Bruce Banner, the scientist who was exposed to extreme amounts of gamma radiation that
altered his DNA structure due to gamma rays and trauma passed down by his father that
caused him to become a giant green monster of incredible power known as the Hulk whenever
he starts to get angry. That is a pretty grimm origin story I won’t lie but did you know
there are other Hulks out there with equally dark and even darker pasts? What is going
on all you nerdy folk out there, my name is Jack and welcome back to Top 10 Nerd. You’ve
probably already guessed it but today we are going to be talking about one of my favourite
heroes out there, The Hulk, but not our regular ol Earth-616 Bruce Banner. Nope, we are going
to be taking a look at some of the darkest versions of the Hulk out there in terms of
story and overall personality that are scattered throughout the Marvel Universe. Lets get into
it shall we?
#10 Bruce Banner Earth-12091. Not a whole lot is known about this alternate universe
but they have a pretty crazy looking Hulk nonetheless. In this reality Bruce Banner
was mutated into the Hulk by undergoing some Gamma Radiation experimentation, pretty standard
so far, but his appearance is vastly different than the hulk that we are familiar with. This
Hulk is like an electric green colour and is a bit more risque because he doesn’t
wear any clothes which is okay I guess because hes kinda ken dolling it if you know what
I mean. Not to mention he has 4 absolutely MASSIVE arms effectively making him twice
as strong as any other Hulk. After this transformation he gained the reputation for destroying spaceships
and any attempts to stop him by Thunderbolt Ross were always thwarted. He attacked the
hideout of Barracuda when the Punisher tried to gain information about the Six Fingered
Hand and he killed a decent amount of the mercenaries hired to kill the Punisher but
was enraged by The Leader's sonic device. The Punisher managed to escape before the
Hulk could kill him which you can assume would have been pretty easy for him. Check out this
monstrous Hulk for yourself in his first appearance in 2012s Space: Punisher #2.
#9 Skulk. Hailing from Earth-9602, the Amalgam Universe, Bruce Banner was a scientist experimenting
with radiation and one day an experiment he was working on went horribly wrong and fused
him with the elemental entity known as Solomon Grundy known as the Skulk. With the powers
of the Hulk and Solomon Grundy combined, you can probably figure out for yourself why this
would be pretty scary. After a confrontation with Doctor Strangefate, Strangefate showed
Skulk that he could keep the Skulk in his human form with the use of magic. The Skulk
agreed to work as an agent for Doctor Strangefate in return for Strangefate keeping Skulk in
the form of Bruce Banner most of the time. This version of the Hulk is actually a rather
gentle soul because upon finding Access, Bruce has a conversation with him rather than immediately
jumping into battle because he thought that Access seemed really lost and alone in the
world. This didn’t last for long though because it did get to the point where he transformed
into the Skulk and attacked him with brute force. Skip ahead a little bit to a a mysterious
villain attacking the Amalgam Earth city by city. Lobo the Duck awoke in the ruins of
Manhattan and found himself as the last remaining survivor among the heroes. Now the Skulks
body was never actually found among the other heroes, but it can only be assumed that he
is no longer living. Check out this character for yourself starting with their first appearance
in 1996s Doctor Strangefate #1.
#8 The Incredible Thing. In an alternate reality, Earth-295 to be exact, Bruce Banner never
became the Hulk and mutants rule the world. In an effort to combat them Bruce, under the
order of Thaddues Ross, is tasked with creating an army of super soldiers however all of his
efforts fail. Banner moves to Europe not long after and becomes a member of the Human High
Council, the ruling body of the surviving human population. Oddly enough Banner longed
to become a mutant in order to escape being a second-class citizen and Caving in to the
moral low ground, Banner sold himself to one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse in order to
experiment on mutants and eventually himself. The results of the experiment was the Thing,
a Gray Hulk variant that Banner could revert between at will. Ben Grimm and Sue Storm were
the first to encounter the Thing, and Sue shot him in the side of the head. The Thing
fled and turned back into Banner, but neither Sue nor Ben connected the two events. Fast
forward a little to when Bruce alongside Tony Stark is escaping the Earths Orbit and we
see humanity under fire from a bunch of missiles. They were able to destroy all except one,
an adamantium bomb that Bruce had invented himself, so as the Thing he jumped out of
the spacecraft and diverted the bomb so that no one would have to die from it. Forcibly
reverting back to his human for he fell down to Earth and was captured by Apocalypse. After
an unidentified period of time, he revolts against the Alphas and Apocalypse, but sadly
this ended in his death. Check out this Bruce Banner for yourself in 1995s X-Universe #1.
