Planet Hulk Explained: What Is the Marvel Comics Storyline?

Everything you need to know about the iconic Hulk story that partially inspired Thor: Ragnarok.

By Jesse Schedeen

While Thor: Ragnarok may be named after a certain Asgardian thunder god, this new MCU film also focuses a great deal on Hulk. In the process, Ragnarok draws heavily from one of the most popular and influential Hulk storylines in Marvel's history - Planet Hulk.

What exactly is Planet Hulk, and how is it informing the latest Thor movie? Read on to learn everything you need to know about this critical Hulk saga.

The Basics

Planet Hulk served as a major chapter in Hulk's growth as a character in the mid-2000s. This yearlong story saw Hulk dragged away from Earth and crash-land on the alien world of Sakaar. There, Hulk was forced to battle for his life in a gladiatorial arena, all for the amusement of Sakaar's bloodthirsty emperor, a tyrant known as the Red King.

However, Hulk being the strongest one there is, it wasn't long before he found himself turning the tables on the Red King and leading the brave warriors of Sakaar in open rebellion. Over the course of Planet Hulk, the Jade Giant became a monarch, grew stronger than ever and even found love. But sadly, as with pretty much everything in the tortured monster's miserable existence, it wasn't to last. By the time Hulk returned home to Earth, he was madder and stronger than ever, and ready to take out his wrath on the heroes who banished him in the first place.

Major Characters

Hulk is the main protagonist of Planet Hulk, naturally. The story offers a fairly unique take on Hulk, as the intense radiation of his interstellar journey boosted Hulk's strength and gave rise to a new persona known as the Green Scar. While not as intelligent as Bruce Banner, the Green Scar Hulk proves cunning enough to unite a planet and become the new emperor of Sakaar. In the process, Sakaar's natives come to believe Hulk is the Sakaarson, a savior prophesied to rescue their world.

The Red King is the main villain of Planet Hulk. Like an old-fashioned Roman Emperor, the Red King lords over Sakaar and leads a hedonistic lifestyle while he forces slaves to fight and die for his amusement. His chief lieutenant is Caiera, a skilled warrior who eventually defects to Hulk's side and even falls in love with the refugee Earthling.

Hulk also rallies a number of other strong, accomplished warriors to his side, including Miek, a Brood, Elloe Kaifi, Lavin Skee, Hiroim and Korg. Together, they form the "Warbound," a group of comrades honor-bound to fight alongside one another until death. Unfortunately, one of them ultimately betrays Hulk and his newfound empire.

Hulk grows close to Caiera.

Planet Hulk also features a memorable guest appearance by Silver Surfer, who is captured by the Red King and forced to battle Hulk in the arena.

Origin and Background

The Planet Hulk storyline ran in the pages of Marvel's monthly Incredible Hulk comic from April 2006 to May 2007. It was written by Greg Pak and illustrated by artists Aaron Lopresti and Carlo Pagulayan. Planet Hulk built on an earlier story where the Illuminati (a secretive group that included Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Professor X and Black Bolt) tricked Hulk into boarding a space pod and exiled him from Earth. Their intent was to banish Hulk to a peaceful planet where he could finally be alone and no longer threaten humanity. However, his pod was knocked off course and landed on Sakaar instead.

Planet Hulk traces Hulk's meteoric rise from gladiator slave to rebel freedom fighter to emperor of Sakaar to fallen monarch. It's very much a tragedy in the way so many classic Hulk tales are, with the character finding purpose and a family on his new world and then losing it all by the end.

Planet Hulk wound up impacting the larger course of the Marvel Universe in several key ways. It was immediately followed by a 2007 crossover storyline called World War Hulk, where Hulk and his Warbound return to Earth to exact vengeance on the Illuminati. In the end, Hulk is narrowly defeated by the combined might of SHIELD, the Sentry and Tony Stark's anti-Hulk satellite weapon. The character temporarily regressed to his usual savage state in the aftermath, though his intelligence and memories of his time on Sakaar have continued to ebb and flow in the years since.

Hulk eventually meets his son, Skaar.

The other big development involves the debut of Skaar, the son of Hulk and Caiera who survived his mother's murder on Sakaar. Skaar eventually made his way to Earth and reunited with his father (paving the way for Incredible Hulk to be temporarily renamed "Incredible Hulks").

Pak is even currently writing a sequel. Planet Hulk II will return Hulk to the war-ravaged remnants of Sakaar. The big difference is that teen super-genius Amadeus Cho is currently serving as Hulk. It remains to be seen how this more intelligent, less experienced Hulk will fair on this harsh, bleak alien world.

Beyond the Comics

Planet Hulk has already been adapted for other media numerous times, most notably in the 2010 direct-to-DVD animated movie. That film sticks fairly close to the source material, though it ends on a happier note before Hulk's new life is cut short by disaster.

Beta Ray Bill fills in for Silver Surfer in the Planet Hulk movie.

Elements of Planet Hulk have also been used in several animated series, including The Super Hero Squad Show, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Clearly, Thor: Ragnarok is also drawing from this story. It too features Hulk fighting as a gladiator on the world of Sakaar and steadily growing in intelligence. The film also introduces Korg as one of Hulk's Warbound allies. However, there are a number of key differences between the two, such as the Grandmaster replacing the Red King as Sakaar's ruler and Hulk being a willing combatant rather than a slave.

We're also not expecting that the film will focus on Hulk overthrowing the Grandmaster and becoming Sakaar's new ruler. Though you never know (maybe in a future movie?). Mark Ruffalo did recently say that Thor: Ragnarok is the start of a three-movie-long character arc for Hulk.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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