Bruce Banner (Earth-9997)

Early Life[]

The early life of Bruce Banner largely mirrors that of his Earth-616 counterpart.

As a young child, Bruce was abused by his father. Bruce nevertheless grew up to become an authority in the field of gamma radiation, and designed the Gamma Bomb, a weapon of mass destruction. When the bomb was being tested, a young man by the name of Rick Jones wandered onto the testing site. Banner rushed out to save him as the bomb detonated, and as a result was blasted with gamma radiation. The radiation germinated the mutant seed within him, causing him to transform into the Hulk.^[1]

Despite his new life as an outcast, he eventually married Betty Ross. The two were happy for a time, but eventually, Betty died due to radiation poisoning after continued exposure to Bruce's gamma irradiated enemies. Blaming himself for Betty's death, Banner would go on to cure one of his archenemies, the Abomination.^[1]

Bruce's father-in-law Thunderbolt Ross remained an intractable enemy. One day, he unleashed an experimental weapon onto a small mid-western town where Banner was believed to be hiding. Bruce had in fact never been there, and the weapon killed 20 000 people, leading to Ross being court-martialed and imprisoned. Banner visited Ross in jail once, and Ross told him that all rage, and those who give in to it, must die. He committed suicide shortly thereafter, and Banner was pardoned for his actions as the Hulk.^[1]

While the radiation had killed his wife, Bruce had in fact become a sponge for it, continually absorbing it from his enemies. While Dr. Leonard Samson diagnosed him with multiple personality disorder, it was in fact the continued gamma radiation that was the cause of the Hulk's constant mutations and changes in personality.^[1]

Mutation of Humanity[]

When all of humanity was mutated, Bruce was one of many heroes who attempted to save mankind and reverse the mutations, working from the Baxter Building. Fearful of what effects the global mutation would have on him, he refused to transform into the Hulk. When the last unmutated human, by the name of David Jarrett was found and brought to the Baxter Building, Bruce and his colleagues ran tests on him, trying to find the answer to reversing the mutations. When a mutated mob stormed the building, David was killed in the fighting. Angered, Bruce finally transformed into the Hulk, and found that he had indeed mutated once again; Banner and the Hulk split into two distinct entities. Banner, now in the body of a 10 year old boy was blind, but was psychically linked to the near mindless and simian Hulk, who acted as his eyes.^[1][2]

Earth X[]

Years later, in a world where all of humanity had now mutated, Banner would be haunted by a dream where he relived the death of Captain Marvel. In this dream, Mar-Vell was reborn with the entire universe inside him but would begin to die again. In the dream, Banner could see Earth's solar system inside Mar-Vell and saw an Earth encased in metal.^[3]

Troubled by what these dreams might portend, Banner, Hulk and Thor traveled to Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum to seek the aid of Clea, Strange's successor. Believing that the dream was prophetic, Clea would suggest that they find Mar-Vell's soul in the Realm of the Dead. As the Hulk was an extension of Banner's body and had no soul of its own, it was the only being capable of entering the Realm without dying. Sent into the Realm, the Hulk was found by the trapped spirit of Dr. Strange. Strange told them not to worry about Mar-Vell, as he would find them in due time. He also revealed that he was betrayed by Clea and wrote a note to take back to Banner. ^[1]

Fearing for the Hulk's safety, Thor rushed in to save him. Banner let slip that he didn't want to be left alone with Clea, who then deduced that the Hulk had met Stephen's spirit. Loki suddenly appeared, revealing that he and Clea were lovers and had been working together. Loki tried to trap Thor and Hulk in the Realm of the Dead. When they found their way back, Loki suddenly disappeared. Desperate and angry, Clea attempted to destroy New York. In order to stop her, Thor transported her to Asgard. This was exactly as Loki as planned, as Thor was now unable to return to Earth. Banner and the Hulk managed to escape.^[1]

Banner would later be located by X-51 to help Captain America and his army of superhumans battle the Skull. While the Hulk was effective in fighting the Skull's mind-controlled army, the Skull eventually found Banner and seized control of him. The fact that the Skull had not been able to control the mindless Hulk until discovering Banner gave Captain America the knowledge needed to launch a surprise attack, killing the Skull and freeing all those under his control.^[1]

Universe X[]

Following the defeat of the Celestials, and the destruction of the Celestial embryo within Earth, Bruce's recurring nightmare of the Earth encased in metal was finally averted. However, the death of the Celestial embryo caused a massive shift in Earth's mass, leading Earth to suffer massive changes in climate.^[4]

True to his word, Mar-Vell returned to Earth, now reborn as a human child. Three years after the defeat of the Celestials, Mar-Vell embarked on a quest to collect items of power in order to kill Death and build a Paradise for the souls of the deceased trapped in the Realm of Death. Bruce joined Mar-Vell in traveling to HEL Laboratories, Egypt, the Moon, and finally Wakanda.^[5]

There Banner and Hulk would stay behind with the X-Men to help Black Panther and his queen Storm relocate the people of Wakanda to the Savage Land due to constant attacks by an army of Wendigos. They made it safely to the Savage Land and managed to defeat the Wendigos. Banner and Hulk would remain afterwards to help the Wakandans rebuild their nation in the Savage Land. This would briefly be interrupted by an attack launched by Belasco and an army of Dire Wraiths. Banner and the others were saved by Mar-Vell and his friends.^[6]

Paradise X[]

When Mar-Vell finally succeeded in killing Death and creating his Paradise, it created a new problem in the mortal world: nobody was able to die. With hospitals filling up with the mortally wounded. Banner relocated to Latveria where he and Hulk would aid Reed Richards in trying to ease the suffering of the undying. Banner was one of the many brilliant minds brought together by Reed Richards to help find a new Death. When they decided to revive Jude the Entropic Man to be the new Death on Earth, Banner joined a team of heroes in travelling to the Florida Everglades to free Jude, so that Richards could synthesize his death-bringing powers. Hulk was later present during Reed Richard's journey to the Negative Zone in his attempts to reach Mar-Vell and put a stop to Paradise's destructive expansion.

Banner is a symbiotic being, comprised of two parts. The first is a young boy who has the mind of Bruce Banner and all his memories and knowledge. He is blind, however he can see through the eyes of the Hulk, and can control the beast by mental command.

The Hulk is a mindless vessel, however would erupt into a berserker rage should Banner ever be rendered unconscious. Presumably, this incarnation of the Hulk has the same level of strength and abilities as any prior incarnation of the Hulk. As the Hulk is an extension of Banner, the Hulk has no soul and as a result has shown the ability to enter and leave the Realm of the Dead without forfeiting Banner's life.