Marvel Introduces a Terrifying New Mutation to the Hulk Lore in the MCU

The Arrival of the Purple Hulk in What If...? Season 2

Marvel's latest release introduced a brand-new Hulk, expanding the character's lore in the MCU. The original MCU Hulk, Bruce Banner, so far doesn't have his own solo movie, but the addition of She-Hulk and Banner's Sakaar-born son Skaar, plus the confirmed return of The Leader (and the possible debut of Red Hulk) in Phase 5, all means Hulk lore is alive and well in the MCU. Animated series What If...? expands the gallery of Hulk characters even further with a new Purple Hulk.

Purple Hulk Avengers Norman Osborn

What If...?'s Purple Hulk episode plays out almost like a dream scenario, in which Happy gets to save all his friends and look really powerful while beating up Justin and the Iron Legion drones he hijacked. After years of watching Happy be relegated to a comic relief, side character role, it’s both entertaining and satisfying watching him lead his own MCU project and fulfill his duties as a bodyguard by protecting people. How Happy was able to acquire the ability to take on Justin and the droids single-handedly is the most compelling part of the episode, necessitating a dramatic physical transformation and introducing a scary variant to the MCU timeline from Marvel Comics.

The New Purple Hulk: Origins and Powers

Aptly premiering over Christmas, episode 3 of What If…? season 2 centers around a holiday party held at Stark Tower that is ambushed by one of Tony’s former villains, Justin Hammer, while the Avengers are away and JARVIS is temporarily offline. In order to save the day, and stop Hammer becoming a new evil Hulk, Happy unwittingly transforms into Purple Hulk. Episode 3 reveals that Tony had been experimenting to find a cure for Bruce Banner’s Hulk of his anger issues, and in doing so, kept a syringe of Hulk’s altered blood locked away in the tower. Justin’s plan is to inject himself with the Hulk blood and become a near-unstoppable villain to defeat the Avengers. Happy sneaks into Tony’s lab before Justin’s henchmen are able to break in and accidentally injects himself with the Hulk blood, beginning his slow, dramatic transformation into a purple Hulk mutation.

In addition to the different color scheme, Happy’s Hulk is bald and covered with orange veins, further distinguishing him from Dr. Banner. This Purple Hulk can also speak, unlike Banner’s Hulk, which seems to be a result of Stark’s experimentation. Bruce and his cousin Jennifer Walters demonstrate that a Hulk can remain conscious like their human form if they can control their rage, and Tony appears to have been able to alter Hulk’s blood to incur a mutation that allowed Happy to control his rage. This leads to some hilarious scenes in the episode in which Happy not only Hulk smashes but delivers some quippy one-liners while doing so.

Purple Hulk's Marvel Comics History and Comparison

The What If…? version of Purple Hulk differs from versions from the comics, as Happy’s Hulk is not evil. In the comics, a version of Purple Hulk is a mutated Norman Osborn who stole Red Hulk’s powers and transformed. The iconic Marvel villain allied with AIM (last seen in the MCU in Iron Man 3) to use the powers of android Super Adaptoid, who was able to take on the powers of any superpowered individual it came into contact with. It's a short-lived transformation for Osborn, who is thwarted when Marvel's heroes realize his Super Adaptoid powers can be overwhelmed with the right combination of powers.

The only other appearance of a Purple Hulk in Marvel Comics came in Incredible Hulk #371 when Hulk is possessed by Shangar, the Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension. That Hulk variant is arguably the most terrifying Hulk of all, given the addition of magical powers: Banner's Hulk became the Dark Hulk and turned purple (as confirmed by the Incredible Hulk series of 1996 where the purple color was revealed). The trend outside of What If...? suggests a correlation between the color purple and a higher level of evil, but What If...? seemingly breaks that trend. Happy’s Hulk is still very powerful like his comic book counterparts, but uses his abilities to become a respected asset to the Avengers’ team. It is clear that Happy’s good-natured personality grants him great control over his abilities, so he will continue to break the evil Purple Hulk trend.