Maestro (character)

The Maestro is a supervillain from Marvel Comics, first seen in *The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect* #1 (December 1992). Peter David and George Pérez created him. This character is an evil version of the Hulk from an alternate future known as Earth-9200. He combines Bruce Banner’s intellect with the Hulk’s strength and a crueler personality. The Maestro has also appeared in video games and made his animated debut in *Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.*, where Fred Tatasciore provided his voice.

The character debuted as the main antagonist in a two-issue series, *The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect* #1–2 (December 1992–January 1993). The word “maestro” comes from Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, meaning teacher, master, or a musical conductor.

In his backstory, a nuclear war wipes out most of humanity. A.I.M. and MODOK capture the Hulk and other radiation-empowered heroes to study their immunity. About a century later, the Hulk—now retaining Banner’s intelligence—escapes and decides to rebuild civilization. He travels to America, grows disillusioned with its ruin, and discovers survivors living under Washington, D.C. Machine Man guards the entrance and leads the Hulk to their ruler, who the Hulk recognizes as Hercules. Rick Jones later explains that Hercules only cares about ruling humans, sparring, and sex. Though the Hulk feels little urge to help after humanity caused the apocalypse, Rick reminds him that most of his loved ones were ordinary humans. The Hulk then infiltrates the remains of Alchemax to create the Dogs of War, a force to oppose Hercules.

Hercules fights off the Dogs of War, then provokes the Hulk into a duel. He easily defeats the Hulk but spares his life, intending to add him to his entourage. Instead, the Hulk vanishes for years, returning with Vapor of the U-Foes. She fatally poisons Hercules. The Hulk then betrays Vapor, freezes her, shatters her body, and scatters the pieces across a wide area to prevent regeneration. As the Hulk attempts to publicly cremate Hercules’ corpse, Hercules springs back to life, sent by Hades for revenge. Hercules proves too strong, even for the Dogs of War. A former rebel unleashes a weapon Forge designed to kill the Hulk, but the evil Hulk uses it to finally kill Hercules. The Hulk confronts Rick about the failed assassination attempt, but Rick has vanished.