. The Hulk proceeds to Manhattan, New York where he demands the presence of The Illuminati.
He travels to the home of the X-Men, where Professor X, absent from the decision to send the Hulk off-planet, admits that while he never would have agreed to permanent banishment, he would have agreed to temporary exile while they searched for a cure. The Hulk defeats several teams of X-Men and battles the Juggernaut but leaves after learning of the M-Day incident, believing that Xavier has suffered enough.
The Hulk returns to Manhattan and battles the superhuman-operative team Gamma Corps and Ghost Rider. Hulk defeats Iron Man, destroying Stark Tower in the process. Hulk and his Warbound next defeat the New Avengers, the Mighty Avengers, Doc Samson, and the Fantastic Four (including Black Panther and Storm). The Hulk attaches "obedience disks" to the defeated, imprisoned superheroes, preventing them from using their powers.
After a brief battle involving Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Namora, and Angel, the Hulk defeats Thunderbolt Ross and a U.S. Army force. The Hulk then encounters Doctor Strange, who harnesses the power of his old enemy Zom. Hulk defeats the Zom-possessed Doctor Strange, causing him to flee.Incredible Hulk vol. 3, #111
An imprisoned Tony Stark (Iron Man) communicates with S.H.I.E.L.D., revealing an emergency plan to engulf Manhattan in the Negative Zone, thereby annihilating the Hulk and all other positive matter on the island, should the heroes fail.
The Hulk and the Warbound transform Madison Square Garden into a gladiatorial arena. Meanwhile, he repels an assassination attempt from Scorpion,Incredible Hulk vol. 3, No. 110 (Nov. 2007; alternately number vol. 1, #584) and a confrontation with the Initiative.
Following speeches from the Hulk's human supporters, the Hulk arranges for Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Black Bolt, and Mister Fantastic to fight a tentacled alien and later battle each other to the death, as a cheering audience watches. The Hulk declares his intention was for "justice and not murder", and nobody had to or would die. He plans to destroy New York City and leave the Avengers to their shame.
The Sentry arrives and attacks the Hulk. Sentry and the Hulk battle, leveling the city, until they revert into Robert Reynolds and Bruce Banner with Reynolds passing out. Angered that the Hulk disappeared, Warbound member Miek attacks Banner. Rick Jones pushes Banner aside and is injured, causing Banner to return to Hulk form. As the Hulk attacks the Warbound, Miek reveals the explosion that started this war was not caused by the Illuminati, but by Red King loyalists. Miek chose not to prevent it, hoping the incident would encourage the Hulk to keep destroying. Overwhelming rage causes the Hulk to unwillingly radiate energy that threatens Earth. Stark activates a series of weaponized satellites that open fire on the Hulk, leaving him unconscious in his Bruce Banner form.
S.H.I.E.L.D. later imprisons Banner in a facility three miles underground, with the other Warbound members having been taken into U.S. military custody.
Namor alone was spared from the Hulk's wrath, as Hulk discovered early on that Namor was the sole Illuminati member who voiced his opposition to banishing the Hulk from the outset and wisely predicted Hulk's eventual return and quest for vengeance.
Aftermath
With the conclusion of the "World War Hulk" storyline, the series The Incredible Hulk was replaced with The Incredible Hercules, which officially replaced the title of the previous series with issue #113, even though the story arc started one issue earlier in The Incredible Hulk #112. The series continued the story of Hercules and Amadeus Cho.
A continuation of both "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk" began in May 2009. A special stand-alone prologue and Skaar: Son of Hulk #11 saw the beginning of "Planet Skaar", an arc intended to bring Skaar directly into the middle of the Marvel Universe. Following the return of the Silver Savage (the Silver Surfer), events begin to spiral, forcing Skaar to not only abandon Sakaar but also head toward Earth. As was revealed by series writer Greg Pak, Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards, is not amused with the arrival of another Hulk-like being, and the meeting between father and son will not be very pleasant for the Hulk.
In the 2010 "World War Hulks" storyline, it is revealed that the satellites used to revert Hulk to Banner at the end of "World War Hulk" siphoned off the gamma radiation from his body, to collect it for the cathexis ray later used to create the Red Hulk.
