10 Things You Don’t Remember Happened In Planet Hulk’s Comic Arc

The Planet Hulk arc was a defining comic book run in Marvel by the creative team of Greg Pak, Carlo Pagulayan, and Aaron Lopresti. The story played out in the Incredible Hulk comic book series, lasting from issue 92 through 105, a very long run that saw a lot happen to the Green Goliath before it was over with.

Planet Hulk was also brought to the small screen as an animated movie, released on DVD in 2010. The movie followed much the same story, with some of Earth’s mightiest heroes banishing Hulk from Earth, but accidentally sending him to a populated planet, where the overlords there captured him and turned him into a gladiator before he earned his freedom and that of the entire planet.

Hulk Was Banished For A Las Vegas Rampage

When people look at the start of Planet Hulk, they see him banished from Earth by his former friends. It seemed like the ultimate betrayal. However, the Illuminati had every right to want Hulk off Earth. Hulk had proven too out of control and had just rampaged through Las Vegas.

This happened when Hulk took a gamma bomb to his face and he lost control and destroyed a lot of things before he was finally stopped. What was shocking was that Hulk moved past that and helped Nick Fury stop a threat off Earth, but he was betrayed and shot off into space when the mission was completed.

The Illuminati Had Very Different Plans

When looking back at Planet Hulk, most people remember that he ended up on Sakaar because The Illuminati banished him from Earth and sent him there. This cabal, which included heroes like Iron Man, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, and more, saw themselves as judge, jury, and executioner, but they made a mistake.

The entire plan from the start was to send Hulk to an empty planet, where he could rampage and destroy things to his heart’s content, while also being alone, something he always wanted on Earth. They messed up the coordinates, the ship went through a wormhole, and Hulk crashed into a populated planet instead. This started one of Hulk’s best comic book arcs of all time.

The Red King Used Obedience Disks

Fans who only know about Planet Hulk based on the telling in Thor: Raganorak only know part of the story. In that movie, Grandmaster used what really amounted to shock collars, where the warriors had to battle or they would have electricity surge through their bodies. In the comics, it was Obedience Disks.

These are much more horrific because they are placed on a person’s chest and they ensure that whoever wears one has to do everything they are told with no other option. These were so powerful that even Hulk could not withstand their power. Hulk took them with him back to Earth and used them on the Illuminati.

Hulk Was The Prophesized Savior Of Sakaar

Hulk arrived on Sakaar and was enslaved, with an obedience disc attached to him. He was then forced to compete in gladiatorial battles. This was the same story from the animated series as well as his appearance in the same role in Thor: Ragnarok.

However, there was more to this than just Hulk eventually overcoming his role and saving the planet. From the start, there was a prophecy of someone coming to save the planet known as the Green Scar or the Sakaarson. When looking at the most powerful versions of Hulk, Green Scar Hulk ranks high as he lived up to the prophecy on Sakaar.

The Silver Surfer Was Involved

In Planet Hulk, the Green Goliath mostly fought random aliens and monsters, and there was a body count. However, there was a point where Hulk had to fight a familiar face. In much the same way a captured Thor had to fight Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok, Silver Surfer played that role in the comics.

This was similar to Thor’s predicament, with Surfer fitted with an obedience disk. However, in this situation, Hulk broke the disk and freed the Surfer. As a way to show thanks, Surfer destroyed every obedience disk on everyone in the arena. He also offered Hulk a ride home, but Hulk rejected the offer.

The Warbound

Hulk is often someone who fights his own battles and rejects help from others. However, in Planet Hulk, he realized that he needed help if he wanted to free the world from its overlord, the Red King. To do this, Hulk banded together with other gladiators and aliens who wanted revenge.

This was The Warbound. The members included Korg, No-Name, Elloe Kaifi, Miek, and Hulk, and they fought to save the planet. With the Warbound, Hulk might not have become king. When World War Hulk began, this heroic unit served with Hulk in his attack on Earth.

Hulk Got Married

Caiera had powers on Sakaar, one of the few people on the planet who has the Old Power, which allowed her to channel energy from the planet to give her superhuman strength, durability, and stamina. She was the Red King’s bodyguard, but she betrayed him in the end.

With her power and Hulk’s strength, they were able to defeat the Red King together. After this, Hulk became the new King of Sakaar and when the Shadow People offered up Caiera as his bodyguard, Hulk refused, and instead, the two married in a small ceremony and brought peace to Sakaar.

Miek Killed Hulk’s Wife

Anyone who watched Thor: Ragnarok and later Avengers: Endgame knows that Hulk has a couple of allies that he is close to. These are Korg and Miek, and it was a joyful occasion when Miek survived the battle on Asgard at the end of that movie to go on with his buddy Korg.

Things were different in Planet Hulk. That series ended when a ship exploded, killing several people including Hulk’s wife, Caiera Oklstrong. Hulk went to Earth for revenge and took warriors with him, including Korg and Miek. That is when Hulk learned Miek set the explosion to try to make Hulk a warrior again.

Hulk Had A Child From Planet Hulk

Hulk’s wife and Queen, Caiera Oklstrong, was pregnant when she died in the explosion. That sent Hulk into the rage that sent him back to Earth to seek vengeance. What he didn’t know was that she died, but their child was born and left to survive alone on Sakaar.

This was Skaar, a very strong gamma-powered character in his own right, and the son eventually headed to Earth to gain revenge against the father who deserted him. Skaar and Hulk battled more than once, and while Hulk depowered his son at one time, Skaar is back in Marvel, fully powered, and evil once again.

Hulk Was Finally A Hero

When the Illuminati banished Hulk from Earth, it was because of a rampage that he was not really responsible for. He always fought on Earth to be a hero, but was never accepted and when hurt or cornered, he was the one painted as dangerous. In Planet Hulk, he proved to be a genuine hero for the first time, and the planet accepted him as a hero.

Hulk never wanted to go back to Earth. He finally found a place that appreciated him for who he was and didn’t judge him for his appearance or previous actions and he found love. When the bomb destroyed his idyllic life, he returned to Earth and was more dangerous and deadly than the one that they banished to begin with.

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