In Hulk #12. Marvel’s Green Goliath suffers a tremendous personal defeat that actually makes the Jade Giant even more frightening.
The following contains major spoilers for Hulk #12, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
One of the most intriguing components of the new Hulk run is how Bruce Banner has set up the Green Goliath. The Hulk has been turned into the “Starship,” with Bruce operating his psyche, and the behemoth using the gamma energy of the remaining Hulks as fuel. However, Bruce has been cautious about exposing their mind after integrating into a mysterious planet of gamma mutates.
No matter how much he wants to try to become part of the society, and possibly explore a romance with the queen, Monolith, Bruce can’t afford anything damaging his setup. That’s because he wants to cage another destroyer within, realizing if it’s loose, it could lead to an apocalypse for the Marvel Universe. Sadly, Hulk #12 (by Donny Cates, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Marte Gracia, and VC’s Cory Petit) results in Bruce failing his mission as the villain he’s been suppressing has finally been released.
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David Banner Frees the Titan Hulk
Bruce has programmed his mind to have therapy sessions, connecting with Doc Samson back home. He’s warned Samson that the Titan Hulk has been lurking. This is Bruce at his angriest, and a Hulk that the other Hulks fear. In fact, Titan has beaten down Savage Hulk in their prison as well — one Bruce used magic and science to build, implanting nuclear bombs as an emergency to blow his mind up.
Well, Titan has now taken the form of David, Bruce’s abusive father, who plagued him via the Green Door in the Immortal Hulk. It results in ‘David’ slipping free, taking out the Hulk’s psyche crew, assuming the chair in the control room, and then Titan bursting out. So much energy is released, it seemingly destroys a major part of the planet. This brings Bruce’s biggest fears to life as he felt he was a curse to this new civilization, nodding to the destruction Hulk wrought on Sakaar.
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Titan Hulk Can Be Stopped – At a Price
Now, the fact Titan was able to move past all these fail-safes and assume David’s form introduces the idea that along with Bruce’s rage, he’s part of the trauma from David killing Bruce’s mom years back. Given David also tried to corrupt Bruce’s mind in the past, he might have left a remnant of himself, which grew to become Titan. Bruce, after all, blames himself for his mom’s death, with fear, anger and so many other issues he’s experienced since being linked to her passing. Thus, it’s easy for David to exploit, creating a true beast that represents his own hatred towards Bruce and jealousy he never had this gamma power for himself.
As such, this Titan is easily the worst version of Hulk ever, who is even angrier that Bruce tried to cage him. Bruce will have to find a way to take back control if he’s going to stop Titan/David from destroying their new home. The mind bombs are an option, while Samson and Strange are working on Earth to figure out a way to bring the beast down, without breaking Bruce’s mind. Ultimately, though, desperate times call for desperate measures. What’s for sure is Titan’s on the rampage, and at least one world is going to pay for Bruce trying to lock him up.
