Name

Current Alias

Aliases

You're fighting against theinevitable,Hulk. I'm simply thefinal product of natural selection. Thestrong survive.I'm the strongest. Isurvived.

Origin[]

The Maestro was a version of theHulk froman alternate future timeline, approximately a hundred years into the future, combining Banner's intelligence with the Hulk's more malevolent aspects. A nuclear war killed almost all of the Earth's superhumans, which was followed up by chemical attacks by theBlack Scythe, bringing humankind to the brink of extinction. Bruce Banner survived the devastation by being kept in stasis byA.I.M. who hoped to use him and energy-based mutates to repopulate the world. Banner eventually escaped from A.I.M.'s compound.^[3]

Hulk then traveled across what remained of theUnited States. When he arrived inWashington, D.C., he discovered a small community of survivors who were descended from employees that worked in theWhite House living in a bunker beneath the White House withMachine Man. That was when Hulk learned that what remained ofNew York City had been remade into the city ofDystopia and ruled by someone calledMaestro. Curious about who Maestro was, Hulk journeyed to Dystopia and discovered that Maestro was the demigod Hercules.^[2]

Hercules quickly got into a fight with Hulk to see if he still had his edge. After Hulk fell into an abandoned subway tunnel, he was approached byDakord andPizfiz friends ofRick Jones who sent him to meet with Jones. Hulk agreed and slipped away. He met with an elderly Rick in his trophy room full of artifacts from dead superheroes and villains. As the two old friends talked, Hulk shocked Rick by telling him that his journey through the ruined world caused him to become disenchanted with humans and that he wouldn't mind if Hercules wiped out everyone in Dystopia out.

Hulk then asked for a lab. Rick told Dakord to take Hulk to what remained ofAlchemax. Hulk searched Alchemax's headquarters for days until he stumbled upon the building's cybernetics lab and a lab used to create numerous clones for unknown purposes. Months later, Hulk tried to rally the people of Dystopia to make him their ruler so they could rebuild civilization outside of Dystopia. In an attempt to convince them of what he was capable of, he showed him hisDogs of War, robotics dogs he created from what he found in Alchemax. When Dystopia's citizens blew him off, Hulk sent his Dogs of War to make them submit.^[5]

Hercules entered the fray and fought off the Dogs of War. He then goaded Hulk into a fight and easily bested him. Hulk eventually submitted, and Hercules spared his life to make him a part of his entourage. Hulk however wanted to make amends, which was actually a ruse so he could plot against Hercules. Hulk vanished for a number of years before returning with the villainVapor. He had Vapor seduce Hercules to get close to him so she could then kill him by transforming into arsine gas. Hulk then turned on Vapor by freezing her, shattering her into pieces, and having those pieces buried over a vast area so she could never regenerate.^[6]

Hulk later held a funeral for Hercules. As he began cremating Hercules' body, he told Dystopia that he was their new ruler. Dystopia's citizens objected and stated that they wanted an election. Hulk attempted to make Dystopia submit with his Dogs of War, but he was attacked by some of Rick Jones' friends with a weapon created byForge. Hulk easily fought them off, but suddenly, Hercules unexpectedly came back to life and easily overpowered Hulk. Before Hercules could kill Hulk, Hercules was killed by hisminister with Forge's weapon who stated that he never liked him. Hulk then went to confront Rick about his friends' failed attempt to kill him but found Rick gone along with his artifacts. Rick then communicated with Hulk remotely, comparing him to his father before trying to kill him with a bomb. Hulk survived the explosion and became the new Maestro, seized control, and became the new ruler of Dystopia.^[7][1]

War and Pax[]

Maestro developed a new movement he called Post-Apocalyptic Existence, or PAX, which would destroy the remaining division in humanity and replace it with a single overload, himself. Maestro implemented this movement by expanding his domain beyond Dystopia to surrounding areas likeConnecticut and the underground community living beneathWashington, D.C., though the community escaped and destroyed their home to spite Maestro.

