How Marvel’s Empyre Secretly Set Up [SPOILER]’s Death

Warning: SPOILERS for Empyre #4

Empyre has successfully pulled off a high-stakes case of bait-and-switch. The previews implied the Skrull-Kree alliance lead by Hulking would be the main threat facing Earth, when in reality, it was the Avengers’ frequent allies the Cotati that proved to be the true enemy. Now it seems the Cotati have apparently killed She-Hulk in a horrific manner… and what’s worse is they did it right under everyone’s noses in the very first issue.

Since being exposed to Celestial blood, Jennifer Walters loses much of her intelligence when she turns into She-Hulk, adopting a brutish personality similar to that of her cousin, the Hulk. The Avengers assemble with their Cotati allies, but there is already hints something more sinister is afoot. The Celestial Messiah, the leader of the Cotati tells the Avengers “When the day is done, there will be a place reserved for you here in the garden. Forever.” The emphasis on “reserved” and “forever” (combined with the Celestial Messiah’s smile) is unsettling, but it is apparently lost on Captain America, who graciously accepts their honor.

Shortly before this, the Cotati warrior Swordsman, a former Avenger himself, leads She-Hulk into the dense jungle to find a weapon she’ll apparently “need.” Immediately after the exchange with Captain America and the Cotati, a fully-intelligent She-Hulk emerges, claiming the hammer she wields calms the rage inside. “Honestly. I feel more alive than I have in years.” She has the same sinister smile as the Cotati leader, and her right eye is reduced to a blue dot in the shadows. Thor is taken back by her sudden change, but must focus on the fight. Still… something is very wrong in She-Hulk.

It’s only in Empyre #4 that the awful truth is revealed. After attacking the Thing, the She-Hulk begins sprouting plants from her mouth, with the Cotati informing her friends that Jennifer Walters is “very, very dead.” The Celestial Messiah explains the Cotati couldn’t resist taking her power for their own (perhaps due to her aforementioned encounter with Celestial blood.) Everything the Avengers had been told about She-Hulk’s new state of mind was a lie – a pretense to body-snatch her, with terrifying results, as her friends must grieve for her death while still facing down with her alien-controlled body.

Of course, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about She-Hulk’s current status. News of her “death” only comes from the Avengers’ current enemy – the Cotati – not exactly a trustworthy source. The Cotati process of taking over humans isn’t well-known yet (though it did also occur to a member of Captain America’s team in his Empyre tie-in). She-Hulk, however, isn’t a regular human, and it seems likely she’s probably still alive, despite the plants inhabiting her body. The fact that She-Hulk herself will be the focus of the standalone Immortal She-Hulk, also written by Al Ewing, backs up this theory.

Whether She-Hulk is alive or dead, the revelation promises major changes to her down the road. The moment also reveals just how ruthless the Cotati really are, using pretenses of honor and friendship to lure one of the Avengers to a truly horrifying fate. What awaits She-Hulk – and the rest of Earth’s heroes – will be seen in the future issues of Empyre.

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