One of the Hulk’s most classic enemies is also one of the few powerful enough to beat him, so why hasn’t the Hulk-Killer made a comeback?
Over the past six decades, the Incredible Hulk has faced off against some of the most impossibly powerful foes that the Marvel Universe has to offer. From alien assailants to interdimensional horrors, it seems like there is nothing that the Hulk cannot overcome. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some villains who haven’t come close to taking the Hulk down, and one aptly named “Hulk-Killer” has never been given the credit it has long been due.
When the Hulk-Killer was first introduced back in “The Birth of… The Hulk-Killer!” by Stan Lee and John Buscema in the pages of 1964’s Tales to Astonish #86, it immediately stood out among its fellow androids. Compared to the rest of the Leader’s android army, the Hulk-Killer was of a different breed entirely.
Rather than relying solely on its innate resilience, the Hulk-Killer boasted strength, agility and a healing factor that rivaled the Hulk’s own. Thankfully, this first version of the superpowered android only lasted two issues before it short-circuited its mechanical core. For being such a capable threat, the Hulk-Killer wouldn’t make a comeback until over five decades later; in all that time, it was never given the one upgrade it most desperately needed.
When the Hulk-Killer finally reappeared in 2019’s Dead Man Logan #8 by Ed Brisson and Mike Henderson, a repurposed version was unleashed to rid the wastelands of Bruce/Hulk Jr. Sporting a more streamlined look and a more powerful punch, this future Hulk-Killer made quick work of the young Hulk Jr.. In a gruesome display of its superiority over the previous model, it tore Logan’s lungs out of his chest with a single strike when the elder mutant stepped into the fray. Despite its enhanced abilities, the Hulk-Killer of Dead Man Logan would once again fall prey to being overloaded with an immense electric shock just a single issue after its debut.
Considering how powerful it is, the fact that the Hulk-Killer has been relegated to obscurity within both the Marvel Universe and the world of pop culture is genuinely surprising. The bright pink behemoth might not be an especially exciting character on its own, but its connection to the Hulk’s most iconic enemy opens the door for it to show up again at some point. Of course, things have changed drastically for both the Hulk and the Leader in recent years, though that doesn’t mean Samuel Sterns’ old experiments have to stay buried. If anyone wanted to put up a serious fight against the Hulk, the Hulk-Killer Humanoid could very well be the best way to do so.
With everything the violently unhinged Bruce Banner has been up to in the present, there might even be good reason for someone to do just that. After transforming the Hulk’s body into his own personal starship and crashing it through the Avengers themselves into another dimension, Banner is quickly becoming the world’s next biggest problem. Assuming there is anything left of the Hulk-Killer in the present, this could be the perfect time for it to return. On the other hand, even if the Hulk-Killer doesn’t get another lease on life in the primary Marvel Universe, the depths of both the Multiverse and MCU will undoubtedly provide plenty of opportunities for just that.
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