Hulk’s uncontrollable power had long been a point of contention among Earth’s mightiest heroes. Fearing that his destructive potential could lead to catastrophic consequences, a secretive group of superheroes known as the Illuminati—including intellectual giants like Reed Richards and strategic masterminds like Iron Man—made a controversial decision. Believing they were acting for the greater good, they chose to exile Hulk from Earth, targeting a peaceful planet where he could pose no harm. Unfortunately, their plan took a disastrous turn, setting the stage for a vengeful saga of World War Hulk.
The plan was to send him to a planet filled with peaceful plant life and nothing that he could harm. But Hulk woke up mid-flight, and he received a message from what he thought were his friends, which enraged him. He punched everything on the ship, which caused it to veer off course. Consequently, Hulk discovered himself on the gladiator-populated planet Sakaar. While many may be familiar with the planet Sakaar from ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ the comic books depict it differently. When Hulk arrives on Sakaar, the Red King immediately captures him and attaches an obedience disk to his chest. The Red King rules the planet Sakaar, which explains why.
All the beings on this planet matched his strength, and he had finally reached a place where he could truly face harm. Knowing that this could become a problem, Bruce Banner and Hulk agreed to remain as Hulk, but with Bruce Banner’s intelligence—an agreement that would keep the two men safe. He used this to his advantage, climbing the gladiatorial ranks. Eventually, he rose to the top, and then he would lead a revolution against the Red King, the ruler of this planet. Hulk then brought peace to this world and found love. He was finally happy. But then the ship that brought him to this world exploded, and it killed millions of people within his capital city. It also claimed the lives of his wife and his unborn child. After seeing this, Hulk realizes only the Illuminati caused this incident.
He was enraged that his former friends would not only send him into space but would also rig the ship that brought him there to self-destruct, so he decided to show them exactly why you don’t enrage Hulk. His first stop is the moon, where Black Bolt stands with Medusa. ‘Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness’ featured Black Bolt. Black Bolt, the silent but formidable king of the Inhumans, possesses a voice so powerful that a mere whisper can level cities. If Black Bolt wants, he can speak with the force of an atomic bomb. His words alone have the power to destroy half of the world. Hulk remains unfazed as he lands, gazing directly at him. “You shot me into space and killed my world.” He reaches over, grabbing Black Bolt by the arms. Initially, Black Bolt warned Hulk, but when he doesn’t listen, Black Bolt simply whispers, “Enough.” As he walks away, knocking Hulk back hundreds of feet, Black Bolt presumes Hulk’s defeat. However, Hulk only rises to his feet and declares, “I didn’t come here to hear you whisper.” I want to hear you scream!” He jumps onto Black Bolt.
Hulk then broadcasted a message all over Earth: “Puny humans, I came here to smash, and you should all know who is to blame. You call them heroes, but I call them monsters. They tried to kill me by launching me into space. After making a world to become the Green King, your heroes set off a bomb that killed millions of people. I am now returning with my husband to take them to safety. You have 24 hours to evacuate this city. When I return, I expect them to be ready to fight. If they don’t, I’ll do this.” And he holds up a beaten and bloodied Black Bolt. “To your whole stinking planet.”
Realizing that they are heavily outgunned in this match, and Hulk is madder than he has ever been before, Tony and Reed go to the one person who might be able to stop Hulk, The Sentry. But the Sentry is so powerful that he fears his own power and hasn’t stepped outside his house in months. So while at first he’s ready to face off with Hulk, he can’t even leave the threshold of his own home. Without the Sentry to back them up, Tony suits up in his Hulkbuster armor, and he calls in Hulk’s former allies.
Hulk lands, ready to fight, and the battle between the Hulkbuster-armored Tony Stark and Hulk begins by shattering all of the windows around for miles. Tony punches Hulk in the head, then launches him straight into the ground. However, Hulk gets up, and Tony launches into his stomach, pushing him through a multitude of buildings. As Tony begins to back off, two fighter jets fly overhead, and they launch two missiles, engulfing Hulk in fire, which doesn’t work because it reminds him of how his wife died and makes him angrier.
