“Hulk smash!” is the catchphrase that basically defines the main appeal of the Jade Giant. After the gamma bomb explosion released Doctor Bruce Banner’s inner monster, the world became like a cardboard set to the misunderstood monster, who regularly worked out his frustrations by pounding buildings, tanks, and supervillains into oblivion.
Still, smashing isn’t the Hulk’s only interest. While he might hide it from the world, Hulk has a genuinely sensitive side that comes out in unexpected ways – often in talks with his friends, quiet moments in the wilderness… or even on the stage.
This happened in The Incredible Hulk Annual #16 during a period when the Hulk was a craftier, grey monster with a greater capacity for intelligent speech. Still on the run from the army, the Hulk was furious when he saw several tanks mobilizing in the desert. Convinced the “puny humans” were after him again, the Hulk launched a pre-emptive strike and smashed the tanks. A moment later, however, a surprised Hulk learned from the commanding officer that the army was just out on night maneuvers and weren’t interested in bothering the Hulk.
Momentarily mollified, the Hulk actually allowed the officer to punch him in the face to express his frustration and then leapt away. A short time later, he came across an abandoned theater that offered a more insulated place to decompress. In an odd moment of introspection, the Hulk waxed poetic, noting that even empty, the stage and theater space seemed to be expecting a performance. Feeling there was no one there to judge him, the Hulk bowed and proceeded to screw around a bit – finding some old costumes in the back and dressing up as the hunchback Igor from Mel Brooks’ movie Young Frankenstein.
The next scene actually showed the Hulk shambling around on stage and quoting lines from the movie, muttering that his name was pronounced “Eye-gor” and that his great-grandfather has once worked for Doctor Frankenstein (although the pay rates had gone up). Unfortunately, before the Hulk could get more into his performance, two creatures – an alien woman named Mercy and a mutated human lifeform crashed into the theater (literally), forcing the Hulk to hastily shed his costume, lest his secret role-playing passion be exposed.
In an even rarer moment of self-reflection, Hulk chose not to immediately attack the newcomers, reasoning that since the army hadn’t been after him earlier, the gatecrashers weren’t necessarily his enemies either. Sadly, his attempt at showing mercy was soon frustrated when the life form tried to eat the Hulk, forcing the Grey Goliath to default to his usual smashing strategies. Nevertheless, it was an amusing and enlightening scenario that highlighted the Hulk was capable of far more than the rage the world usually associated with him.
Considering every Hulk that Banner turns into is just a different alternate personality that represents part of his fractured mind, there’s every reason to believe that a genuine “Theater Hulk” is waiting somewhere in his psyche for his curtain call. Frankly, every Hulk represents Banner attempting to role-play and give voice to some aspect of his personality, meaning Hulk’s love of theater simply reflects his larger purpose.