The wave of diversity that has swept the comic book world continued Friday, with Marvel Comics revealing that its new Hulk will be Asian. Amadeus Cho, a young genius who has been part of the Hulk/Bruce Banner storyline for years, will become the new Hulk this winter. Marvel editor in chief Axel Alonso and writer Greg Pak revealed the news in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly magazine, confirming rumours of the new Hulk that have swirled since June.
Pak, who wrote Hulk for Marvel in the past, co-created the spunky, chatty and brilliant character with Japanese artist Takeshi Miyazawa almost a decade ago. Cho was initially depicted as a kid genius who was Hulk’s number 1 fan.
“There’s a long tradition in Hulk stories of different people taking on that mantle, and with Amadeus in particular, it just set up a really great dynamic,” Pak told EW. “He’s going to be a very different kind of Hulk. He’s 19 years old, he’s on top of the world, he thinks he’s right about everything … and he might be. Or he might not be. This is a kid who’s got a ridiculous amount of confidence. A lot of it has been justly earned, but he may be in over his head, and he’s going to come in here and he’s determined to be the best Hulk there’s ever been. He loves being the Hulk. And that may cause massive trouble for everyone else in the Marvel Universe.”
The title will also mark the first time Marvel will have a Korean-American lead character written and drawn by a Korean-American creative team (Pak and artist Frank Cho). Amadeus Cho will step into Bruce Banner’s massive green footsteps in Totally Awesome Hulk #1, to be released in December. Banner’s story will continue, but not as the Hulk.
In 2014, Marvel Comics announced its ‘all-new’ Captain America: Sam Wilson, also known as the original Cap’s sidekick Falcon. This isn’t the first time comics creators have shaken up their long-established characters. Lately, many of these character reboots have introduced greater diversity and racial representation into what was traditionally a boys’ club led by straight white male lead characters.
“Come December, arguably the strongest character in the Marvel Universe is going to be Asian-American. And I think that the only person who can dispute that is the female Thor, which I think says a lot about our line,” Alonso said.
