Who is Maestro? The Future, Evil Version of The Hulk, Explained

The Hulk is undoubtedly one of the strongest characters in Marvel Comics, and although he’s often misunderstood, he typically uses his powers to fight for good. However, there is one version of the Hulk who instead used his power to become the brutal dictator known as the Maestro. So how did one of Earth’s mightiest heroes become one of its most deadly villains?

Maestro first appeared in The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect, a two-part series written by Peter David and illustrated by George Pérez. Published in 1992, the story takes place in an alternate future where the Earth has been decimated by nuclear warfare. Survivors have gathered in a city-state called Dystopia, formed from the remnants of New York, and live under the dictatorship of the Maestro, an elderly Hulk. With no other heroes alive to oppose him, Maestro rules with an iron fist. However, an underground insurgency led by Rick Jones plots to overthrow the Maestro by using a time machine to bring back the one person who might have a chance of defeating him: his younger self.

When Professor Hulk is brought to the future, he’s disgusted that his future self is capable of such cruelty. The two Hulks duke it out, but Maestro comes out on top thanks to his extra years of experience. However, Maestro chooses to keep the younger Hulk alive and tries to convince him to join forces, believing the two of them together would be truly unstoppable. Hulk pretends to hear Maestro out, but in reality, is merely stalling to give himself time to heal. Once he’s recovered, Hulk and Maestro battle once more, and the fight ends with Hulk using the time machine to send Maestro back to the site of the gamma explosion that originally turned Bruce Banner into the Hulk. Poetically, Maestro dies in the same blast that gave him his powers all those years ago.

Maestro’s Powers and Origin Story

In terms of powers, Maestro has the impressive intellect of Bruce Banner combined with all the strength of the Hulk. In fact, Maestro has grown even stronger than his past self since he’s spent years absorbing radiation from the nuclear fallout, and gamma radiation is the source of Hulk’s strength. However, this excess radiation may have also contributed to Maestro’s mental instability. Indeed, Maestro has lost any sympathy he once had for humanity, largely because humanity brought the apocalypse on themselves, as explained in the ongoing Maestro series.

Maestro is a new series from David (and German Peralta) that provides a more detailed account of exactly how Hulk became Maestro. The series begins with Hulk waking up from a simulation to find himself in an underground AIM facility, where MODOK tells him of the nuclear war that occurred years ago. As he travels across the wasteland that used to be the United States, Hulk develops an increasing hatred of humanity for what they did to the world. So when Rick Jones asks Hulk for his help in overthrowing Hercules, Dystopia’s first “Maestro,” Hulk refuses, saying “Ordinary people destroyed the World, Rick! Not the Leader! Not the Red Skull! None of the despots we fought and died against! Ordinary damned people brought it down around their bloody ears…They should be ruled with an iron hand.” Using the remaining resources in the destroyed Alchemax building, Hulk builds an army of robot dogs with the goal of taking over Dystopia and becoming the ruler he believes humanity deserves.

Other Storylines Featuring Maestro

In the years since his debut, Maestro has popped up in a few other Marvel storylines, one of the most notable being Old Man Logan Vol 2. Using a machine built by Doctor Doom, Maestro travels to the Old Man Logan reality and recruits the remaining members of the Hulk gang, who are easily manipulated by Maestro’s superior intelligence. Maestro leads the Hulks to Earth-616, where they come into conflict with the old Logan originally from their universe. Maestro’s plan is to cause a nuclear holocaust like the one that occurred in his reality, which would have made the Hulks even more powerful, but Logan manages to defeat Maestro and avert the crisis.

Wolverine isn’t the only hero who has gone up against the Maestro in battle. In Spider-Man 2099 vol 2 #9, Spider-Man 2099 accidentally winds up in an alternate future ruled by Maestro instead of his own future timeline. After easily besting Miguel in combat, Maestro tells him that the nuclear war which destroyed this reality was brought about by Alchemax, the company Miguel works for. Maestro imprisons Spider-Man in a dungeon, but he manages to escape and use the time machine in Maestro’s trophy room to travel back to 2015. However, Maestro secretly follows Miguel to the past with unknown intentions.

Another version of the Maestro appears in 2015’s Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman. After obtaining the powers of a god, Doctor Doom becomes the emperor of Battleworld, an amalgamation of various Marvel dimensions, including the Ultimate and Future Imperfect universes. Maestro serves as one of Doom’s generals and the Baron of Dystopia, though he secretly plans to overthrow Doom and rule Battleworld himself. In David’s Future Imperfect series, which takes place on Battleworld, Maestro allies with an alternate version of the Thing and several other insurgents to try and defeat Doom. At first, it seems as though the plan works, though it is later revealed that Maestro was actually trapped in an illusion of Doom’s making.

It’s always interesting to see alternate versions of iconic heroes who use their powers to rule humanity instead of protecting it, and Maestro is no exception. This future, evil iteration of the Hulk shows that in the right circumstances, anyone can become a villain, though few are as frighteningly powerful as the twisted Jade Giant, Maestro.

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