A huge influence on the early phases of the MCU has been the adaptation of significant comic book arcs from the early aughts. The Winter Soldier. Civil War. Planet Hulk. Wait. Planet Hulk? Not quite. Despite our favorite green goliath not getting his own movie in something like a decade now, his comic book roots continue to inform the films Hulk does star in.
Back in 2006, fans were treated to a fun, unique new take on Hulk as he was blasted into space and became the ultimate cosmic gladiator. A loose version of that wound up in Thor: Ragnarok. If you're curious about the original storyline, let's take a look at some things you didn't know about Planet Hulk.
10 Hasta La Vista, Las Vegas
Most people are likely familiar with where Hulk ends up in the pages of Planet Hulk, but they might not know exactly how it started. Though Bruce Banner voluntarily leaves Earth in the MCU, his choice in the comics is not really a choice at all. Hulk takes a massive gamma bomb explosion to the face, which drives him bonkers and he goes on a devastating rampage in Las Vegas. Moral objections aside, that's not cool, so some of his friends and allies step in to prevent it from happening again.
9 The Illuminati
Definitely a concept borne of the early 2000s, the Illuminati are the ones responsible for exiling Hulk off of Earth. So who are the Illuminati? Like their conspiracy-theorist namesake, this group is comprised of several of the most powerful superheroes in the world: Namor, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Professor X, Dr. Strange, and Black Bolt. It's revealed these heroes came together after the Kree-Skrull War as a kind of overriding intelligence agency on alien threats. Kind of seems odd that they would end up creating one.
8 Sakaar
Hulk arrives on Sakaar, a planet in the Fornax Galaxy (AKA, Not Ours) via a dimensional wormhole. This wormhole has had a profound impact on the Sakarrian system (think the Bajor wormhole but much more obnoxious). The most obvious one is that rupture in space and time broke one of the planet's two moons, Sabyr, in two. The portal also acts like a cosmic vacuum cleaner, sucking in random material and debris and spitting out at Sakaar. Some of this pretty basic space trash, but in Hulk's case, it was his ship.
7 Not So Meek
Planet Hulk owes a little bit to the pulpy space fantasy classic A Princess of Mars. You see that in the gladiatorial arena, and in the Natives, the insectoid race who call Sakaar their home. While the Tharks of Edgar Rice Burroughs novel aren't insects, there is a strong resembles with the set of four arms.
Hulk befriends one Native in particular, Miek. The name should be familiar: Miek played a role in Thor: Ragnarok, though he was more a little guy with bionic legs and not a gigantic, brutish bug. Also, he wasn't so much a companion of Hulk's as he was Thor's.
6 It Was Joe Quesada's Idea
While the Planet Hulk story, running in issues #92-105 of Incredible Hulk, was a product of writer Greg Pak and artists Carlo Pagulayan and Aaron Lopresti, the initial idea came from Joe Quesada, then Marvel's Editor-in-Chief. Quesada pitched the idea of a Hulk as a gladiator on an alien world and let Pak run with it. Quesada had an exciting career as a penciler before taking over the reins at Marvel, including runs on X-Factor, a major early contributor to Valiant Comics, and forming Event Comics with his inker and partner Jimmy Palmiotti.
5 Obedience Disks
In Star Wars, they're called restraining bolts. On Sakaar, they're obedience disks. Either way, they serve the same purpose - inhibiting a person's agency and giving control to another. Upon his arrival on Sakaar, a groggy Hulk gets fitted with one of these disks and is forced to fight in the arena. One of his opponents is the Silver Surfer, wielding his board like a shield (which is awesome). In the course of their battle, Hulk destroys the Silver Surfer's disk and frees him. The Surfer repays him by breaking all of the gladiators' disks. Except Hulk stays behind.
4 You're In My Seat
The gladiatorial matches on Sakaar are performed at the whim and pleasure of the Red King, also known as Angmo-Asan II. He talks a big game but is only formidable inside his suit - an alien kind of Hulkbuster that he ultimately faces off against a very angry Hulk in. Where this storyline really sets itself apart from standard Hulk stories before is Hulk defeats the Red King and then takes his throne. This is a Hulk abandoned by his friends and allies, exiled from his world but at the height of his powers. He's good where he is.
3 Sakaarson
Hulk defeats the Red King, brings peace to Sakaar and marries the deposed emperor's top lieutenant, a woman named Caiera. She gets pregnant, and any reason for Hulk to go home pretty much vanishes right on cue in a ball of fire. The core of the ship that stranded him on the planet goes boom, killing millions of people and cracking the crust.
This fulfills - possibly - a prophecy that foretells Hulk's arrival on the planet. A Sakaarson is said to save the planet from some calamity, and like everything with the Hulk, it's complicated. He creates the disaster, and then averts it, by shouldering Sakaar's tectonic crust on his shoulders.
2 A Bunch of Hulks
The only thing worse than an angry Hulk is a bunch of them. And that's what you get in the Warbound. A motley collection of gladiators who join Hulk's cause against the Red King, each one of them possesses the incredible strength of Hulk. Along with Miek, this intergalactic wrecking crew includes Caiera, Arch-E-5912, Hiroim, Mung, No-Name (a Brood king) and Korg (who we all know is the best). Together they bring all of that brute strength to Earth when they join the Hulk's quest for vengeance against the Illuminati.
1 Alien Sun
It's ironic the Illuminati cast Hulk off of Earth. His actions in Las Vegas are not entirely his fault, and the idea he's a brainless monster is largely a thing of the past. Hulk is as smart as the green giant as he is Bruce Banner. And for a time, Hulk rules Sakaar wisely and benevolently. He's a good leader; a smart leader. But he also becomes far more powerful than he was when he left. The native, ambient gamma radiation of Sakaar imbues Hulk, making him stronger than he ever was before. When he returns to Earth, he's a far worse threat to the world than he was when he was exiled.