#ultimate hulk

Hurts to see another evil version of my guy, but I must admit he is a compelling contrast to both the 616 and 1610 Hulks.

With Hulk a question that writers have loved to ask, especially in recent years, is who is the bigger monster: the Hulk? Or Bruce himself? After all, Banner made the gramma bomb and was totally fine with the military using it. He only turned against the creation of gamma weapons once one said weapon blew up in his own face. Took feeling the negative effects of gamma upon himself for Banner to grow a conscience. Hulk meanwhile is usually a child in his morality. Yes, he's powerful and scary, but all he wants is to be left alone as he repeatedly states. Hulk typically doesn't set out to hurt anyone who hasn't done him wrong first. In that light, does Bruce not come off worse? Especially when you remember that some of the most evil Hulks, such as the Maestro, are Hulks where Banner is controlling the body completely.

Ultimate Hulk of Earth 6160 is in keeping with that line of thinking. He is a Hulk who has found peace, where Banner has seemingly mastered his alter ego and his inner rage. And he's all the more evil for it!

1610 Hulk also sought out Buddhist monks to find a way to control his rage. Difference between 1610 Bruce and 6160 Bruce, is that while both of them are bad guys, 1610 Bruce did feel guilt and shame over what he had done. He lacked the inner strength to make amends or even improve himself morally, but he possessed a conscience. Contrast that with this Hulk. NuUltimate Hulk refers to Gamma Island as "sacred ground" and is angry that the Ultimates "disturbed" his experiments there. He feels no shame or regret or guilt over what he has done. He's embraced the neocon mantra of "peace through strength" wherein you justify atrocities as part of the greater good. Detonating gamma bombs over innocents resulted in the creation of the Hulk, which resulted in a strengthening of the Pax Factoris, the Peace of the Maker. Therefore all the moral lines crossed were retroactively justified because the end product was a reinforcing of the status quo of "peace".

Nevermind that Hulk himself admits in Ultimate Invasion that this Pax is an illusionary one. Critics of "Peace Through Strength" have pointed out it frequently results in Peace Through War, which is exactly what the pre-Ultimates status quo for Earth 6160 has been. A never-ending rotation of false flag conflicts meant to quiet the populations within each territory from rising up against the Council.

616 Hulk is a case of the military-industrial complex creating a monster which turns against them. 6160 Hulk is the military-industrial complex embodied. With the Maker indisposed, Hulk has stepped up to lead the Council and crush the Ultimates before they pose a serious threat to the status quo. Complete contrast with 616 Hulk who is currently wandering the Earth as a long haired outcast, and prior to that was planning to overthrow the status quo in Immortal Hulk.

The Ultimates (2024) #6 by Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee, and Travis Lanham

The Ultimates 5 (2002) by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch

Ultimates 6 (2024) by Deniz Camp & Juan Frigeri

Cover: InHyuk Lee

Ultimate Hulk Annual #1