Marvel's The Incredible Hulk is pivoting back toward the horror genre with the new "Age of Monsters" series . Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson depicts a dark reality where Bruce Banner faces supernatural threats like the Eldest.
Revisiting the horror roots of Al Ewing’s 2018 run
The current direction of The Incredible Hulk draws heavily from the psychological and visceral terror established during Al Ewing's 2018 tenure. As the source reports, Ewing's 50-issue Immortal Hulk series redefined the character by embracing the terrifying nature of Bruce Banner's transformations.
That era focused on the "painful truth" of a skinny man becoming an eight-foot-tall giant, utilizing horror elements to explore the character's duality. While that specifc chapter seemed to close , the recent shift under Phillip Kennedy Johnson suggests that the character's capacity for nightmare fuel is far from exhausted. The series continues to use the grotesque nature of the transformation to unsettle readers,even adding sound effects to emphasize the physical agony of the change .
The Eldest’s descent into a Kentucky-based nightmare
Phillip Kennedy Johnson is introducing a new level of cosmic horror through an ancient entity known as the Eldest. According to the report, this being possesses individuals and commits acts of extreme violence, signaling the arrival of something even more catastrophic: a "Mother" figure who represents the first monster.
The stakes escalate significantly when the Eldest absorbs the Hulk's body to become the "Infernal Hulk." This transformation leads to the creation of grotesque beings from innocent people, with the entity establishing a terrifying base of operations in a city in Kentucky.. This move shifts the scale from personal horror to a wide-scale threat that even heavyweights like Iron Man and Wolverine struggle to contain.
Beyond the supernatural, the run also explores the horror of the real world. The source mentions that the Hulk and his companion, Charlie, encounter abusers and murderers, providing a grim, grounded counterpoint to the cosmic threats. This dual approach—tackling both the "undead abominations" and the monsters found in human nature—is a hallmark of Johnson's current run.
Will Ben Grimm be the next victim of the Infernal Hulk?
The narrative is rapidly building toward a massive event known as "Hulk War," which promises to pit the Hulk against the broader Marvel Universe. The source notes that the Eldest has already defeated Logan (Wolverine), and the trajectory suggests that Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four may follow suit.
However, several critical questions remain unanswered as the story progresses. While the Eldest's power is evident, the full extent of the "Mother's" influence is still unverified.. Furthermore, the most unsettling possibility remains a major point of speculation: what happens if the Eldest finds a way to control Ben Grimm? If the Thing is compromised, the power balance of the Marvel Universe could shift irrevocably, leaving readers to wonder how any hero could possibly stop an unstoppable, transformed force.
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