Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley are leaving Marvel's Hulk ongoing series

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The creative team is departing separately from the series they launched together

Hulk #12 cover art by Ryan Ottley
Hulk #12 cover art by Ryan Ottley (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

It looks like writer Donny Cates has left the ongoing Hulk series and will be followed shortly by artist (and now series writer) Ryan Ottley.

Ottley recently tweeted the cover to February's Hulk #12, and in an exchange with a fan revealed Cates is no longer with the series and then revealed his own upcoming departure.

"HULK 12! February! Another issue that I am the writer AND the artist for. Come see what this dork Ottley is gonna do with the rest of this HULK PLANET arc," Ottely tweeted on November 19, prompting a fan to ask if Cates was writing the Hulk any longer.

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Ottley responded: "No, he moved on to other things. I'll be writing the rest of this arc. There's always a chance he comes back for later arcs but I just don't know. I miss his amazing scripts, fortunately he created such a solid foundation that the world is such a blast to continue creating in!"

There is no Hulk scheduled for December, and Marvel credits Ottley as the sole writer and artist for January's Hulk #11, part three of the 'Planet Hulk' arc.

Marvel credits Cates as the co-writer of February's #12 with Ottley in its February 2023 solicitations, but Ottley seems to credit himself as the writer.

Hulk #12 cover by Ryan Ottley (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Later in the same Twitter thread, Ottley confirmed Hulk #14 is his last with the series, and with an unnamed creator-owned Image Comics series as his next comic book work, though he added "But I'll probably come play at Marvel again some day!"

Another fan commented that Cates has apparently cut back his Marvel work as well lately, with issues of Thor being solicited with other writers in recent months. 

Cates himself seemingly responded to the questions about his upcoming work with his own tweet on November 21, tagging Marvel and Marvel editor-in-chief C.B. Celbuski and his Thor and Hulk editor Wil Moss:

"Hey guys. I'm okay. Just needed to breathe and deal with a bunch of…life Anyway, yeah no fear, I've been working with and in the background on something INSANE that will…well, you'll know it when you see it. Love you guys! See you soon!"

Notably absent in Cates' tweet is any indication he plans to return to Thor and he seems to be looking ahead to new work. 

While the title isn't edited in Moss' office, Marvel will need a new Avengers writer in 2023 following the upcoming exit of writer Jason Aaron. Newsarama recently identified Cates as an odds-on favorite to land the high-profile gig. 

Cates and Ottley launched the current Hulk series together, which introduced the new Starship Hulk status quo for Bruce Banner and his superhuman alter ego along with the latest Hulk incarnation, Titan. 

As of the publication of this story, Marvel Comics has not responded to Newsarama's inquiries about the creative status of the Hulk series.

Titan is just the latest of the Hulk's most iconic personas.

Michael Doran

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.