Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Power Man: Timeless #1

Becoming a Hulk is no easy feat, and it’s certainly not a fate anyone would want. As avatars of the One Below All, every gamma mutate carries a vestige of the ultimate evil’s power within them. This godly power grants them near-infinite strength, but it comes at a significant cost. To become a Hulk is to become eternal, forever bound to Marvel’s apex Devil.

The resurrections of Hulks are often taxing, violent, and painful, layering a different type of suffering on top of the trauma of death.

Power Man: Timeless #1 – by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Bernard Chang – introduces a far-future variant of Luke Cage, who defied the apocalyptic powers of Khonshu to become Earth’s last savior.

With the combined powers of the Hulk, Iron Fist, and Sentry under his control, Power Man is a near-unstoppable amalgam hero. However, something as seemingly innocuous as turning into a Hulk comes at a disastrous cost when Luke finally faces death. Even at the peak of superhuman power, not even Cage has the mental fortitude to face the Green Door.

Hulk’s Immortality: An Exhausting Curse of Existence

Power Man: Timeless #1 - Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly; Art by Bernard Chang; Color by Marcelo Maiolo; Lettering by VC’s Travis Lanham; Cover Art by Andrei Bressan & Rachelle Rosenberg

Regardless of how one becomes a gamma mutate, once connected to gamma energy, you are instantly and forever linked to the ungodly cosmic titan, the One Below All. As the cosmic opposite of the One Above All, the One Below All is a being of pure nihilistic destruction. Through its gamma mutates, like Luke Cage in this series, the One Below All can exert its destructive influence on the world. However, no matter how excruciating or seemingly finite a gamma mutate’s death may be, the sickening light of the Green Door will always appear to usher the deceased back to life.

In this issue, Luke Cage faces an extradimensional threat that effortlessly slices through the hero. Cage is cleaved in two, left to float lifelessly through space. Yet, as a gamma mutate, death is only a temporary state for Luke Cage. As he recovers from his injuries, the issue portrays the hero’s abysmal experience facing the Green Door. “He’d forgotten the terror of dying as the Hulk. And the shame of being exiled, even from eternal rest.” There is no hope for peace for the Hulks when all that awaits them is the foulest of evils and the inability to ever truly rest.

Hulks: Instruments of the One Below All's Expansion

Their Souls Have One Grim Fate

The lore behind the Hulk’s power hasn’t always been this cosmically charged. Before Al Ewing and Joe Bennett’s Immortal Hulk series, gamma energy was a strictly scientific concept. But what is mystic magic, if not science that has yet to be understood? Just as Moon Knight is the avatar of Khonshu, the Hulks are avatars of the One Below All. When a gamma mutate dies, their soul is sent to the realm of their master. The One Below All’s dimension, the Below Place, is an apocalyptic hellscape of body-horror monstrosities. This is what awaits a Hulk.

However, when a gamma mutate dies, the One Below All does not keep their soul for long. While all Hulks are naturally its avatars, they are never as strong as the cosmic entity desires them to be, so it releases them to grow. Trapped outside the prime reality, the One Below All uses the Green Doors to slowly seep into existence. Its true goal is to build an avatar powerful enough to serve as its immortal vessel. In Immortal Hulk #20, a far-future version of Bruce Banner and the Hulk have become a cavernous vessel for the One Below All.

The Green Door Appears to All Gamma Mutates

The One Below All Is Always Waiting

This is why gamma mutates may never rest. The One Below All demands its vessels and will not let the concept of mortal death stand in its way. Effectively, when an unfortunate soul is exposed to gamma radiation, their eternal soul becomes a tool in their new god’s conquest, as their individuality fades over time. There is no escaping this fate. No power is greater than the One Below All, except its equal opposite, the One Above All. It is an existential nightmare no mortal mind can fully comprehend.

While not every Hulk develops the same power set, this cursed immortality is a universal factor. The only notable exception is Amadeus Cho. His powers are controlled by gamma-powered nanobots in his bloodstream, which supposedly means he doesn’t count as a true gamma mutate. For everyone else, an eternity of pain and rage awaits. It is a grim fate that hollows the soul. When the rage quiets but the soul is still left to linger in the Below Place, the remnants of the gamma mutates fade into wandering husks.

A Hulk's Fate Is Unavoidable and Eternal

Once an Avatar, Always an Avatar

This single factor is what links all Hulks together. Any unfortunate individual who has ever been exposed to gamma energy risks becoming linked with the One Below All. No matter what is done to remove the energy, the spiritual implications have already been set. The One Below All is the embodiment of absolute horror and demands its avatars carry out its destructive will. It does not care about the Hulk’s wellbeing—only that the Hulk destroys. The cost of a Hulk’s strength is the horrid immortality they are forced to endure.

No matter how many times someone like Bruce Banner tries to rid himself of the Hulk, there is no escaping the Green Door. This dread drives Banner to attempt suicide, but it will never matter because the One Below All always brings him back. The Green Door represents eternal servitude to a devil you didn’t know you made a deal with. The resurrections are often taxing, violent, and painful, layering a different kind of suffering on top of the trauma of death. No amount of power is worth the immortal dread Marvel’s Hulks endure.

That is simply the unfortunate truth of it. This cosmic fate is unavoidable. It is infinite. It is unyielding. There is nothing that can stop the One Below All, except the feuding equal power of its other half. No spell, artifact, or ingenious invention can sever one’s bond to the One Below All. It is an ultimate, nihilistic fate with no hope of avoiding it. The greatest drawback to a Hulk’s power used to be its destructive potential in life. However, the Hulk’s true horrors wait for what comes after.

Power Man: Timeless #1 is now available from Marvel Comics