Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley are gearing up to introduce a new Hulk nemesis known as Titan, who has been billed as the "deadliest Hulk" in the Marvel Universe. And as it turns out, it's looking like Titan is actually a new version of Hulk himself.
But how is Hulk gonna fight himself? In Marvel Comics, there are a few ways this could work, especially with the current focus on 'Variants' of characters from across the Multiverse. In this case, however, things are a little closer to home - though in some ways, the super-science behind the actual origin of Titan may be even more complicated than traveling between worlds.
In Cates and Ottley's current Hulk run, Bruce Banner and Hulk have been physically separated, with Banner using special technology to 'pilot' the Hulk's body on an interstellar journey. However, the link between Banner and Hulk is about to become severed, leaving room for something else far more sinister to take root in Hulk's body, seemingly transforming him into the monstrous Titan.
This raises the question of what exactly Titan is, and how Hulk will take on a new form. Those answers won't come until Hulk #6 actually introduces Titan when it's released on April 20. But in the meantime, we have a few clues.
A trailer for the upcoming Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War crossover in which Hulk and Thor have a massive throwdown fight to celebrate their combined 60th anniversaries recently showed Titan's massive, kaiju-sized claw bursting out of Hulk's body - implying that Titan will be fully birthed from Hulk's physical form.
As for the entity that somehow inhabits Hulk's form and becomes Titan, Marvel's initial announcement of the story introduced Titan as "basically Hulk's Knull," in the words of Hulk series editor Wil Moss, referring to Knull, the dark god of the Klyntar symbiotes who was the main villain of Cates and Ryan Stegman's Venom-centric King in Black crossover.
However, Cates himself later clarified that statement on Twitter, stating that Titan is "not Hulk's Knull. Titan is an entirely different thing."
This indicates that Moss's comparison was meant to convey the scope of Titan's role in Hulk's story more than to actually explain the villain's specific origins. And that scope seems to extrapolate into Titan's wider role outside of the Hulk title, with Moss also stating "theres' no stopping" Titan.
Here's a gallery of covers for Hulk #6.
Though Hulk #6 is billed as the "epic climax" of Cates and Ottley's first Hulk story, it seems Titan's tale will only be ramping up, with Marvel stating that Titan will "fuel Bruce Banner's rage for the foreseeable future." And with 'Banner of War' starting a few weeks later in May 11's Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War Alpha #1, it looks like Titan's impact on the larger Marvel Universe will begin almost immediately.
Check out a four-page preview of Hulk #6:
Titan is about to become the latest version of the Hulk. These are the Hulk's most iconic personas ever.
