Throughout Marvel Comics history there have been few heroes more fear inducing than the Hulk as his rampages have the potential of decimating an entire town, but the Hulk’s darkest form didn’t come about until Bruce Banner became the Sorcerer Supreme. The Hulk is no stranger to the supernatural forces of the Marvel Universe. Aside from fighting alongside Doctor Strange during his stint on the Defenders, the Hulk is linked to the One Below All through the supernatural elements residing within him due to his gamma mutation. While the Hulk has flirted with the supernatural, one of his variants wields it as the Sorcerer Supreme, which sparks the creation of the Hulk’s darkest form.
In Incredible Hulks Annual #1 by John Layman and Al Barrionuevo, Bruce Banner, Deadpool and Spider-Man are traveling the multiverse and eventually land on Earth-11638, where things are very different from their original Earth-616. The most shocking difference is that Bruce Banner is not known as the Incredible Hulk, but as this universe’s Sorcerer Supreme. However, just because Bruce Banner is the Sorcerer Supreme in this universe doesn’t mean he didn’t first become the Hulk, a problem he believes he has resolved.
On Earth-11638, Bruce Banner grew tired of carrying the burden of the Hulk, so Spider-Man introduced him to Doctor Strange hoping that his magic could help rid Bruce of the mutation. After working with Doctor Strange, Bruce learned the ways of the mystic arts and cast the Hulk out of his body for good, sending him to hell. However, in doing so Bruce Banner created a version of the Hulk that is pure evil, known as the Infernal Hulk. When the Earth-616 versions of Spidey and Deadpool travel to this new world, the Infernal Hulk tries to use their jump through time and space as a way to escape perdition and re-inhabit Bruce’s body once more. While the Infernal Hulk is thwarted, the threat he poses is far greater than any Hulk before him as his lust for killing is matched only by his means to do so.
The tale of the Infernal Hulk isn’t the only time the Hulk has found himself in hell, however, as he took many trips to a version of it known as the Below-Place many times in his last comic run. In Immortal Hulk, the whole story revolves around Bruce Banner’s eternally cursed life and his link to the One Below All given the supernatural elements of his gamma mutation. Every time Bruce dies, he is sent to the Below-Place before being resurrected by traveling through the Green Door. While the Below-Place is a different kind of hell than the one where Infernal Hulk was born, it is still a place of pure evil and corruption where, like Infernal Hulk, Bruce Banner is almost trapped forever.
While there is cosmic irony in Earth-616 Bruce Banner being stuck in hell after his part in ensuring Infernal Hulk’s hellish residence, Bruce ends up being rescued from his disgusting fate whereas the Infernal Hulk remains trapped. The difference, however, is the Infernal Hulk was corrupted by his trip to hell and can no longer become a part of a substantial Marvel Universe like Bruce Banner is able to do after escaping hell. If Infernal Hulk were to escape, he would wreak havoc upon the Earth that would make World War Hulk look like a picnic. The world can only hope that Bruce Banner's abilities as the Sorcerer Supreme are powerful enough to stop this dark version of the Hulk that he helped create.