Captain America's Description of Hulk Is the Damning Last Word on Bruce Banner

Summary Captain America condemns the Hulk as the most destructive being in human history in Avengers: Twilight #6.

The Hulk's mind is controlled by the Red Skull in a dystopian future, leading to chaos and a damning portrayal.

Captain America's disdain for the Hulk is not new, as he has expressed it multiple times, including in Nova Vol. 5 #23.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Avengers: Twilight #6! Despite being one of the founding Avengers, the Hulk has a long history of being reviled by his fellow superheroes, including and especially Captain America. And now, in the dystopian future shaped by the Red Skull, Captain America faces a version of the Hulk that proves every anxiety that Avengers had about the Green Goliath correct, which is spelled out clear as day in Steve Rogers’ description of the Hulk, one that acts as the damning last word on Bruce Banner.

In a preview for Avengers: Twilight #6 by Chip Zdarsky and Daniel Acuña, the Avengers are engaged in an epic final battle against the Red Skull. While the heroes had the villain on the ropes in the last issue, the tide turned in the Red Skull’s favor when he unleashed his secret weapon: the Hulk.

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The Hulk’s mind has been hijacked and controlled by the totalitarian regime the Red Skull turned the U.S. government into. As the Hulk is causing utter chaos, Captain America tells readers exactly what he thinks of the Mean Green, describing him as “The most destructive being in all of human history".

Related "In Space, Strength Doesn't Mean Squat": The MCU Still Has 1 Hulk-Beating Avenger Left to Introduce Hulk has faced his fair-share of worthy challengers in the MCU - Avengers & villains alike - but there's one who still needs to make their MCU debut.

Captain America Cements the Hulk’s Legacy as One of Destruction

The Hulk has always been a character that rides the line between hero and villain, but in a totally unique way. He’s not an antihero, and he’s also not malicious. The Hulk is simply the inner rage brewing within the mind of a survivor of childhood abuse made manifest. Hulk is a sentient rage monster, and the source of his strength comes from otherworldly forces directly connected to the One Above All (as explained in The Immortal Hulk), meaning he’s quite literally a mortal with the power of a god.

While the Hulk can keep his strength in-check enough to be a formidable Avenger, sometimes it’s too much for him to handle, and he turns into a being of pure destruction. That being said, the Hulk has also done immense good for humanity, and has contributed to the salvation of the entire universe on more than one occasion. However, with these final words on the Hulk uttered by Captain America, all the Hulk’s previous heroic feats have become null and void.

This is the final chapter of the Avengers in the ‘Twilight’ universe, meaning how the Hulk is described here is how he will be remembered for the rest of human history - and Captain America labeled him as a being of mass destruction, nothing more.

Avengers: Twilight Isn’t the First Time Captain America Expressed His Disdain for the Hulk

Nova Vol. 5 #23 by Gerry Duggan and David Baleon

While most of the Avengers have been wary of the Hulk since the beginning of the team’s existence (indeed, they kicked him off the team in Avengers #2), Captain America has perhaps the most notable history of expressing his disdain for the Hulk, which makes his comments in Avengers: Twilight all the more fitting. One example is shown in Nova #23, when the Hulk (who, interestingly enough, was corrupted by the Red Skull just like in Avengers: Twilight) is causing chaos across the country, and Captain America reveals the cold-hearted truth that, “I didn’t like him before his morals were compromised”.

This preview for Avengers: Twilight is only the most recent case of the Avengers - specifically, Captain America - expressing their dislike, distrust, and general disdain for the Hulk. But this one stands out from the rest, as it takes place in an alternate future that will surely mark the end of the Avengers. And at the end of his life, as he’s fighting for the very lifeblood of the nation that made him a superhero, Captain America utters the damning last word on Bruce Banner with his brutal final description of the Hulk.

Avengers: Twilight #6 by Marvel Comics is available May 29, 2024.