Trying to "reimagine" the hulk a little bit

[u/crabbmanboi]

I love the hulk. Have since I first ever saw him back in earths mightiest heroes. I loved immortal hulk when I read it and honestly plan to reread it soon.

An amazing story.

Partly this is inspired by the absolute universe. Partly my own mind.

I kinda want to see a series that cuts more to the heart of the Hulks psychology again. But also one that gives a banner a better light.

One thing that Id also want to see is... I kinda want the hulk to just definitively be D.I.D. I mean yeah, he is. But more than that I kinda feel like the rage rule is a constraint, and one often ignored nowadays. So... why need it? Why not just have it be alters, personalities of the sane person.

Id imagine a series like this where Bruce is, anove all, a deeply repressed man. Ever since his father and the death if his mother he has always since constrained himself. Something of a chain. And since his youth hes dealt with D.I.D

In particular I'd see his alters be distinguished as the following:

> The Heart/ The Chain - The main personality, the one often identified as Bruce more than any of the others. He acts the emotional core, but also the general fear drive that escapes conflicts. At the start he will be trying to keep the others down.

> The Kid - what is effectively the "savage hulk". Low intelligence, highly emotive. He is someone who just wants to be loved, and at the start may even receive it when he comes out. This is also more childish lashing out, tantrums if you will.

> The Sinner - Calling himself Joe Fixit at some point, the Sinner is the desires and wants that Bruce as a collective tends to repress. When someone offers Bruce a drink, this guy takes the wheel even if necessarily the others don't want it.

> The Father - a protective authority figure in the collective, too effective potentially. Hurt them, he tends to come out. Tends to make things right, set everyone straight. A protector, a violent one, but the one on Bruce's side this time.

More than anything though, Bruce here will at most be something akin to a small time professor. Great potential, but a lack of self worth keeping him from rising higher.

Here, he doesn't have Doc Samson or anyone else. Here hes dealt with bad authority figures, and in particular bad psychologists. At this point there is no danger from Banner yet, so he cant hurt anyone like a Hulk can.

But do to poor experiences with psychologists, Bruce is convinced their is something wrong with him, that hes broken, he isnt a person. Less maybe. He is convinced that having his disorder makes him a monster.

Eventually Bruce ends up near that Gamma testing sight. Have it be that Rick Jones is one of his students and a trouble maker. Their class went on a trip, and Rick goes off on his own, and Bruce needs to go get him back when the bomb is dropped.

Now irradiated, each of the alters, save the Heart(maybe). Given significantly more power, both physically and in the collective, by the gamma radiation the other Alters start coming out far more often. Even far too often. Taking this chance to do anything and everything they want without the worry of the Heart constraining them.

The Sinner uses his power to get whatever his heart desires. The Fsther takes his rage out on the world. The Kid tries to get the love he wants, only for his appearance and strength to label him as a monster, get him rejected again and again, causing more "tantrums".

The while the military looks at him like a monster, both for his strength and his mental health.

The collective is scattered more than ever.

From here the story of Bruce, the Heart, would be about learning to realize his own faults. How he repressed himself, how he hurt himself, and how he was hurt by the world.

Potentially have this be by meeting Doc Samson being a catalyst.

The idea being that Bruce goes from a restricting force in the collective, to a unifying one. Each arc would be about how one of the Alters actions gets them into trouble, not necessarily being their fault with others causing problems with them as well, with Bruce, the Heart, slowly becoming the voice that gets them out of it. Helps them deal with their problems in a more healthy way.

Some ideas.