Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first season of She-Hulk: Lawyer She-Hulk.
She-Hulk: Lawyer Hulka has concluded its first season on Disney +. But the biggest reveal of the season one finale involves not Jen Walters, but her cousin Bruce. The Hulk has returned from the planet Sakaar, and has brought his son with him..
That’s right: Skaar has joined the MCU. And if you’re not familiar with this junior Hulk, now is the time to brush up. the tragic history of Skaar and the Planet Hulk saga.
Who is Skar?
She-Hulk’s ending doesn’t reveal much about Skaar (played by Stargirl’s Wil Deusner) or her origin story. He doesn’t even have any dialogue in the brief scene of him at the Walters family picnic. But that scene reveals the most important detail about Skaar. He is the lost son of the Hulk and comes from the planet Sakaar.
In both the comics and the MCU, the Hulk spends a lot of time off Earth and fights his way to victory in the Sakaar gladiatorial arena. In the comics, the Hulk falls in love with a warrior named Caiera and becomes pregnant. Caiera is later killed in an act of sabotage, leading the Hulk to embark on a bloody quest for revenge on Earth (later on). What he doesn’t know is that although Caiera is dead, her son survived the attack. That kid grows up fast one of the most hellish environments in the Marvel Universe and becomes a warrior as strong and fierce as his parents.
Skaar’s superhuman powers
As the son of two of the greatest warriors in the universe, Skar is not far behind. He has inherited strength and healing with gamma powers from his father. Although, unlike the Hulk, Skaar doesn’t get stronger when he gets angrier. Skaar also shares his mother’s ability to harness the Old Power, which allows her to draw energy from a planet’s tectonic plates and even control volcanoes.
Like his father, Skaar can revert to his humanoid form.where it’s clear that underneath all that rage and all that muscle, he’s still basically a kid.
Planet Hulk and the origins of Skaar
Skaar was created by writer Greg Pak and artist John Romita, Jr. and made his official debut at the end of the 2007 Hulk World War crossover. He is a part of the much larger Hulk saga that began in 2005 with Planet Hulk, which deals with the arrival of the Hulk on Sakaar, after the Illuminati banish him from Earth to protect humanity from their wrath. The Hulk first becomes an enslaved gladiator before leading an uprising against the Emperor of Sakaar. After, hulk becomes emperor and rules peacefully alongside Queen Caiera.
Unfortunately for these newlyweds, tragedy strikes when Hulk’s crashed spaceship explodes, killing Caiera and destroying Sakaar’s capital. The Hulk assumes the Illuminati is to blame, so he gathers his Warbound and launches a massive attack on Earth. Only too late does he realize two important truths. It was one of his own warriors who sabotaged the ship, and his son Skaar has survived.
Skaar’s early adventures are chronicled in the follow-up series Skaar: Son of the Hulk. Due to his unusual lineage, Skaar quickly grows to adulthood and is able to survive the harsh Sakarian environment. He eventually defeats his nemesis, the warlord Axeman Bone, and vows to travel to Earth and kill his absent father.
However, the Hulk is a constantly evolving character, and once Skaar arrives he realizes that the “Green Scar” that ruled Sakaar is no more. Skaar finally makes Earth his new home, which means that Hulk has a new challenger for the title of “the strongest that exists”.
That origin story basically sets the tone for Skaar’s entire life. He is a character plunged into tragedy, who loses his parents before he is born and is forced to grow abnormally fast. He spent what little childhood he had fighting for survival, and now he’s an adult Hulk with more problems with his father than Bruce Banner. The Marvel Universe is lucky that Skaar came out so well.
How the MCU has adapted Planet Hulk
2017’s Thor: Ragnarok loosely adapts some plot elements from Planet Hulk. He also has the Hulk travel to Sakaar, become a gladiator in the planet’s fighting pits, and befriend fellow gladiators Miek and Korg. Nevertheless, The tone of the Hulk’s adventure on Sakaar is very different in the MCU.. Ragnarok treats it more like a much-needed vacation than a forced exile from Earth, and the Hulk is less of a slave than a beloved celebrity. He also does not usurp Sakaar’s throne, though he and Thor end up helping hasten the Grandmaster’s downfall by the time they escape the planet.
Obviously, Banner’s story has taken a very different turn in the MCU since his return to Earth, dealing with the events of Avengers: Infinity War and merging his two selves into a single, unified character. Ragnarok certainly didn’t set up a World War Hulk movie. He also didn’t give any indication that Skaar exists in the MCU.
However, She-Hulk: Lawyer She-Hulk reveals that The Hulk has maintained contact with Sakaar over the years.. Previous episodes featured a Sakaaran courier arriving on Earth and the Hulk returning to the planet to take care of some unfinished business. That apparently includes meeting his long-lost son.
It is clear that there’s a lot of story that unfolds off screen right now. We don’t know exactly why the Hulk was called to Sakaar. Was it specifically to confront his son? Or did he return to the planet to help with the political unrest caused by the Grandmaster’s downfall? Ragnarok established that time works differently on Sakaar, so as far as we know, the Hulk was gone for years during his five-episode absence. These are questions that the MCU’s next big Hulk project will need to address.
Where will Skaar appear?
Skaar’s brief appearance in She-Hulk’s ending makes it clear that Marvel has more ambitious plans for father and son. That could mean both characters will appear in She-Hulk Season 2, though Marvel has yet to officially confirm a second season.
We could also see the Hulk and Skaar in Captain America: New World Order in 2024. We already know that Tim Blake Nelson will reprise his role as The Leader in that sequel, so it would make sense to have a Hulk or two in the movie. And if New World Order is anything like Civil War, it will be as much an Avengers movie as it is a solo sequel to Cap.
She-Hulk’s ending also suggests a possible Hulk movie in the near future, although if KEVIN is to be believed, She-Hulk herself will not appear. Marvel has long been rumored to be developing a Hulk World War movie, and this could be Marvel’s way of confirming those rumours.
Having said that, don’t expect a direct adaptation of Planet Hulk or Hulk World War in the MCU. Those stories centered around a version of the Hulk driven by rage and pain. The Hulk of the MCU is in a much better place. But it’s possible we’ll see elements of both stories adapted into a movie or series. That project could address some of the lingering questions surrounding Skaar’s origins and reveal the current state of life on Sakaar. And just like the Hawkeye series saw Clint Barton pass the torch to Kate Bishop, the next Hulk movie could see us Skaar following in his father’s footsteps and becoming the giant, green monster the world needs him to be. .
Where do you think we’ll see Skaar in the MCU? Will a Hulk movie finally be produced? And for more, check out how She-Hulk has transformed Daredevil for the MCU and all the mutants that have already been confirmed.