Marvel Comics: What is the Green Door and how it connects to Hulk

When it comes to the Hulk, there’s not much people know about him. Not for lack of trying. Marvel Comics has changed his story a lot over the years. It's their way of keeping one of their best characters interesting.

Originally, the Hulk was grey. Now he’s normally green (unless he's a different kind of Hulk). Sometimes he speaks like a child and other times he has Bruce’s intellect. As time went on, he developed other personalities. World Breaker Hulk, Joe Fixit, and this writer’s favorite, Devil Hulk. The latter is one of the Jade Giant’s recent personalities.

Devil Hulk was more devious than any of his personalities. He took pleasure in hurting people and was creative with his assaults. In the series that highlights Devil Hulk (Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing), a new part of his lore is revealed - something called the Green Door.

The Green Door and Below-Place

The Green Door is an opening that only gamma-powered characters can see; it leads to something called the Below-Place and it's lorded over by The One Below All. The Below-Place is a realm that’s even lower than Hell and has been around for eons.

Only people with a connection to Gamma can see or access the door. Sometimes, other people have hitched a ride from the Below-Place through someone else's Green Door. In one case, Bruce's father did that and took over Sasquatch's body after his human form (Walter Langkowski) died.

How does this keep Hulks alive

Have you ever wondered why Bruce Banner didn’t die in the accident that turned him into the Hulk? You can thank the Green Door for that. When Bruce Banner was bombarded with gamma radiation, the Green Door opened. Instead of being killed, he became the gamma monster we see today.

Something similar happened to Jennifer Walters when she was shot (The Savage She-Hulk No. 1). Bruce’s blood transfusion saved her life, but also cursed her. As she fell to the Below-Place, The One Below (think the Devil, but scarier and green) said, “You bear my mark.” From then on, Jennifer Walters was connected to the Below-Place. Just like any gamma-mutate.

There hasn’t been much on the Green Door since Immortal Hulk concluded. Joe Fixit, Hulk, and Jackie McGee supposedly locked the Green Door for good. However, Spider-Man villain Digger returned from the dead saying, "There was a Green Door..." Whether or not he returned before or after the door was shut remains to be seen. Nevertheless, there’s no way we’ve seen the last of the Green Door, the One Below All, or the Below Place.

Magical places and cosmic beings never stay contained. At some point, the Green Door will be opened again. If this writer had to guess, Bruce Banner and the Hulk will be the cause. Samuel Sterns may not be in Hell or the Leader, but his infatuation with the Below-Place could reopen the green doors.

Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow to find out if that happens.