The Hulk has come up with some funny nicknames for his foes, but his new one for Thor might be the best yet because it’s equal parts funny and mean.
Warning: contains spoilers for The Hulk #10!The Hulk has a hilarious new nickname for Thor–and it is also the perfect insult. Thor and Hulk have squared off numerous times over the years, leading to a testy-at-best relationship. Now, the Hulk finds himself on a planet of gamma-mutates who worship him as a god–and his acolytes have coined a funny nickname for the God of Thunder in Hulk #10.
As two of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, at least in terms of brute strength, Thor and the Hulk have always shared a rivalry; both were also founding members of the Avengers. The Hulk recently underwent a drastic makeover: Banner turned the Hulk’s body into a “starship,” with his psyche as the pilot, and the Hulk’s rage as fuel. He would soon come into conflict with Thor, who was seeking to bring the Hulk back to Earth. After learning that the Hulk had been taken over by a force called Titan, and liberating him from its clutches, Thor agreed to let the Hulk go his own way. Shortly thereafter, the Hulk received a signal from a planet of Hulks–that is, beings who drew their strength from gamma radiation. Setting a course for this mysterious “Planet Hulk,” he finds himself face to face with Monolith–and learns that his rival Thor enjoys a less than savory reputation.
In Hulk #10 (by Donny Cates and by Ryan Ottley) Monolith gives the Hulk, who now has Banner’s intelligence, a tour of the planet, recounting their history. The energies released from Hulk and Thor’s most recent conflict arrived at the planet, bathing its inhabitants in gamma radiation that gave them all fantastic strength. Monolith then takes Hulk to her base, where she runs some strength tests and afterwards, to a grand hall, full of sculptures. One of the sculptures shows Hulk in a battle with a grossly distorted looking version of Thor, and Monolith refers to him as “Hammer-Satan.” Monolith relates how “Hammer Satan” factors into their mythology. They believe that Thor is dead–and Hulk does nothing to correct them.
The Hulk and Thor have rarely seen eye to eye and, as mentioned earlier, their relationship is strained–and the Thunder God’s new nickname here is the perfect insult. Thor is a god, with immense powers that he uses in the service of good, and to be compared with an evil entity like Satan is a slap in the face. Yet this is how the new Planet Hulk and its inhabitants view him. The Hulk has never gotten along with Thor, and on this planet where Hulk is a god, the entire population shares his view of Thor. If there was ever a sign that the Hulk has found where he belongs, it is this one.
Thor’s funny new nickname also continues a long-standing tradition with the Hulk: giving nicknames to his opponents. The Hulk, particularly in his more brutish days, concocted a number of creative names for those he encountered, such as “Vegetable Nose” for Man-Thing. Thor’s hilarious new nickname not only keeps a Hulk tradition alive, but gives it the ultimate twist, recasting the Thunder God as a demon.
