Maestro, the future, evil version of the Hulk, combines the brains of Bruce Banner with the strength of his big green alter-ego. As deadly as that mixture sounds, Marvel just gave a pretty good reason why Banner and the Hulk are actually better off separate.

Marvel’s ongoing Maestro series by Peter David, one of the character's co-creators, alongside George Pérez, gives a detailed origin story of how Hulk becomes a dictator in Earth’s post-apocalyptic future. In this timeline, Hulk and Banner merged long before the world ended, similar to the Smart Hulk transformation seen in Avengers: Endgame. In issue #1, Hulk wakes up in an underground AIM facility, where he had been trapped in a simulation for years. After leaving the base and seeing what has become of the Earth, Hulk develops a growing hatred of humanity, which leads to him trying to depose Hercules as the “Maestro” of Dystopia, a city of survivors. Unfortunately for Hulk, the fight doesn’t exactly go his way.

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Maestro #4 sees Hulk attempt to take over Dystopia by force with an army of robotic hounds, but the hounds don’t even faze Hercules, and Hulk himself doesn’t do much better. The Olympian God of Strength easily evade his attacks, then proceeds to smash Hulk on the ground like he did to Loki in The Avengers. Hercules continues to pummel and taunt the already-bloody Hulk, saying, “Back when you were mindless, this would not have stopped you…It would simply have enraged you, made you stronger. Because the madder you got, the more powerful you became. But that isn’t you anymore, is it? Banner’s brain is in control. Banner understands how overpowered he is.” The fight ends with Hulk surrendering, accepting the fact that if he wants to beat Hercules, it won’t be in a physical fight.

Hulk Hercules Smash

Hercules may have handily won this battle, but even he acknowledges that things may have gone differently had he been up against the original Hulk. While Banner being in control may seem like a “best of both worlds” type of situation, it actually takes away a key aspect of what makes the Hulk so powerful: his rage. Sure, Banner can still get angry, but his intellect makes it so he can’t help but recognize when he’s outmatched, which prevents him from truly giving it his all during a fight. In contrast, the original Hulk has some borderline ridiculous feats of strength because he didn't hesitate to repeatedly throw himself at a stronger opponent, his own strength increasing with his anger at each failed attempt until he finally prevails. Banner’s brain inadvertently puts a cap on Hulk’s power level, whereas, before, his strength was as limitless as his rage.

Other versions of the Jade Giant, like World War Hulk, have won this matchup before, proving that the Hulk is strong enough to beat up Hercules. Bruce Banner, on the other hand, didn't stand a chance.

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