Avengers: No Surrender Writers Talk Hulk’s Return & Voyager’s True Identity
CBR: One of the big moments in Avengers #684 is of course the return of the formerly Incredible and now Immortal Hulk, Bruce Banner. The issue opens up with a special 10-page prologue by Al and his Immortal Hulk collaborator artist Joe Bennett that explains the Hulk’s ability to resurrect. What inspired this “Immortal” take on the Hulk?
Al Ewing:
This is something that’s been brewing for a while – the last time I was in the Marvel “writer’s room,” way back at the start of last year, we were talking about the Hulk. And I pitched the idea that he was resurrecting so often because that’s just what he does. Like, we don’t need a MacGuffin or magic or Hydra science every time – he just comes back. That’s what he does. That’s what he is. I don’t think it went anywhere at the time, but when I sat down on my own and really thought it through, that led very naturally into the idea that when the gamma bomb went off, Bruce died… and then he came back. The birth of the Hulk was also the first demonstration of his immortal nature.
I had to go through a pitching process to get the Hulk book, but once I did and I had the basic ideas locked in place, I was doing my usual thing — I did it with Iron Man for Fatal Frontier — trawling through the very earliest appearances to get a handle on the primal vibe of the character, and also absorbing any weird synchronicities that came my way. I heard the old Frankie Vaughn song “Green Door” on the radio, and that kind of wormed its way into things. “Green door, what’s that secret you’re keeping?” There’s a whole thing with the Green Door that’s going to bubble up through the early issues of the book, and end up introducing a new, terrifying enemy for the Hulk, and for the Marvel Multiverse. You’ll have to wait for the July solicits for the first mention of that one…
CBR: What can you tell us about the evolution of the Hulk’s role in this story? Was he always part of the plan? Who first came up with the idea to make him a major player in the story?
Ewing: Hulk was locked in by the end of the first sit-down meeting, the day after that “writer’s room” I mentioned. He was definitely on his way back, and we kind of claimed that beat for our own, because we knew it would grab hold of people at the halfway point. And that was very early on – so almost right from the start, we were building a couple of big action scenarios around the return of the Banner Hulk, and you’ll be seeing those play out in month three. Essentially, we had the idea of a whole squad of Avengers against the Hulk, and at first that was going to be all the heavy hitters – which would have been exciting, but would also have had the scent of pro-wrestling to it. Like, if we know the Hulk’s going to beat the hell out of everyone –
and we do know that, he’s the Strongest One There Is – it’s much more interesting to pit him against the weak and the wounded, back at HQ. It turns it from an exhibition match into a desperate last stand. (And it is going to be the last stand for a couple of Avengers. There are casualties. You’ve been warned.)
CBR: I noticed the Hulk doesn’t say a single word in this issue. It gives him an incredibly sinister aspect. What can you tell us about his current state of mind and consciousness? Is this a classic savage Hulk? A more calculating one like his grey hued incarnation? Or something new that we haven’t seen before?
Ewing:
It feels like something new, in that I’m not consciously doing anyone else’s Hulk. When I wrote the Maestro for Contest Of Champions, it was very much Peter David’s Maestro – lots of quips, lots of wordplay. But if I’m channeling anything for this Hulk, it’s those very first issues, when he was new and strange and unknown and very much a horror character. I’m kind of opening myself up to all that weird, old, dreamlike stuff and letting it drive the bus a little bit. And one thing that stands out is that everyone was really scared of the Hulk in the very early days, in a way they haven’t been since – they were afraid of what he might do, because they had no idea what he could or would do.
That’s our Hulk. He’s a terrifying mystery – and I’m going to hold off on revealing any of that mystery here. The next three or four issues of Avengers will answer all your questions.