Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Incredible Hulk #16!Hulk fans should be very familiar with the Green Door by now, as it’s been a mainstay in Hulk lore since The Immortal Hulk, and continues to be in the Jade Giant’s current series. However, while fans may think they know the purpose of the Green Door, the latest addition to Hulk mythos proves otherwise, as Marvel Comics just revealed its true purpose, thereby changing Hulk lore forever.

The Incredible Hulk #16 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Danny Earls throws fans into the ancient past of 3600 BCE, back when the first Hulk called Enkidu roamed the land. Enkidu was hunting a monster known as the Eldest. Enkidu defeated the Eldest, but only with the assistance of the One Below All, who channeled his power through the Green Door during their fight. The Eldest recounts this fight in the modern day, explaining to one of the lesser monsters that things will be very different this time when she comes face-to-face with Enkidu’s descendant, the Hulk.

This comic is an excellent history lesson in regard to the Hulk’s ongoing conflict with the Eldest and the Mother of Horrors, but there’s also an understated point about the Green Door in this issue as well: the One Below All utilized the Green Door to keep an eye on the Mother of Horrors’ children on Earth, ensuring they remain dormant. And that’s why these monsters are attacking now, because in The Immortal Hulk, the Green Door was closed forever.

Hulk’s Green Door isn’t Just for Gamma Mutates, but Also Eldritch Monsters

The Green Door First Appeared in Avengers #684

Previously in Marvel Comics, the Green Door was used exclusively by gamma mutates, as it was their passage between the hellish afterlife all gamma mutates are cursed to when they die – the Below-Place – and the mortal world. Gamma is directly connected to the energy of the One Below All, meaning anyone who is mutated by gamma has access to the One Below All’s realm through the Green Door, and when they die, they can travel back through the Green Door again to come back to life.

This is how the Hulk was immortal in The Immortal Hulk, and why the same was true for every other gamma mutate in the Marvel Universe. However, now it has been confirmed that the Green Door wasn’t just something gamma mutates could use to escape death, it was also a way for the One Below All to have a constant link to the mortal world, as well as the creatures who called that world their domain, ie the Mother of Horrors and her children.

The One Below All sought to keep those monsters in-check, using his gamma mutates to do his bidding on Earth. But now that the Green Door is shut (which happened in The Immortal Hulk), the One Below All has lost that connection, allowing the Mother of Horrors’ children to run rampant on Earth.

The Hulk will Have to Reopen the Green Door to Stop the Mother of Horrors

Now that fans know the Green Door was as much used to keep the Mother of Horrors’ monsters at bay as it was to allow gamma mutates access to and from the Below-Place, it seems Hulk has no choice but to reopen the Green Door. The Hulk closed it in the first place to keep the One Below All from taking over the physical realm, but now, the Hulk may have to just trust that the otherworldly god won’t do that, as it seems Hulk will need his help to stop these eldritch monsters once and for all.

While it remains to be seen if the Hulk will, indeed, need to reopen the Green Door after it was closed in The Immortal Hulk to ensure the Mother of Horrors’ defeat, the one thing that has become clear upon reading this issue is the Green Door’s true purpose, something that was never fully explored in Hulk lore until now.

The Incredible Hulk #16 by Marvel Comics is available now.

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.