Maestro also joined forces withDoctor Doom to destroy both A.I.M. and Maestro former team, thePantheon, as they were the two organizations that remained that threatened their plans to rule the world. When A.I.M. and the Pantheon were vanquished, Maestro and Doom turned on each other, leading to a fight between the two that led to Doom's retreat.^[8]

World War M[]

After defeating Doom, Maestro traveled to Los Angeles to conform A.I.M.'s destruction. That was when he unexpectedly attacked by theAndroid Human Torch. The Human Torch's flames were able to hurt Maestro, though he was able to avoid getting burned. After a brief battle, Human Torch fled with Maestro vowing to go after him.^[9]

Maestro followed the Human Torch to the Atlantean city ofPacifica, leading to a confrontation between him andNamor. After Namor failed to convince Maestro to give up his pursuit of rebuilding human civilization and live peacefully in the ocean with him, a fight broke out between the two. Things took a turn when Maestro swung a giant sea creature at Namor's forces, which knocked over a column that killed Namor's wifeNammu and sonLeonard. While Namor was mourning, Maestro tried attacking him but was stopped by Namor's ally theAbomination who survived the nuclear devastation by also being held in stasis by A.I.M. Namor then tried to kill Maestro in revenge, but he, Abomination, and the Human Torch were teleported. Maestro immediately suspected Doom was involved.^[10]

Maestro returned to Dystopia and searched Alchemax for a way to find Doom. However, he was ambushed by Abomination who had teleported from Latveria to fight him. Maestro easily overwhelmed Blonsky, but Blonsky was simply distracting until Namor could appear with aGiganto that was to be used to kill Maestro.^[11]

As Giganto rampaged throughout Dystopia, Maestro struggled to fight it until he threw a spear into its left eye. As Namor fell off Giganto's head, he was suddenly teleported away. Maestro chased after Giganto as it retreated into the ocean and spotted Blonsky hanging onto the creature in an attempt to drown. Maestro rescued Blonsky so he could make him tell him what happened to Namor. Blonsky revealed that Namor was likely back in Latveria and offered to take Maestro there to make Namor pay for attacking Dystopia.^[12]

Maestro and Blonsky were eventually transported to Latveria but were trapped in a prison cell by Doom. The pair were able to escape and split up with Blonsky hacking Doom's computer system while Maestro battled Namor. Maestro was able to knock Namor out but then had to contend with Doom in a battlesuit. Blonsky was able to get to Doom's computer and teleport Banner back to Dystopia while he hacked into Human Torch's system, causing his pyrokinesis to go out of control and kill him, Doom, and Namor.^[13]

Future Imperfect[]

As Maestro ruled Dystopia, he became significantly stronger due to the radiation he absorbed since the war. Dystopia was protected with radiation shielding built to his own designs. Brutal soldiers with hi-tech equipment kept the "peace" and imposed the Maestro's iron will. The Maestro himself dwelt in a grand palace where Hercules formerly lived where a bacchanalian atmosphere reigned.^[14]Shulk survived the war by unknown means while Abomination somehow returned^[15] from Latveria after killing his former allies.^[13] Shulk and Blonsky were mutated and strengthened by the nuclear fallout like Maestro. The pair teamed up to fight Maestro, but they were both defeated with Abomination losing a hand and eye and Shulk being kept in stasis for seven years. Abomination later went on to conquer another area of the world.^[15]

Not long after the war, Rick Jones encountered the reality hopping mutantProteus, who had possessed the body ofan alternate reality Hulk fromthe year 2099. Proteus intended to discard his current body and possess the Maestro. Jones, unaware of his plan, provided a weapon created by Forge, which might have been able to kill Maestro. However, the plan failed when the Maestro was warned by theExiles, who were pursuing Proteus. Proteus possessed a new host and fled to another world, breaking the Maestro's neck during his escape.^[16]

Years later, the Maestro, fully recovered from his injury, encountered a time-travelingGenis-Vell andSpider-Man 2099. Manipulated by the supervillainThanatos, the three battled, but Captain Marvel and Spider-Man eventually returned to their own time, with no consequences for the Maestro.^[17]

Acquiring Doctor Doom's time machine, the rebels opposing the Maestro (led by Rick Jones) eventually decided to bring the "Professor" Hulk forward from the past, hoping that he could defeat Maestro. The Hulk agreed to help them and confronted the Maestro,^[1] but lost due to the Maestro's greater experience, power, willingness to endanger bystanders, and his ability to predict the Hulk's moves in combat. The Maestro broke Hulk's neck to immobilize him, then tried to persuade the incapacitated Hulk that he should side with his future self, telling him that nothing would change when he returned home and he would still be persecuted.

