Summary
Contains SPOILERS for AnnIhilation 2099 #3
Marvel’sAnnihilation 2099miniseries introducesa new Red Hulk into Marvel lore, andthis version of the Crimson Goliath has one of the most horrifically grotesque origin stories in the publisher’s history.Lost in space and stranded on Ego the Living Planet, Ross Romero will have to endure the wrath of new cancerous abominations.
Looper released a previewforAnnihilation 2099 #3depicting the long torturous final moments of Ross Romero’s life, after he has been abandoned in space by his team and company. While the constant threat of being consumed by alien Abominations is bad enough, Ross’s greatest problem is starvation.
As the last vestige of his will fades from Romero,the Living Planet heaves and shimmers as a perfectly fleshy fruit springs from the floor. It tastes of iron, but it’s sweet like wine; it’s disgusting but delicious. What follows will certainly tear Ross Romero apart.
Spider-Man 2099 & Wolverine Unite as CONQUEST 2099 Redefines Marvel’s Future
Marvel’s revitalization of the “2099” imprint began with ANNIHILATION, and now the publisher has announced that will be followed by CONQUEST.
The transformation of Bruce Banner into the Hulk has always, to one degree or another, been Marvel’s greatest contribution to the body horror genre. Now,Marvel 2099’sRed Hulk is taking that to an extreme new level.
Pete Woods and Dale Eaglesham
Cover Artists:
Nick Bradshaw and Rachelle Rosenberg
RAGE OF THE RED HULK! Explore ROSS ROMERO’S team ends up mining EGO THE LIVING PLANET! What makes Ross transform into an ALL-NEW RED HULK whose cosmic strength and hyperspace jumps are fueled by the power primordial? And is the new Red Hulk’s power enough to defeat TERRAX, THE PLANET HUNTER?
Thetransformation of Bruce Banner into the Hulkhas always, to one degree or another, been Marvel’s greatest contribution to the body horror genre. Now,Marvel 2099’sRed Hulk is taking that to an extreme new level. As the preview for issue #3 shows, when Ross Romero is left for dead on the sinewy planetary mass ofEgo the Living Planet, he pushes himself to the brink of death to avoid mounds of fleshy bipedal aberrations. Hiding in an undulating cave of organic tissue, Romero drains the last of his resources. There is no food, no water, and no breathable air.
As he laments about his tortuous last days of existence, Ross notes that the air almost feels cleaner. When his throat cracks from dehydration, the celestial body’s water becomes drinkable. In his final moments, as his stomach is left to digest itself, the planet produces a bright red fruit that the abandoned explorer instantly inhales. While ferally consuming the miraculous fruit, Ross Romero begins to feel sick,as readers ofAnnihilation 2099#3 witness the birth of a new cosmic Red Hulk.
Ross Romero’s mutation into the Red Hulk is created by a sentient cosmic force, one that intentionally gifts Romero with the catalyst for his transformation.
Ross Romero’s Transformation Suggests A Sinister Future For The New Red Hulk
Annihilation 2099Continues To Reinvent Familiar Heroes
While most ofMarvel’s other gamma mutateshave their moments of lost control, some more than others, they ultimately possess the executive authority over their own free will. However, Ross Romero’s mutation into the Red Hulk is created by a sentient cosmic force, one that intentionally gifts Romero with the catalyst for his transformation. Ross is terrified by the abominable golems that noticeably share a similar tone with the planet’s landscape. He has yet to realize that the celestial body, the Abominations, and the inexplicable fruit are one and the same.
If, by consuming the planet’s fruit, Romero has exposed himself to the same fleshy organism, then one must wonder if he will remain himself or a puppet of the planet’s will.Annihilation 2099has already introduced dark twists to the lore of some of Marvel’s most iconic characters; if this miniseries is anything like the primary continuity’sAnnihilationevent, the heroes ofMarvel2099 have worse to come. Only time will tell the fate of these perverse characters as darker threats appear on the horizon.
Hulk
The Hulk, a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, is physicist Bruce Banner transformed by gamma radiation. He morphs into a giant, green-skinned creature of immense strength and invulnerability when angered. Struggling with his transformations, Hulk allies with other heroes, battling villains while balancing his intellect with uncontrollable rage, making him a central figure in Marvel’s universe.