#7 Infernal Hulk. Are you familiar with Earth-11638? It is an alternate universe that is seemingly
a utopia because Spider-Mans loved ones are still alive, Bruce Banner finally separated
from the Hulk, and Wade Wilson never had to become Deadpool (however he did become the
villain Death Mask but we’ll just gloss over that. After Bruce Banner became Doctor
Banner, the Sorcerer Supreme of his universe, he separated himself from the Hulk and banished
him to Hell where he became the Infernal Hulk. When the Bruce Banner of Earth-616 traveled
to this universe with Spider-Man and Deadpool, the Infernal Hulk was able to get free from
Hell by trading places with the Hulk persona of Earth-616's Banner. He immediately went
after Bruce who was saved by Spider-Man and Deadpool. Together with his counterpart, Spider-Man,
and Deadpool, the Sorcerer Supreme Banner came up with a plan to defeat the Infernal
Hulk once and for all by reversing the banishing spell and then snapping Bruce's neck before
the Infernal Hulk could take control of his body. Check out this devilish Hulk for yourself
in their first appearance in 2011s Deadpool Annual #1.
#6 John Eisenhart. On Earth-928, the alternate Earth that is set in 2099 and it is vastly
different than the world we are familiar with because the age of heroes has ended and much
of the world is run by violent and evil companies. Head over to Los Angeles and we meet John
Eisenhart, the Hulk of 2099. John gained his Hulk like abilities from the Knights of Banner,
a cult that worshipped the original Hulk who wanted nothing more than to create a new Hulk.
Their Gamma gun accidentally fired and hit John and he was transformed into a 12 Foot
tall gamma beast with razor sharp claws and fangs, a long tongue and massive muscles.
Hulk 2099 dedicated himself to defending the people from monsters like Draco and became
a leader in a rebellion against them. After President Victor Von Doom's takeover of America,
John stole a gamma device from one of Doom's henchmen in order to keep it from Doom himself.
This device was similar to the one that granted John the ability to transform into his Hulk-like
form. Draco threatened John with a massive bomb placed directly on the city's fault line,
if he didn't turn the gamma device over to him. In the ensuing battle, the bomb detonated
and triggered a massive earthquake. The earthquake set off the gamma device that resulted in
a massive explosion, laying waste to the city. John emerged from the rubble, mutated even
more so by the radiation emitted from the device.] His mutation stabilized and he returned
to his original form just prior to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrived in the region. While battling
them, John seemingly perished and well thats the last we’ve seen of him. Give his story
a read for yourself starting with 1993s 2099 Unlimited #1.
#5 Bruce Banner Earth-9591. In the Marvel Universe, scientific accidents tend to lead
to fabulous superpowers, however in the real world, a scientific accident typically leads
to serious injury or death. After all, if a regular person were caught in the explosion
of a gamma bomb, they definitely wouldn't gain green skin and super strength; odds are,
they would just get really, really sick and die. With that in mind, lets meet Bruce Banner
from the miniseries Ruins. Written by Warren Ellis, "Ruins" is a dystopian twist on the
Marvel universe, where everything that can and does go wrong. In this twist on the classic
origin story, Rick Jones is a morphine addict that wandered onto the testing site of a gamma
bomb. The heroic Bruce Banner rushes to save him, and is caught in the blast of the bomb.
But instead of becoming the Jade Giant, Bruce Banner is consumed in a mess of green tumors,
which tear Banner apart from the inside out. Much like the Peter Parker of this universe,
Banner is currently believed to be held captive by the CIA for research purposes. Give this
storyline a read for yourself with 1995s Ruins #1, it answers a lot of questions I didn’t
know I wanted the answers to.
#4 Hulk Earth-2081. After a war which ended in a violent nuclear holocaust that wiped
out all life on Earth, the Hulk, wanting to get away from the few remaining survivors,
would return to the gamma cave in New Mexico, where he would seal himself in with a boulder.
Many years later, Banner would be freed from his imprisonment by a Recorder, who was sent
to record the demise of humanity at the request of a number of races. Though Bruce at first
assumed that they wanted to learn from humanity's mistakes, the Recorder then informed him that
they just wanted to make sure that they were all dead. Though Bruce at first refused to
believe that EVERYONE was dead, asking if it was some kind of joke, he soon accepted
it. He would then ask the Recorder if he was going to kill him as well to "be sure", the
Recorder then asked Bruce if he wanted to die, to which Bruce then answered no. Bruce
spent the next several years wandering across the ruins of the old cities trying to remember
what he could of the world. Later Bruce suffered a painful heart attack and how much his punishment
resembles that of Prometheus, the Last Titan; condemned to stay forever alive even while
animals devoured him. As he died, the Hulk's persona arose in his mind. Banner would plead
with the Hulk, begging him to simply let go of his conflicts, claiming that they were
going to a paradise where all their dead friends were, where they would be happy. Hulk threw
away this suggestion, thinking it was a trick, and because, in his eyes, friends had always
betrayed him. With Banner completely gone, the Hulk was left completely alone in an empty
world. Check out this one shot storyline in 2002s Incredible Hulk: The End.