After the Hulk's recovery, the two clashed once more, but despite the Hulk's best efforts, the Maestro was still far too powerful for him. At the last minute, the Maestro was defeated by the use of Doom's time machine, and sent back to the time and place that the Hulk was created: ground zero during the testing of the atomic Gamma Bomb, the only bomb that the Hulk knew the ground zero location of. Appearing next to the bomb itself, Maestro was seemingly killed in the same moment that created the Hulk,^[18] but some part of his consciousness still remained, tied to the skeletal fragments at theGamma Bomb site.

Eventually the Hulk learned that the "homing sense" which had always allowed him to locate ground zero, his "birth" place, was actually attracted to the Maestro's spirit and remains. The Maestro had also been absorbing gamma radiation from the Hulk each time he returned to the site, gradually restoring himself. When the Hulk returned fromCounter-Earth,^[19] he was radiating vast amounts of energy. Maestro finally absorbed enough radiation to restore himself to life, although in a weakened and emaciated form.

Shortly thereafter, the Maestro's body gradually rebuilt itself, but he nonetheless fainted from exhaustion, and was captured byAsgardian trolls, who placed his soul into theDestroyer to empower it. As the Destroyer, he battled the Hulk, but as the Hulk and Maestro shared the same DNA, Hulk's spirit was able to enter the Destroyer and defeat it by slamming its visor shut just as it discharged a disintegration beam. The resulting shock wave sent both the Destroyer, and the rock it had been standing on, plummeting towards the Maestro, just shown as almost fully recovered, and the latter was covered by the rockslide.^[20]

The Hulk briefly titled himself with this alias during a time when shrapnel were lodged within his brain.^{[citation needed]}

• Gamma Mutate Physiology: Maestro's body absorbed a large quantity of radiations which resulted in him developing even greater powers than hismainstream counterpart.^[22]
  • Superhuman Strength: Maestro possesses incredible superhuman strength, surpassing even theHulk, and in a calm state can lift 200 tons and generate destructive shockwaves by clapping his hands or striking the ground. This however is not his true limit as he gets stronger the angrier he becomes.^[22]
    • Superhuman Leaping:' Maestro's incredible strength extends to his legs, enabling him to make leap that cover more than six miles.^[22]
  • Superhuman Stamina: Maestro's adrenaline levels counteract fatigue poisons and while fighting enraged he can maintain peak output for hours on end. He can also hold his breath for over an hour.^[22]
  • Invulnerability: Maestro's durability surpasses even theHulk's and can resist intense heat, cold and great impacts without suffering damage. His great durability allows him to survive in space or in the deepest parts of the ocean as long as he can hold his breath.^[22]
  • Decelerated Aging: Maestro is immune to all terrestrial diseases, highly resistant to pain and possibly even immortal.^[22]
  • Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his great durability Maestro can still be injured but when this happens he can regenerate damaged tissues and even internal organs within moments or minutes. He could heal a broken spine in a couple of days and could even regenerate his whole body after it had been obliterated by a nuclear explosion, although it took him years.^[22]
  • Energy Absorption: Maestro's body can absorb radiation, over the years this has made him even stronger and can aid in his healing from injuries.^[22]

• Genius-Level Intellect: Maestro retains Banner's intelligence, made all the more dangerous by his insanity. He is a skilled engineer and scientist, versed in several fields, most notably nuclear physics.^[22]

• Dissociative Identity Disorder^[3]

• CreatorPeter David has stated on his various message boards that the Maestro was intended to be simply an insane evil alternate version of his Merged Hulk and not a separate personality within Banner.

• 'Maestro' is Spanish and Italian for 'teacher' or 'master.' In English, Finnish, Turkish, Serbo-Croatian, and Portuguese the word is commonly used for orchestra conductors or classical music composers.
• Bruce may have been agnostic. He doesn't worshipGod, but whether he believed in God is unclear.^[2]
• He initially earned the nickname "Maestro" in college due to being so ahead in his studies.^[2]

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