Even Hulk Doesn’t Respect Spider-Man As a Hero

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Hulk #4

Sadly, it seems as though the Incredible Hulk holds very little respect when it comes to Spider-Man. While the Webslinger is considered to be one of the most popular and biggest superheroes of all time, it’s implied that Bruce Banner doesn’t see the appeal in the latest issue of Hulk. However, this may not always be the case for Bruce’s variants in other dimensions.

In previous issues of Hulk from writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Ottley, Bruce Banner has left the Marvel Universe he’s known behind, seeking new frontiers in a pocket dimension. Banner is fully in control of the Hulk, whom he’s turned into a starship in one of the stranger iterations of the Jade Giant that Marvel Comics has ever seen. Now, Banner has found himself in an alternate reality where his gamma experiment was a success. Rather than being turned into the Hulk, this reality’s version of Banner remained a scientist while his work was weaponized and taken over by the government. Gamma power turned the United States into a massive empire while the fallout from gamma warheads created all sorts of grotesque “Abominations” that were jettisoned into a void outside of this dark reality.

To the primary Banner’s shock in the new Hulk #4, there are virtually no heroes in this gamma-saturated reality. However, it’s interesting to learn which heroes the Hulk cares to ask about. After learning that Iron Man and the X-Men are no more, Banner inquires about other heroes to see if they might still be alive. However, Banner leaving Spider-Man for last and his particular phrasing seems to suggest that he doesn’t respect the Webslinger as a hero.

It certainly seems though Bruce lists Spider-Man as an afterthought. Furthermore, the phrasing of “Hell, even Spider-Man” carries some negative weight, implying that Peter Parker isn’t as good of a hero as others like Blade or Moon Knight. While Blade and Moon Knight are popular heroes in their own right, Spider-Man is inarguably more popular than both of them combined. This suggests that Banner just doesn’t respect Peter Parker, an odd concept seeing as how their shared scientific minds would suggest that they’d get along.

Case in point, the end of the issue reveals that Peter Parker was a research student and prized pupil of this alternate reality’s Bruce Banner. But this world’s Peter has also been bitten by a gamma-irradiated spider and the government has now deployed him to take down the Hulk. Apparently, the Hulk’s lack of respect for Spider-Man isn’t a multiversal constant seeing as this other Banner seemed to care for Parker very much. Regardless, it looks as though a whole new kind of monstrous showdown between Hulk and Spider-Man is in the cards as Marvel’s ongoing Hulk series continues.

About The Author

Kevin Erdmann
(2525 Articles Published)

Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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