Warning: contains spoilers for The Immortal Hulk #48!
Marvel's acclaimed new Gamma Flight. But Immortal Hulk #49 is set to see the biggest clash yet - one that promises a delicious twist no-one saw coming.
Hulk has recently discovered his connection to the One-Below-All, a horrific cosmic deity intent on using his gamma power to end the cycle of life for good. Serving this unholy horror is Samuel Sterns, aka the Leader, who recently became the entity's thrall after dragging Bruce Banner (but not the Hulk) down to a custom-made hell. Since then, the Savage Hulk and Joe Fixit personas have been trying to get by in a skinny new form, eventually finding a new source of power despite the Avengers' best efforts to get in their way - a process complicated by the fact that the Hulk seems to be leaking rage, making the heroes far less willing to listen to reason when in his presence.
After a heart to heart with Harpy in The Immortal Hulk #48 - from Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, Belardino Brabo, and Paul Mounts - the Hulk resolves to go rescue Banner from the Leader, even as the Avengers and Fantastic Four meet in the Baxter Building to figure out how to stop him. But while the Avengers seem to be planning to hunt down the Jade Giant, they're in for the shock of their lives, as Hulk's plan is actually to carry out a daring raid of the Baxter Building. On the issue's letters page, writer Al Ewing invites readers to check out the newly launched Gamma Flight #1 and then to, "head back here as the Hulk enters the Baxter Building on a journey through his enemies, his friends, his opposite numbers... to reach the gate to the underworld."
It makes total sense that, having chosen to face the Leader and the One-Below-All on his own , Hulk would head for the Baxter Building. The Fantastic Four have visited the afterlife multiple times, even meeting a version of God presented as their co-creator Jack Kirby. So far, the Hulk has been accessing the Below-Place by dying and being reborn, giving the Leader control over his connection to life. Entering via the gate to the underworld will hopefully give Hulk the boost he needs to reclaim Bruce Banner and somehow sever the Leader's connection to the One-Below-All.
Of course, standing between the Hulk and his goal are the combined forces of the Avengers and Fantastic Four, from Thor and Black Panther to longtime rival the Thing and super-genius Mister Fantastic. Hulk will have to face a gauntlet of his former allies to triumph, and with his unfortunate new ability to inspire rage in others, the fighting is likely to get more intense the longer he spends battling his way through the two groups. The series so far has spent time dissecting Hulk's rivalry with the Thing, making it likely that Ben Grimm will either be Hulk's final obstacle or else a surprising ally among the assembled heroes.
Of course, with a gaggle of geniuses in attendance, there's an outside chance that the Avengers and Fantastic Four already figured out Hulk's plan, but it would be surprising, as it took a deep conversation with Harpy for the Joe Fixit persona to decide he wants to be a better person and help Bruce. Ready or not, the Avengers are heading for a genuinely unprecedented rematch in The Immortal Hulk #49, and one Hulk will need to win if he's going to have any shot at rescuing Bruce Banner.
