WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Marvels X #6 by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, Well-Bee, & VC's Cory Petit, on sale now
Over the years, the Hulk has gone through plenty of rage-fueled berserker transformations depending on the era and his circumstances. And in the many possilbe futures of the Marvel Universe, this holds true too, with those unibhibited timelines seeing the Hulk transform in truly bizarre ways.
And even though they are worlds apart, the Hulk introduced from the Marvel's Earth X alternate timeline shares a number of attributes with the Devil Hulk, the cunning version of the Green Goliath who is currently Marvel's most visible Hulk in The Immortal Hulk.
Like the other heroes of Earth X, this world's Hulk started off in a similar mann to the main Marvel Universe version of the character. He was even one of the last remaining heroes after Black Bolt spread the Terrigan Mists around the world and infused almost all of humanity with superpowers.
But as seen in Jim Krueger, Alex Ross and John Paul Leon's Earth X and its recent prequel Marvels X, Banner's rage split him into two beings -- a young Bruce Banner, and an ape-like Hulk. Upon seeing the Hulk lash out, the young Bruce Banner decides that the Hulk isn't the monster he's always imagined him to be, Otherwise blinded by the act, Bruce gains a minor level of control over the Hulk as he begins to see and experience life through the Hulk. The two soon roamed the devastated landscape, serving as defenders of the innocent and fighting alongside the other remaining heroes.
The Earth X Hulk is surprisingly similar to the current version of the Hulk, aka the Immortal Hulk. Similar to the ape-like Hulk from Earth X, the Devil Hulk is very protective of Bruce Banner. He's also a decidedly separate entity from Bruce and the Hulk's other personas, the personification of his darker side manifest into a protective monster. The Immortal Hulk, similar to the ape-like Hulk, is also incredibly protective of Bruce Banner. He can be surprisingly brutal in this way, absolutely ruining the people who try to hurt Bruce.
Despite his overall darkness and crueler side, the Devil Hulk is still committed to protecting Bruce, dating back to his first appearance when Bruce was a child dealing with an abusive father. While the Devil Hulk may have a more cruel and clever mindset than the Hulk from Earth X, the Immortal Hulk does maintain some of that inhuman physical element that makes the ape-like Hulk so distinct. These little touches make the two versions of the Hulk surprisingly protective of the more childish Bruce Banner, to the point where it wouldn't be surprising to see the Devil Hulk eventually break away and form his own body, similar to the Earth X version of him.
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