WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Immortal Hulk #32 by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Belardino Brabo, Paul Mounts, Javier Rodriguez, Alvaro Lopez, and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
Over several decades of Hulk stories, numerous different Hulk personas have emerged from the troubled mind of Bruce Banner. Some of them are exceptionally smart, some of them are exceptionally articulate -- and some of them are exceptionally dangerous. Each of these Hulks arose from some facet of Banner’s personality. But what would happen if a new Hulk with violent tendencies was further corrupted by an outside force with malicious intentions? Immortal Hulk #32 suggests that we’ll soon find out, and that could be bad news for everyone in the Marvel Universe.
Bruce Banner is usually the more level-headed side of the Banner/Hulk coin, but Banner has been pretty angry lately. He’s been on a crusade to use the Hulk, his Shadow Base headquarters, and his associates to attack institutions that cause human suffering and damage to the planet. His new mission is not just to “Smash!” but to “Smash discriminately, and with prejudice.”
In Immortal Hulk #26, Amadeus Cho told Banner he was concerned about the effects that Hulk Syndrome might be having on Banner. Hulk Syndrome involves the corrupting effect that gamma radiation has on those who become mutated by it. Amadeus described it as a voice in his head during his time as a Hulk, and it seems to be the root of the blindly furious impulses that have long haunted Banner, and that Cho, Leonard Samson, and Jennifer Walters have all struggled with at times.
Hulk Syndrome might come directly from Banner’s own long-simmering rage. It’s also been theorized that it’s connected to the purely evil One Below All who has cast a shadow over the entire Immortal Hulk series. But whatever the cause, Cho was right to be worried about what might happen to Banner if Hulk Syndrome ever overtook him.
Recently, the evil Roxxon executive and minotaur Dario Agger joined forces with the alien monster Xemnu to stop Banner before the Hulk's crusade could do irreparable harm to the Roxxon corporation. Xemnu has unleashed his telepathic powers on the world, altering people’s memories so they remember a reality that never existed. In this false-memory reality, Xemnu is a beloved TV star and superhero -- and Dr. Robert Banner is a monster and a terrorist whose evil plans are often foiled by the benevolent Xemnu, the Living Hulk. And in this illusion, Banner always went by his first name, Robert, rather than his middle name, Bruce.
Xemnu’s changes haven’t converted everyone yet, but they are causing chaos. And nowhere is there more chaos than in Banner’s mind. The Savage Hulk is shown to understand what Xemnu is doing, but Banner suppresses that Hulk persona after being teleported back to Shadow Base during his fight with Xemnu in Immortal Hulk #31. Banner is more susceptible to Xemnu’s brainwashing, which presumably means that he believes that he is a terrorist.
With the genius intellect of Bruce Banner, all of the resources of Shadow Base, an unstable mind and the desire to punish humanity, Banner may do anything to achieve his goals. Before Xemnu's assault, Amadeus Cho warned Banner that his plan to “break” the world’s immoral institutions could end in disaster, and now that warning seems more prescient than ever.
If it turns out that Robert Banner has Hulk-like strength or can manifest his own monstrous Hulk form, he could unleash massive devastation on villains and innocent bystanders alike. His comment about “soft targets” implies that he may be considering going after innocents just to establish how powerful he is. A monster like that wouldn’t think twice about destroying the planet’s superheroes if they tried to stop him.
However, all hope is lost. Inside Banner’s mind, the Savage Hulk is approached by the Green Scar, the Hulk who took on the Marvel Universe in "Planet Hulk" and World War Hulk. He’s ready to join the fight against Xemnu’s influence. In a strange twist of fate, a Hulk who once promised to break the world may be the best hope for saving it.