He looks right at Tony and says, “You killed her!” And Tony simply says, “Oh, hell.” Hulk finally gets a shot in, and he knocks Tony’s armor into a nearby building, tearing it to pieces and dropping the entire building on it. He then gets up, and he walks back into the city.
After that, Hulk reaches the X-Mansion, where he wants to talk with Professor Xavier. Hulk knew that Professor Xavier was not involved in this, so he went there to just speak. However, all the X-Men encircle him, declaring that they will not allow him to escape, and proceed to attack him. Hulk also fights back. Hulk was frustrated and wanted revenge, but that didn’t mean that Hulk was completely mad. He wasn’t willing to kill anyone. He picks up X23 in such a way that he could have split her in two like he had previously done with Wolverine, but he instead throws her against the wall.
Then an omega-level mutant named Darwin appeared. Darwin’s power is so intense that it allows his body to adapt to any situation, regardless of the enemy in front of him. For instance, when faced with a powerful point, his body adjusts accordingly, and when confronted with fire, his body transforms into ice. When Hulk goes to fight him, his body automatically teleports him away, meaning that Hulk’s rage was so dangerous that his body found only one solution: to escape him from that place. Afterwards, Wolverine and Cyclops arrive and attempt to stop Hulk, but none of them succeed.
He calls down his Warbound, and five more aliens as powerful as Hulk before he got angry appear before Earth’s heroes. The Warbound, a group of gladiatorial comrades who fought alongside Hulk on Sakaar, share a deep bond of loyalty and combat prowess with him. She-Hulk steps forward, saying, “Bruce, we’ll put Tony and them on trial.” This isn’t the way.” But Hulk grabs She-Hulk by the mouth, and he buries her into the ground. This starts a battle between all of the heroes there and the Warbound, as Hulk leaps away to find the other three people who sent him away.
His next stop is Mr. Fantastic’s location, and both Storm and The Human Torch try to bombard Hulk with their powers, but he just stands there, taking it all to the face. The Thing gazes down in shock, while Hulk remains unflinching. The Thing then leaps down, and he stands toe to toe with Hulk, only to have his head smashed between Hulk’s massive fists. The Invisible Woman’s force fields stomp on Hulk’s swings as he takes aim at Reed. However, even those force fields prove insufficient to halt him, as he strikes them with such force that he strains her mind to the breaking point, causing her to pass out. Hulk then proceeds to simply tear into Reed Richards until he is nothing more than a stretched-out mess and unconscious. As he strolls through the streets, he pulls Reed Richards along with him until Rick, the young man he rescued earlier, stops him.
Rick just asks him to stop: “Please, Hulk, stop this madness.” And at that exact moment, the last of Hulk’s targets uses this to his advantage. Stephen Strange enters Hulk’s mind to converse with the man within, but just as he is about to reach out, General Thunderbolt Ross unleashes a military assault on Hulk, bombarding his body in the real world, while Stephen Strange draws Hulk away for a conversation in a mental realm. The two engage in an argument within the mindscape, during which Hulk attempts to strike Stephen Strange’s astral projection. But in the real world, it appears that Hulk is just punching thin air.
Stephen boldly tells Hulk to calm down; he is the Sorcerer Supreme, and Hulk’s anger will not win. “Let me help you, Bruce. Show me your true face.” So Hulk calms down, and he begins to revert back to Bruce Banner. “That’s what she said.” He simply says it to himself quietly. Stephen then forces Banner to remember the good times and moments that he had with his wife. Stephen then makes himself corporeal, placing a hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “I have always been your friend, Bruce.” But Bruce smirks. “No, Stephen, I’ve got you.” And he hulks out, grabbing Stephen by the hands and breaking them. The pain forces Stephen to fall out of the mindscape, freeing Hulk, and he begins to rampage through Thunderbolt Ross’ army.
