LOS ANGELES — It's not going to be a Banner year for the Hulk.
The Big Guy is just the latest Marvel superhero to change identities, the comic-book publisher announced Friday. He'll go from Bruce Banner to Amadeus Cho, a 19-year-old boy genius — and that's significant for a couple of reasons.
For one thing, Cho is Korean-American, making Hulk the latest superhero to undergo a race or gender change. He's following in the footsteps of the Muslim Ms. Marvel, female Thor and black Captain America. And more changes are on the way as Marvel reboots its entire line for the "All-New, All Different" initiative starting at the end of 2015.
IMAGE: MARVEL
Perhaps more significant, however, is that unlike Banner — who despised turning into the rampaging Gamma monster — Cho is totally down for Hulkification.
"He's going to love every minute of it," said Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. "In this new series, we are going to lean hard into the fantasy aspects of being the Hulk. It can’t be all bad, can it?"
Like Banner, Cho is among the brainiest of the Marvel heroes. Introduced as a side character some 10 years ago, he is gifted with the ability to process information at an astonishing rate. Though there's some debate as to exactly where his intellect ranks, he's generally considered up there in the Top 10 with Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Hank Pym and Banner himself.
Cho's turn as the Jade Giant will also alter his title, which goes from "The Incredible Hulk" to "Totally Awesome Hulk" beginning with issue #1 this December. Longtime Hulk scribe Greg Pak will write, with artist Frank Cho drawing the standalone series.
And just like the female Thor is Thor — not lady-Thor — Cho's Hulk is considered to be the real, green, raging deal.
So what's happened to cause the Hulk to jump from Banner to Cho? The answer to that will come with the arrival of the books, which across the entire Marvel line will skip ahead eight months from the end of the current "Secret Wars" event.
According to Marvel's release: "One thing is for certain — Amadeus Cho is a completely different kind of Hulk. Not tormented, not conflicted. Just a giant green wrecking machine who loves being the Hulk! What could possibly go wrong?"
IMAGE: MARVEL
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