Summary
- Nephele is the Hulk's ultimate opposite, seeking to harm those who would hurt others and turning victims into miniature statues.
- Hulk's past trauma mirrors his current mission to protect mistreated 'children', facing off against Nephele as a defender of innocence.
- The Hulk's battle with Nephele highlights the deep-rooted connection between his origin story and his ongoing purpose as a protector of the vulnerable.
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Incredible Hulk #10! The heartbreaking reason the Hulk was created by Bruce Banner to begin with, making her a true ‘opposite’ in a way that actually matters.
In The Incredible Hulk #10 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Danny Earls, Bruce Banner and his sidekick, Charlie, are in New Orleans, as both are on the run. Bruce is being pursued by the original monsters of the Earth controlled by the Eldest, who seek to capture the Hulk and use him to awaken the Mother of Horrors. Similarly, Charlie is on the run from the law, as she’s a suspect in the death of her abusive father. However, both are faced with something far more terrifying than another hellish brute, or the threat of imprisonment: Nephele.
Nephele aka Mother of Angels aka Frozen Charlotte is an elder beast just like her siblings under the control of the Eldest, except she has no interest in awakening the Mother of Horrors. Nephele is and always has been on a personal mission to kill those who would cause others harm (even if that just means being impolite) and ‘saving’ those who are kind by turning them into miniature statues. These statues - which Nephele calls her ‘children’ - are cursed to live eternally trapped in fully-cognizant stasis with no way of escape. At least, until the Hulk arrives.
Major Hulk Transformation Change Flips His Relationship with Bruce Banner
The Hulk was originally looked at purely as the monster within Bruce Banner in Marvel Comics, but now, that aspect of their relationship has flipped.
Hulk is Defending ‘Children’ Being Mistreated by their ‘Parent’, Mirroring His Origin
As confirmed in the 50-issue series The Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett
Long before the gamma radiation mutated Bruce Banner into the Hulk, Bruce had already created at least two versions of the Hulk in his mind, Savage Hulk and Devil Hulk - imaginary friends that quite literally came to life after his gamma exposure. However, these weren’t regular ‘imaginary friends’, they were created in Banner’s mind as a way to disassociate from the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father.
The Devil Hulk was the manifestation of Bruce’s desire to kill his father, with his appearance mirrored after the devil himself from a depiction Bruce saw as a child. Devil Hulk was a replacement father figure of pure evil, as Bruce couldn’t differentiate fatherly love from abuse. Savage Hulk, on the other hand, was more of a dissociative identity for Bruce than another person (like Devil Hulk). Whenever Bruce’s father abused him, Bruce retreated inside himself and sent out Savage Hulk to actually receive the abuse.
Hulk Will Protect Nephele’s Victims the Same Way He Protected Bruce from His Father
Savage Hulk was literally born to not only fight Bruce’s toughest battles for him, but to protect a child being mistreated by their parent. In the current continuity of The Incredible Hulk, it seems as though Banner and Savage Hulk are the only two versions of their shared psyche left, and even though Hulk isn’t the biggest fan of Banner at the moment, he’s continuing the purpose of his own creation by protecting ‘children’ being mistreated by their ‘parent’. And he’s doing so by fighting Nephele, someone who would have children just to abuse them - making her Hulk’s ultimate opposite.
Frozen Charlotte sees herself as a mother to all those she puts through this eternal torment, with her ‘Mother of Angels’ moniker confirming just that. However, the Hulk is essentially the patron saint of mistreated children, and he won’t stand by and allow this perversion of his very reason for being to continue. While the issue ended before their fight could begin, readers already know from this comic alone that the Hulk is facing off against a villain that is his perfect, evil opposite (in a way that actually matters).
The Incredible Hulk #10 by Marvel Comics is available now.
