History ComicBook / PlanetHulk

Of course, [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee everything goes horribly wrong]]. The Hulk, who is understandably upset at this turn of events, damages his spaceship, sending it off-course and into a wormhole. The ship crash-lands on the alien planet Sakaar, which is very full of ''not peaceful'' intelligent life. Weakened by his trip through the "Great Portal" (as the locals call it), the Hulk is [[RestrainingBolt implanted with an obedience disk that forces him to obey commands]], then sent to an [[GladiatorGames gladiator arena]] to fight for his freedom. He struggles against his situation, gets mixed up in Sakaarian politics and must ultimately decide the fate of the planet.

The storyline is very popular amongst Hulk fans, in part because it gives the not-so-jolly green giant some actual character development for the first time in years. (Stories prior to this one focused on either Bruce Banner or Banner in The Hulk's body.)

The ending of ''Planet Hulk'' led directly into the ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' storyline. ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' features a ''ComicBook/{{Planet Hulk|2015}}'' mini-series in which [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]] and ComicBook/DevilDinosaur journey into Greenland, a region of Battleworld populated by Hulks.

The "Hulk becomes a gladiator on Sakaar" element of this story was later used in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse movie ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', though in that movie he left Earth on his own instead of being forced into exile after a rampage.

* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: In addition to the big green guy himself, you also have the Sakaar Imperials who have pink skin and the Shadow People who have grey skin. The latter are not native to Sakaar.

* AnyoneCanDie: TheLancer who forms the band of TrueCompanions, the love interest, and a young child whom a significant amount of time is spent protecting all die in the story.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: After a fight between the Hulk and the Thing leaves Las Vegas in ruins and a dozen people dead, the Illuminati - specifically Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, and Black Bolt (Professor X wasn't present and Namor voted no) - decided that Hulk was too dangerous to be allowed on Earth, so they came up with a plan to send him to a peaceful world with no intelligent life. The green behemoth always wanted to be left alone, why not grant his wish? [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee Of course, everything goes horribly wrong.]]
* BloodKnight: A running theme is the inner conflict between Hulk's desire to be left alone and his blood knight tendencies.

* BoxingLessonsForSuperman: Hulk was forced to learn some new techniques to keep up with the other gladiators. Though he seems to learn them very quickly: In his first gladiator battle, ''he already cut the Red King's cheek'':

* ForgingScene: The arc ends with the Hulk and Hiroim forging the sword Hulk would go on to use in ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk''. This is done with the BookEnds narration "This is the story of the Hulk... and how he finally came home." over a shot of the Hulk pointing his still cooling sword at an image of Earth on the screen.

* GladiatorGames

* TheLoad: Miek, at first.

%% Someone wrote after "two dozen people" that this was retconned -- retconned to what? Please explain before adding it back in.

''Planet Hulk'' was a Creator/MarvelComics storyline that ran through 2006, written by Creator/GregPak, with Carlo Pagulayan, Jeffrey Huet, and Chris Sotomayer penciling, inking, and coloring respectively.

The storyline centers on the ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk, naturally. After a fight between The Hulk and The Thing leaves Las Vegas in ruins and kills two dozen people, the group known as [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheIlluminati the Illuminati]][[note]]except for Namor, who opposed the plan, and Professor X who wasn't present at the time[[/note]] decide that the Hulk is too dangerous to live on Earth. Their solution: Trick Hulk into going into a spaceship and send him to a peaceful planet with no intelligent life so he could not hurt anyone, finally granting [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor his wish of being left alone]].

Of course, [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee everything goes horribly wrong]]. The Hulk, who is understandably upset at this turn of events, damages his spaceship, sending it off-course and into a wormhole. The ship crash-lands on the alien planet Sakaar, which is very full of ''unfriendly'' intelligent life. Weakened by his trip through the "Great Portal" (as the locals call it), The Hulk is [[RestrainingBolt implanted with an obedience disk that forces him to obey commands]], then sent to an arena to fight for his freedom.

The "Hulk becomes a gladiator on Sakaar" element of this story was later used in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse movie ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', though in that movie he went to the planet on his own initiative.

The story is revisited for the ''ComicBook/MarvelLegacy'' era in "Return to Planet Hulk" as part of the title rebranding of Amadeus Cho's ''ComicBook/TotallyAwesomeHulk'' back into ''The Incredible Hulk'' as Amadeus is brought to Sakaar unknowingly by those seeking the Worldbreaker.

* AllThereInTheManual: ''Planet Hulk: Gladiator Guidebook'', a special written by Greg Pak in the style of ''The Official Guide to the Marvel Universe'', detailing information about the Planet Sakaar, its people, its political situation, and the characters featured in Planet Hulk.

* WeaksauceWeakness: The spike aliens are weak to fire. Good thing too, otherwise they would have basically overrun the planet.

''Planet Hulk'' is a Creator/MarvelComics storyline that ran through 2006, written by Creator/GregPak, with Carlo Pagulayan, Jeffrey Huet, and Chris Sotomayer penciling, inking, and coloring respectively.

The storyline centers on the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]], naturally. After a fight between The Hulk and The Thing leaves Las Vegas in ruins and kills two dozen people (later {{retcon}}ned), members of the Illuminati--specifically [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]], [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]], ComicBook/DoctorStrange, and [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Black Bolt]]--decided that The Hulk was too dangerous to leave on Earth. Their solution: Send Hulk to a peaceful planet with no intelligent life so he could not hurt anyone, finally granting the green behemoth [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor his wish of being left alone]].

Of course, [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee everything goes horribly wrong.]] The Hulk, who is understandably upset at this turn of events, damages his spaceship; this sends it off-course and into a wormhole. The ship crash lands on the alien planet Sakaar, which is very full of intelligent life--none of which is friendly. Weakened by his trip through the "Great Portal" (as the locals call it), The Hulk is [[RestrainingBolt implanted with an obedience disk that forces him to obey commands]], then sent to an arena to fight for his freedom.

This storyline is very popular amongst Hulk fans, in part because it gives the not-so-jolly green giant some actual character development for the first time in years. (Stories prior to this one focused on either Bruce Banner or Banner in The Hulk's body.)

''Planet Hulk'' was later adapted into [[WesternAnimation/PlanetHulk an animated film]] with the same title; it changed and condensed several aspects of the story (and removed a few characters completely). Despite the changes, it is still considered one of the better Marvel animated films. It is also one of the more violent Marvel movies, thanks to visible displays of blood and a few graphic deaths.

Parts of the ''Planet Hulk'' storyline were adapted in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse movie ''Film/ThorRagnarok''.

* WeaksauceWeakness: The spikes are weak towards fire. Good thing too, otherwise they would have basically overrun the planet.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: This is more or less how Sakaar runs: Though a mixture of hereditary succession, and proving you're the baddest mofo' on the planet. Hulk eventually defeats the Red King, and ends up king himself.