Ever since he was exposed to the Gamma radiation that turned him into the Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner has gone through more transformations than almost any other figure in the Marvel Universe. From his first appearances as a stalking grey brute to the many personas that surfaced over the course of Al Ewing's critically acclaimed Immortal Hulk epic, it appears the Hulk has taken on nearly every form and shade imaginable. However, there is one form of the powerful behemoth that remains more mysterious than the other incarnations: the Orange Hulk who originated in the Age of Apocalypse universe.
When Warren Worthington III abruptly began his transformation into the next Apocalypse, his teammates in X-Force elected to save him by any means necessary. Unfortunately, this required venturing into the alternate world created during the Age of Apocalypse in 2011's Uncanny X-Force #12 (by Rick Remender, Mark Brooks, Andrew Currie, Dean White, Richard Isanove, Cory Petit). On this world, Wolverine (aka Weapon Omega) was the heir to Apocalypse's throne, and had been tasked by the Celestials to usher in the last days of humanity. The first step in this process was to assemble a team of monstrous warriors called the Black Legion, which included an all new Orange Hulk.
How is Age of Apocalypse's Solar Hulk Different from the Original?
Resembling his emerald counterpart and emanating the same nearly infinite brute strength, this version of the Hulk and the Black Legion waged a vicious battle against the heroes of X-Force — albeit only for a few panels across two issues of the series. The Orange Hulk may not have gotten much of a chance to shine in the battle with X-Force, but that wasn't the last time the behemoth appeared in Marvel Comics.
Uncanny X-Force #19.1 (by Rick Remender and Billy Tan) featured the Black Legion launching a vicious assault on the X-Terminated, William Stryker's band of freedom fighters, with the Orange Hulk leading the charge. Referring to himself in classic third-person as the Solar Hulk, it would appear this version of the character was created after being bombarded with solar radiation. This contrasted the Gamma radiation responsible for the creation of Orange Hulk's mainstream counterpart and his fellow Gamma Mutates. This also makes this version of the Hulk stronger during the day than at night, which calls back to the classic era in which his transformation was triggered by nightfall rather than rage — but in reverse, of course.
Why the Solar Hulk is One of Marvel's Biggest Mysteries
Like so many other things about the Orange Hulk, the question of how this could have happened in the first place went unanswered, though there is good reason to believe it wasn't by accident. Among the ranks of Apocalypse's followers were Dark Beast and the Sugar Man. Two evil scientists, they created several of that world's super-beings by way of horrible genetic experiments. Considering the fact that the Bruce Banner of the Age of Apocalypse was known as the Thing in his world — not to mention his death years prior to the villain's first appearance — whoever became the Solar Hulk likely didn't know precisely what they were in for... if they had a say in the process to begin with.
It's unfortunate that the Solar Hulk has seen so little time on the comic book page, although that isn't especially surprising. The Age of Apocalypse has always been filled with more stories than could ever be told and more questions than could ever be answered — especially now that it's been sealed away from the rest of the Multiverse. For fans who simply want a Hulk in every color, however, the primary Marvel Universe still has one Orange Hulk, even if the Devil Hulk only occasionally takes on the tone of his warm-blooded counterpart.
Who is Marvel's Other (Occasionally) Orange Hulk - The Devil Hulk?
One of the many personas housed within Bruce Banner that came into the forefront of his mind during the events of Immortal Hulk, the Devil Hulk was a deeply repressed alternate who was as eloquent as he was vengeful. Despite having solely dedicated himself to protecting Bruce at any cost, that more often than not came at great expense to their other alternate personalities, not to mention Bruce himself. In both concept and practice, the Devil Hulk was the thing of nightmares. It would emerge in the flesh not just when Bruce was grievously wounded or temporarily killed, but when the time felt right after the sun set. On the surface, this made the Devil Hulk nearly indistinguishable from its fellow alternates, yet the true form of the beast lurking beneath was always an entirely different shade.
In its true form, the Devil Hulk was a towering orange reptilian beast. He more of a resemblance to one of his Incredible counterparts' many irradiated villains than to the Emerald Avenger fans know best. Apart from this monstrous form and change of color, the Devil Hulk was more in tune with the deeply mystical nature of Gamma radiation, or at least the part that it plays in the realm of the Mystic Arts. The Devil Hulk had a significant advantage over his other alternates. This enabled him to suppress all of them for a time. This, coupled with the Devil Hulk's overtly violent, frequently lethal temperament, made it one of the most dangerous versions of the Hulk that the Marvel Universe had ever seen. To keep the universe safe, Devil Hulk also needed to be locked away.
Like the Solar Hulk before him, there hasn't been any sign of the Devil Hulk making a resurgence in any version of the Marvel Universe anytime soon. Then again, there are sure to be plenty of opportunities yet to come for both Orange Hulks to make a comeback. The likes of Titan and other Hulk personas have taken center stage in their own stories. There's no reason to think the Solar Hulk or Devil Hulk can't do the same all over again, even if doing so wouldn't exactly bode well for the rest of the world.