Hulk is a 2014 series by Marvel Comics written by Mark Waid, and later Gerry Duggan.
When Banner is shot in the head in an assassination attempt, Tony Stark is forced to use drastic measures to save him. However, when Banner recovered, he had become even smarter than before, and began to turn into a new Hulk. Smarter than Banner, This new Hulk decides to cure all gamma mutants and save the world. As with most things in Banner's life however, nothing lasts forever...
Hulk (2014) provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: The series ended before the plot about Gammon, Banner's evil A.I., could reach any sort of meaningful resolution. Earlier, there was also Foreshadowing for a confrontation between Doc Green and Kang the Conqueror. The anticipated fight never happened.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Doc Green downloads his brain into an A.I, which then betrays him and tried to kill all the gamma-mutants instead of just depowering them.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Banner is severely injured in the first issue because an assassin spent ages training to precisely hit the right two spots in the back of his head to seriously cripple him in one moment, as hitting higher or lower would have triggered Banner’s transformation or outright killed him when they needed him alive but crippled long enough to plant a device in his brain to give them control.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Doc Green gets Iron Fist to teach him some martial arts, which helps him defeat the Red Hulk.
- Brought Down to Normal: An Extremis-enhanced Hulk called Doc Green decides to de-power the gamma-powered superheroes as he feels it is his responsibility to set things right. He manages to depower Betty Ross, Rick Jones, Skaar, and Thunderbolt Ross.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": While most Hulks do not like being referred to as Banner, and one of them uses "Hulk" and "Bruce" interchangeably, Doc Green doesn't want to be referred to as either, as he obviously doesn't identify as Banner, seeing him as his "captor" and feeling the name "Hulk" was given to him. note
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: In issue #16, Lyra has several Shirtless Captives as her Sex Slaves. Which is both played for laughs and even seen as OK in-universe. She was even high fived for by guys from her world
◊. - Females Are More Innocent: Issue #16 shows Lyra creating an Enlightened Matriarchy when she gets trapped in a hellish nightmare dimension run by violent male demons. In only 3 days she had conquered the dimension, enslaved all the men, and put the women in charge where they embraced her as their Empress. Under their rule the dimension had stopped being the hellish nightmare it was back when the men ran it.
- "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: The Extremis virus that the personality emerged from wears off over time. What's more, the A.I. he created based on him at the height of his intelligence to prevent Banner from re-emerging, instead betrays him, essentially saying he's no longer smart enough to continue carrying out his mission.
- Genius Bruiser: In fact, he is smarter than even Banner. He quickly developed the technology for a (mostly) safe, fast and permanent method of curing people of gamma radiation-induced transformations, something that eluded Banner for years. Then again, the A.I. he created based on his personality suggests that if this was true, then it is no longer the case as the Extremis is wearing off. And proceeds to act against his wishes.
- Gotta Kill Them All: A variant. Doc Green decides to de-power the gamma-powered superheroes as he feels it is his responsibility to set things right. And he'll do it, whether they like it or not.
- Harmful Healing: Banner suffers from this after he is shot; the scale of damage inflicted on his brain was so great that his natural ability can’t restore his mind properly on its own (Maria Hill compared it to bones being set improperly as they heal), requiring him to be treated with Extremis by Tony Stark to stop him ‘healing’ in a brain-dead state.
- Kick the Dog: Doc Green depowering Rick Jones/A-Bomb, Red She-Hulk, and Skaar can come across as this, as does sending Lyra to a dimension overrun by monsters (granted, that last one wasn't his intention). Telling Skaar and Lyra to their faces that he's not their father was pretty dickish too, although somewhat justified as he's an entirely different personality to Banner or the Green Scar Hulk. It's later shown Betty is pretty pissed about being forcibly depowered in the name of "the greater good". Depowering the Leader and Red Hulk, on the other hand, seems pretty justified.
- Perma-Shave: Doc Green grows a beard after dreaming of becoming a Maestro, and when he turned back into Banner he still has the beard.
- Pet the Dog: Doc Green allows Jennifer to continue being She-Hulk since he feels that she's the only gamma-powered being that has a wonderful life and even entrusted her with the last cure in case he turns into the Maestro.
- Poor Communication Kills: The Original Sin tie-in reveals that this basically applies to Bruce’s past history with Tony Stark; Bruce ignored e-mails Tony sent him about the dangers of the gamma bomb project because he dismissed it as Tony being arrogant, but Tony later muses that it would hurt Bruce to know that he could have saved himself from becoming the Hulk if he’d been a bit less like Tony.
- Put on a Bus:
- While Lyra kept her powers she was also put to the side by giving up being a hero to live in a dimension which she ruled as Empress.
- Skaar, after being depowered by Doc Green, is teleported to Paris and given enough money start a new life for himself.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Doc Green will cure the Hulks. Consent is optional.
