The Hulk is one of the coolest comic book characters to ever come out of Marvel Comics. Influenced by classic literary characters such as Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde and Frankenstein’s monster, The Hulk is a character that offers numerous storytelling possibilities, given the conflict within Doctor Bruce Banner. Though readers have seen Banner and Hulk work together for acts of heroism, they generally despise one another. Banner doesn’t like not being in control and he doesn’t want to be a monster. Hulk meanwhile doesn’t like being caged, and he doesn’t want to be puny! The Hulk is a wildly entertaining character to read in the comics because he is both complex psychologically speaking, and beastly physically speaking. It really wasn’t until the late-2000’s that CGI technology caught-up with The Hulk in a way that could satisfyingly bring Hulk to the big screen though. 2008’s The Incredible Hulk was an impressive start, and with each passing appearance The Hulk has made for Marvel Studios, he has grown to look more realistic.
My favorite Hulk story in the comics was 2006’s Planet Hulk by Greg Pak. This story saw Hulk get banished by The Illuminati to an alien planet called Sakaar where he was enslaved as a Gladiator. What makes this story so enjoyable for me is the fact that it is primarily about Hulk; not Bruce Banner and seeing Hulk smashing his way through an alien world was a lot of fun! The Hulk had never looked better than he did in this series, wearing a gladiator helmet and garb and wielding big and powerful weapons. It was an intimidating and captivating look and was one I’d hoped to see in live action someday for quite some time. Then, in 2017, I got my wish! Though Thor: Ragnarok cannot be fairly called an adaptation of Planet Hulk, a lot of things from that story are there, most notably Gladiator Hulk, and though Hulk’s appearance in the arena was short, it was memorable, and it was awesome! Just like it was in the comics, this was my favorite look for The Hulk!
In the Fall of 2018, my family went on vacation to Universal Studios in Florida. We love the Marvel Superhero Island attraction at Islands of Adventure, and The Incredible Hulk Coaster is for every one of us, one of our favorite rides. It was during this vacation that I wandered into one of the comic book shops in the area (as I always do), and first saw the Hot Toys Gladiator Hulk from Thor: Ragnarok in-person. To say that the figure blew me away would be a gross understatement. The Hulk looked glorious! His outfit. His weapons. His girth! The Hulk was mammoth, and he looked like he’d just stepped out of Grandmaster’s arena! It was the coolest Hot Toy I’d ever seen up-close! I left The Hulk in Florida but talked about how amazing the figure was for like, the rest of our vacation. Given his price, I didn’t put any serious faith in owning him someday, but I did have hopes.
Back home, and in celebration of our wedding anniversary, my wonderful wife surprised me with not only the Planet Hulk Omnibus I’d had my eye on (which was a cool enough gift in its own right), but she freaking gave me the Hot Toys Gladiator Hulk! She ordered him during our trip to be delivered by the time we got home! It was an incredible gesture! Being the dork that I am, I was literally moved to tears! It was such a cool surprise, and to this day, it feels surreal to look up and see Gladiator Hulk on my shelf.
The box that Gladiator Hulk comes in is huge and it is beautiful! The box is mostly green but does have some splashes of color in the spirit of the world Taika Waititi created in Ragnarok. The front of the box has an image of the figure and a Hulk logo. The box, with Hulk and all of his accessories in it, weighs an impressive 12-pounds! Hulk comes with an alternate head sculpt and some extra hands. He can be posed with or without his helmet and his eyes are articulated! From the top of his helmet to his feet, The Hulk stands at an incredible 20-inches, towering over most other Marvel Hot Toys. The face sculpt is flawless. Hulk’s mouth and teeth are so well made, and everything from the muscles throughout the figure to the texture of Hulk’s skin is impressive. His back, his hands, his teeth – everything stands out! Hulk is tall, he is heavy, and his is BIG all over! I love everything about this figure. It is everything that I hoped it would be and will always be one of my most favorite collection pieces.
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