Characters
Doc Samson Excalibur Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) Dazzler Juggernaut Black Panther Fantastic Four Human Torch Invisible Woman Storm Thing Gamma Corps Heroes for Hire Black Cat Colleen Wing Humbug Misty Knight Shang-Chi Tarantula Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) Illuminati Black Bolt (Skrull imposter) Doctor Strange Iron Man Mister Fantastic Professor X Initiative Cloud 9 Gauntlet Hardball Justice Komodo Rage Slapstick Thor Girl (Skrull Imposter) Triathlon Ultra-Girl Shadow Initiative Trauma Mutant Zero Bengal Constrictor Red Team (see Scarlet Spider) The Mighty Avengers Ares Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) Wonder Man New Avengers Echo Iron Fist Luke Cage Ronin (Clint Barton) Spider-Man Spider-Woman (Veranke) The New X-Men Dust Elixir Hellion Mercury Rockslide Surge X-23 Prodigy (David Alleyne) Sentry She-Hulk Stepford Cuckoos X-Factor Investigations M Multiple Man Siryn Strong Guy Wolfsbane X-Men Beast Colossus Cyclops Darwin Emma Frost Hepzibah Lockheed Nightcrawler Shadowcat Warpath Wolverine Warbound Hulk Arch-E-5912 No-Name of the Brood Elloe Kaifi Hiroim Korg Miek Mung
Other characters
Eric O'Grady (as Slaying Mantis) Caiera Daredevil Ben Urich Sally Floyd Danny Granville Punisher Stuart Clarke Thunderbolt Ross President of the United States Medusa Monstro Namor Renegades Angel Hercules Amadeus Cho Namora Rick Jones S.H.I.E.L.D. Gabe Jones Maria Hill Derek Khanata Dum Dum Dugan (Skrull imposter) Scorpion (Carmilla Black) Wong
Sequel World War Hulk II A sequel arc titled World War Hulk II is shown in the issues of The Incredible Hulk. After returning from a restored Sakaar, Amadeus Cho's Hulk faces off against Phalkan. His Hulk form's persona changed to where it easily defeated Phalkan and used his "computer brain" to leave Phalkan with a broken arm, a broken foot, a punctured lung, and some broken ribs.Incredible Hulk #714 - 717. Marvel Comics.
Other versions What If? For the 2009 What If series, there was a What If? World War Hulk one-shot which examines two alternatives to the storyline: The first tale shows Tony Stark not hesitating to fire the laser satellite into New York City, killing the Warbound and many heroes during Hulk's fight with the Sentry. Watching from hiding, the Skrulls hear of the death of their queen Veranke (masquerading as Spider-Woman), but believe the Hulk is a prophet sent to aid them by destroying the heroes. They attack, their sleeper agents allowing them to wipe out most of the remaining super-beings and take over the world. Two months later, the Vision finds Bruce Banner in the ruins of New York, waiting to die, and convinces him to become the Hulk again and help. The Hulk aids the remaining heroes against the Skrulls, inspiring people to help. In this world, it's the Wasp who's a Skrull, and she infects Hank Pym with the bio-weapon that wipes out the remaining heroes. The Hulk survives and summons the Silver Surfer, demanding the Surfer call Galactus to destroy Earth. The Surfer does so, but leaves, disgusted at the Hulk's bloodthirsty ways. Galactus arrives and feeds upon Earth, destroying the Skrulls and the planet. He lets Hulk live, promising to take away his pain and memories. The Hulk agrees and is transformed into Galactus' new herald, the World-Breaker.
The second story has Thor and the Warriors Three flying back from Africa on a plane when they hear of The Hulk's attack. Thor leads the others against the Hulk's forces. He and the Hulk engage in a massive battle across Manhattan, before learning of civilians needing help in destroyed subway tunnels, and work together to save them. Thor manages to get through to the Hulk, convincing him to give up his vendetta. Back at Madison Square Garden, the Warbound have discovered Miek's role in the destruction of Sakaar and have surrendered. Sentry arrives only to find the battle over. Thor negotiates a settlement for all parties with the Hulk and his forces returning to rebuild Sakaar and leave Earth in peace.
Marvel Zombies Return In the last issue, the Earth-Z version of Hulk became infected while on the moon, the rest of the Warbound being devoured by the zombie Inhumans (with the Hulk eating Elloe Kaifi when the infection takes control of him). Instead of seeking revenge on the Avengers and Earth, he returned to Earth to satisfy his hunger, and in turn, infects the version of the Sentry that was responsible for the outbreak in the first place. This Hulk goes on to join Spider-Man's team of New Avengers when the Sentry turns against him.
Mini Marvels In Chris Giarrusso's Mini Marvels comics, a World War Hulk three-story series had been written.
Pinball adaptation