Summary

  • The Hulk's true form is actually quite thin and different from the popular muscular image associated with the character.
  • The Hulk is an actual entity and not just a manifestation of Bruce Banner's mind. They are both connected to a supernatural realm called the Below-Place.
  • Without Bruce Banner and gamma energy, the Hulk is shown to be extremely lean and has excess skin, challenging the commonly held image of the character. The Hulk's true personality is revealed to be sweet and gentle, contrary to the rage-filled image portrayed in the comics.

When a Marvel Comics fan thinks of the Hulk, they more often than not will think of the green, musclebound behemoth with the proven strength to crumble entire worlds. However, that vision of the Hulk couldn’t be further from what his true form looks like, as the Hulk isn’t naturally a super-buff beast, but is actually rather quite thin.

The Hulk was born after Bruce Banner’s body was flooded with gamma radiation. While it was originally assumed that this experience simply turned Banner into a mutate, it’s actually revealed in the Immortal Hulk series that gamma holds strange supernatural properties that connect those who have been exposed to it to a hellish realm known as the Below-Place. This means the Hulk is more than just the byproduct of Banner’s fractured mind manifesting a physical monster every time he gets angry, but an actual entity apart from Bruce entirely. While Bruce did give the Hulk life (with the complexities of their coexistence being far too intricate to satisfyingly explain in just a few sentences), the fact that they are both connected to something larger than just themselves means Hulk can exist without Bruce Banner, not necessarily only through him. That means Hulk must have his own body, and throughout a few issues of Immortal Hulk, readers get to see it.

Hulk’s Real Body & Personality Are Nothing Like What Fans Think

Skinny Hulk fighting in the Below-Place.

In Immortal Hulk #39 by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, Hulk travels to the Below-Place where Bruce Banner is ripped from his body by the One Below All. Not only that, but the abuse Hulk’s body suffers while in this hellish realm sucks him dry of nearly every bit of gamma energy flowing through his veins. After Hulk escapes back to Earth, he’s shown to be extremely lean, with excess skin hanging from him where his bulging muscles used to be. Without gamma and without Banner, this is what remains of the personality that is ‘Hulk’, meaning this tall, thin, green man is what this iconic character really looks like.

Skinny Hulk at Christmas time.

Not only is the Hulk’s outer appearance altered without Banner in the mix, but his mind is also void of outside influence. As shown in the Immortal Hulk’s King In Black crossover, the Hulk is really just a kid, who only seems to be so full of rage because that’s the only time he’s ever been allowed to exist outside Banner’s shared psyche. In truth, the Hulk is an incredibly sweet person who would love nothing more than to play with puppies and eat junk food all day. In fact, when this version of Hulk encounters the Thing in Immortal Hulk #41, Ben Grimm feels bad for punching him without speaking to Hulk first, as even he saw that this Hulk was not the same one who normally coexists with Banner. Except, this Hulk is the same one who coexists with Banner, he’s just never allowed to be who he really is or look the way he’s supposed to look.

While many fans might look at this version of the Hulk and see a scrawny weakling, they’d be doing the Hulk’s true character a huge disservice by viewing him that way. Hulk is more than a being of rage and destruction, and he’s not just a perpetually buffed-out monster, either. As revealed in this groundbreaking series, Hulks’ ‘Skinny Hulk’ body, and the personality that accompanies it, is actually his true form (without Bruce Banner).