#3 Zombie Hulk. Thats right, it's Jack talking about the Zombiverse again, my big fav haha.
In the world of "Marvel Zombies," the Hulk is the hungriest one there is. After an unnamed
hero driven by "The Hunger" crash lands on Earth and infects the Avengers with a zombie
virus, the world spirals into a zombie apocalypse. Once valiant heroes resort to stomach churning
acts to fulfill their craving for human flesh, and the world becomes a battle of the strongest
for scarce resources. A roaming band of zombies, composed (or I gues decomposed) of former
heroes such as Spider-Man and Wolverine, kill and eat their way across the planet, with
a zombified Hulk serving as the twisted team's muscle. The group eventually crossed paths
with the Silver Surfer, who was subsequently brutally killed by the Hulk and eaten by the
group, imbuing the zombies with the power cosmic, allowing the former heroes to take
to the stars to eat their way across the galaxy. 40 years later Hulk returns to Earth to find
a colony of human survivors in New York, now known as New Wakanda. After Giant-Man declared
a plan to create a breeding program to have food for eternity, Spider-Man and Luke Cage
rebelled and fought Tony and the others. A force field was activated, protecting Black
Panther's stronghold and the survivors, but sealed Gladiator and an unconscious Bruce
Banner inside and cut Cage in half. Hulk eventually escapes and after eating Reynolds Hulk transformed
back into Bruce and voluntarily was eaten by the zombies so that he would cause no moer
damage to anyone. You all already know that this is one of my favourite universes so check
out Zombie Hulk for yourself, starting with his first appearance in Marvel Zombies: Dead
Days #1.
#2 Maestro. While the Hulk has traditionally served as a tragic anti-hero, the super villain
known as The Maestro serves as a reminder that the Hulk is only one bad day away from
becoming the most dangerous foe mankind has ever encountered. This alternate future version
of the Hulk hails from a Earth ravaged by nuclear war. Driven mad by the death of his
friends and from continued exposure to radiation, the Hulk christens himself The Maestro and
appoints himself the ruler of this war torn dystopia. Retaining the intelligence of Bruce
Banner, but with enhanced strength brought on from the radiation, The Maestro rules unopposed,
splitting his time between torturing those that have crossed him and admiring his trophy
room filled with the weapons and costumes of his fallen comrades. When the modern day
Hulk is sent forward in time, he ends up clashing with his future self, eventually triumphing
over the cocky Maestro. While the Maestro hails from a possible future, the Hulk lives
in constant fear that one bad move could put him on the path to becoming the tyrannical
ruler. Fast forward through some pretty cool events that you should definitely check out
for yourself and we see Maestro go up against Logan who unsheathed his claws and decapitated
him. Give this story a read for yourself starting with 2017s Old Man Logan Vol 2 #25.
#1 Pappy Banner. This version makes me so uncomfortable it's not even funny. Similar
to his 616 counterpart, Bruce Banner of Earth-21923 began as a hero, or you know as much of a
hero that the Hulk can be. No ones really knows when or why but Banner made a very drastic
shift in personality and became a villain, many believe it was because of the prolonged
exposure to radiation. When the villains took over in this alternate world, Banner joined
in on the hero slaughter, eliminating Thor and many others. Banner later took over a
large portion of California and Nevada as his own and named it Hulkland. He also made
the decision to mate with his first cousin She-Hulk and sired a group of inbred Hulks
called the Hulk Gang. Through intimidation alone, they forced the people living there
to pay rent or face having their property taken and even death. One of the people that
was extorted was Logan who had become a pacifist. Then one day the Hulk Gang killed Logan's
family, causing him to abandon his pacifist beliefs. In anger, Logan killed almost the
entire Hulk Gang and its leader Pappy Banner. Understand why this Hulk makes me so uncomfortable?
If you feel like you’ve got it in you, check out Pappy Banner for yourself in his first
appearance in 2015s Old Man Logan #4.
That will be it for this video everyone, if I missed one of your favourite dark Hulks
let me know and maybe we’ll continue this list with a part 2 and cover them all. If
you haven’t already, subscribe to Top 10 Nerd to stay up to date on all things nerdy,
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upload a video. As always my name is Jack, thank you so much for watching and make sure
to stay nerdy my friends.