Nothing can stop him, not even Thunderbolt Ross, who shoots him in the eyeballs. Eventually, Hulk prevails, and he moves to Strange’s with his Warbound. His group quickly makes short work of Strange’s friends, and not even Iron Fist can stand against them. But just as Warbound enters Strange’s Sanctum, he tries one last thing. He channels all his rage into a truly fearsome form that materializes in front of the Hulk. “Strange Smash!” He shouts as they begin their battle. The strength that Strange now has at his disposal is actually too much for Hulk. At first, Strange appears to be outmatching Hulk, but his inability to control his power causes him to inadvertently injure bystanders, providing Hulk with the opportunity to punch Strange through a series of buildings with a single blow. He then leaps onto Stephen Strange and begins to pummel him over and over again until he finally wins. He captures the last of the four men who sentenced him to death. However, Hulk wasn’t just trying to imprison them.
He wanted them to feel as though he did when he first arrived on that foreign planet. He fitted every one of the captured heroes with an obedience disc, a device so powerful that even the Silver Surfer couldn’t resist its forces. He places Tony Stark, Dr. Strange, Reed Richards, and Black Bolt in an arena to battle against one of the monstrous creatures he had to fight on day one of the foreign planet. Despite the challenges posed by their lack of powers, they successfully defeat the beast using the provided weapons, with Black Bolt securing the final kill by stabbing it in the head. However, Hulk isn’t done yet, and he tells each of them that on his second day on the planet, he was forced to fight against the other slaves to the death. He then tells the four men to fight among themselves.
They use everything they’ve got, knocking each other around and throwing their weapons at each other, but eventually, Reed stands over Tony, ready to smash his head in, and the audience begins to chant, “Kill, kill, kill!” Hulk holds his hand up, and he gives the thumbs down, letting them know that Reed must kill Tony. However, our story has overlooked one man who stands out. The Sentry is still standing in his doorway, afraid to leave his home, but he decides that it’s time. It’s time to play God, and he launches for the arena.
Reed continues to try and fight against the disc that is forcing him to smash Tony’s head in, but he can’t do it, and he brings the mace down inches from Tony’s head. Everyone stops being quiet, and Hulk speaks. “Remember this. We came here for justice, not murder, and no one has died. We will now raise this city to the ground and leave you to your shame.” But Tony looks over at Hulk with blood dripping from his face. “This is your last chance to surrender.” And before anyone can truly react to that comment, The Sentry barrels in so fast that he tears the arena apart and shoves Hulk into the nearby buildings. With a single punch, he uses all of his strength to launch Hulk. Hulk gets up and says, “Stark, Richards, all of you! Don’t forget, what happens next is in your hands.” And the two heaviest hitters in the Marvel universe begin to slug it out, taking out buildings around them with every swing. The streets begin to fill with fire as The Sentry unleashes the power of a million exploding suns. And the two titans continue to slug it out with fire and strength, over and over. The destruction is massive, but they both burn out and return to humans.
The Sentry falls to the ground, thanking Hulk for letting him loose. Bruce looks back at everyone with the Warbound, asking, “Where’s Hulk?” And then Rick reaches out a hand to Bruce and says, “Welcome home.” But before Bruce can even shake his hand, one of the Warbound screams, “No, Hulk isn’t finished.” Come back to us!’ He then stabbed Rick in the chest. Bruce’s heart fills with rage once again, and he transforms into Hulk, repeatedly slamming the Warbound member. The bug-like monster looks up at Hulk. “Yes, do it. You taught me to never stop. We will never stop fighting, and that is why I’ve killed them.” With that comment, Hulk stops. “Them?” The bug creature continues, “I had to remind you. You wanted peace, but that’s not who you are. I blew up the warp core in your old ship.”
Hulk begins to pour out so much rage that he hits critical mass; even his eyes and mouth are beaming with gamma radiation. The anger is so great that no one is safe, and with a single palm slap, the entire world feels the force of The Hulk. With a single step on the ground, he even forces earthquakes up and down the eastern seaboard. He screams out, “Do what you’re going to do, Tony! Use it now. Use your ultimate weapon before I break the world!” Tony initiates a satellite blast, sprints towards The Hulk, and unleashes the full force of it, bringing an end to the situation. The Hulk reverts back to Banner, and he falls to the ground unconscious. S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives, imprisoning Bruce Banner and his Warbound due to their actions against Earth. That’s the end of World Breaker Hulk. Hulk eventually gets a chance to redeem himself, but it takes quite a while, and the Illuminati shamed the world for quite some time. But that’s World War Hulk’s story.
