With Marvel Comics ready to celebrate Pride Month, many major LGBTQ+ characters are being moved into the forefront of comics. A gay hero is set to join the X-Men, America Chavez is about to star in Defenders: Beyond and Thunderbolts, and one excellent hero is likely to continue to prove himself as one of the most powerful Marvel characters.
Still, general audiences may not be wholly aware of the renowned hero Hulkling. With a strange name, a somewhat odd design, and powers that don't really fit his moniker, he may seem like a confusing character all around. Still, many comic fans love and adore Hulkling for countless reasons.
Founded The Young Avengers
In the book where Hulkling made his first appearance, he starred as a founding member of Marvel's Young Avengers: A team of misfit kids who happened to all have ties to one Avenger or another. Meant to serve as the next generation, the group was brought together by Iron Lad after the Avengers were disassembled.
As a founding member of a team of heroes, Hulkling proved his dedication to heroism and to the memory of the Avengers. Somewhat of a fanboy, having the opportunity to call himself an Avenger would have been enough to draw him to the team, but it was Hulkling's good nature and desire to do good that really made him fight alongside the team.
The Meaning Behind His Name
Though superheroes often have strange names, Hulkling certainly stands out among the rest. Heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, and Nova are fairly self-explanatory, but Hulkling is a name so strange that he has often had to explain it to reporters and teammates alike.
The real secret behind his name is that Hulkling is tall, broad, and green like the Hulk. But, with his additional powers as a shapechanger, he considers himself a Changeling. Put the two together and Hulk and Changeling become Hulkling, which quickly became his codename.
Thought He Was A Mutant
Though some readers already suspected his identity from the beginning, Hulkling spent years thinking he was actually just a mutant. Given that he was born with the ability to shapeshift, he thought that he might have been just another ordinary boy with an X-Gene. It doesn't help that his adoptive mother, secretly a Skrull, never revealed either of their identities to him.
Given that Hulkling thought he was a mutant, it adds extra weight to his introduction to Wiccan, the son of the Scarlet Witch. After all, one of the worst things the Scarlet Witch did was depowering the world's mutants. Though Hulkling may not have known Wiccan's true identity, it adds considerable dramatic irony to the moment and was a situation ripe for conflict. It only makes it more touching that the two never faced that conflict and fell in love anyway.
Kree/Skrull Hybrid
Though many fans look at Hulkling and assume that he must be a product of gamma radiation, that isn't really the case. In fact, rather than being any sort of scientific marvel, Hulkling is actually the hybrid son of a Kree man and a Skrull woman. Though the two species have spent countless millennia at war, two members met, fell in love, and produced Hulkling.
Having received his green skin and shapeshifting form from his Skrull side, Hulkling also receives superhuman strength from the Kree. Thanks to being a shapeshifter, he also has the power to heal rapidly and has incredibly durable skin. It really helps keep him safe in the many fights he takes part in.
The Son of The Original Captain Marvel
Though only comic fans know it, Captain Marvel wasn't originally Carol Danvers. Instead, it was the late Mar-Vell, a Kree spy send to Earth to test humanity. Yet, what has been revealed after his death is that Captain Marvel and the Skrull Princess Anelle actually fell in love and bore a living child together.
The infant, a young Hulkling, was whisked off to Earth to live a normal life in safety and peace. Eventually, when the Skrull homeworld was attacked, Hulkling's true heritage was almost entirely forgotten. It's a really interesting piece of history that helps tie Hulkling to central figures in the Kree-Skrull War and to an established Marvel character. It helps to make Hulkling feel less like an irrelevant figure and more like a true legacy character and hero.
Prophesized Savior
Another secret that Hulkling held close for years is that he's actually the prophesized savior of the Kree and Skrull people. Rather than a rejected hybrid, he was always meant to lead them into a Golden Age of peace. In fact, he was born to bring an end to the most devastating Marvel cosmic war.
After decades of readers studying the Kree-Skrull War, discovering that there was a man born to end it was an incredible moment. It instantly made Hulkling one of the most important characters in Marvel and grants him incredible influence. It also starts the will-they-won't-they story that followed Teddy for years, as readers debated if he would eventually claim his throne.
Magic Space Sword
But Hulkling isn't just the prophesized savior by the word of Kree-Skrull soldiers. In fact, he has a magic space sword that helps to prove his identity as the royal hybrid destined to end the war. With Ekz'el-Zorr, the Sword of Space, at his side, he is instantly proven at a glance to be the symbol of peace.
His sword also has some incredible practical features as well. As a blade that can tell friend from foe, it ensures that he won't hurt his loved ones or any potential allies. It also comes when he calls, much like Thor's hammer, and the blade instantly defeats any magic it comes across. Not bad for a magic space sword.
Twice Married
And fall in love, they certainly did. Wiccan and Hulkling, two iconic LGBTQ+ Marvel heroes, actually had the chance to get married twice after years of engagement. The first wedding came prior to Hulkling running off to space, while the second came on a spaceship after the Kree-Skrull Alliance defeated their long-hated enemies, the Cotati.
The first wedding was a touchingly intimate moment, where the two pronounced their love together with only the Young Avengers to witness. The second came with all of their friends and family there to see it, and all of the love that comes with it. It also helped that the second wedding allowed the two to truly profess themselves as the iconic and renowned figures they are by giving them the chance to show it to the entire galaxy.
Turned Down His Destiny
After being told that he was meant to be the Emperor of the Skrulls, and after nearly being drafted into the Kree army, Hulkling didn't do what most teenagers in his position would. Instead, he decided to turn down the throne entirely and send the Super-Skrull in his place.
It's a moment that proves that, though Teddy is one of the most powerful Young Avengers, he isn't a man who wants to be in a position of power. Instead, he wants to remain with his loved ones and live out his life as an ordinary hero. Unfortunately, though, he wasn't able to follow his true wishes.
Space Emperor
After a Cotati attack, Hulkling was finally forced to take the Kree-Skrull throne by forging an alliance between the two species. Serving as the symbol of peace, he used his status as hybrid royalty to create a bond between the two races, so that they could work together to defeat their common enemy.
Now, even after the Cotati defeat, the Kree and Skrull stand together under their Emperor. With Hulkling at the helm, the Empire has already survived several major crises, but the boy king has stood strong under it all. Still, he is young enough that he will have to overcome significant obstacles before truly proving himself a worthy Emperor.