Bruce Banner, the docile doctor who takes the shape of an angry buff monster named Hulk when angry, has been killed by creators Marvel Comics. In a recent issue of “Civil War II”, an arrow fatally shot him in the eye, achieving what a number of villains and an exile to space couldn’t.
The killer was his Avengers’ comrade Hawkeye. It turned out to be a case of mercy killing because for years, Banner had been trying to kill himself. Hawkeye does the needful only after Banner instructs him to kill him off in the event of any disaster that The Hulk might cause.
Marvel’s editor-in-chief, Axel Alonso told NY Daily News that the demise of a character like Banner would leave a “huge scar on the superhero community“. Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of “Civil War II” series said, “Fans may be outraged, and there are probably ‘Hawkeye’ writers who I’m very good friends with who will also be offended.” He added, “But the point is that everything that happens in this issue is in character when you discover the hows and whys and wheres,” he added.
Fans have expressed their disbelief over social media. One fan even said that Marvel comics wasn’t the same now:
Bruce Banner is dead. Iron Man is a black, teenage girl. Cpt America is part of Hydra. The Hulk is Korean. Nothing stays the same in comics.
— John Wilkerson (@jwilkers) July 13, 2016
Tony Stark deserves better
Clint Barton deserves better
Bruce Banner deserved better— After all this time? (@nerd_withamouth) July 13, 2016
“The Hulk has been put to rest.
Bruce Banner however will be in our hearts, our souls, our minds. May he find peace.”
— Doctor Strange. (@SupremeMage) July 15, 2016
Bruce Banner was first introduced to his alter-ego Hulk in 1962. However, since last year, readers had noticed that Banner had been trying to medicate himself in a bid to curb his angry alter-ego from coming out. He was depressed, and expressed his suicidal thoughts in comics and in films. Soon after his change in behaviour, a Korean-American teenage boy named Amadeus Cho took over as Hulk’s new human alter-ego.
Albeit dead in the comics, Bruce Banner (currently played by Mark Ruffalo) is still alive and fending off villains in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Next year, he will also be seen in Thor: Ragnarok along with other members of The Avengers.
Feature Image Credit: Screenrant.com
