The Maestro
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NOTE: Given that the Maestro is a Hulk from an alternative universe,
I have decided to put him into the Enemies
section instead of the Incarnations
page.
Real Name:Bruce Banner
First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk #1 (kinda) Future Imperfect
#1
Origin: Future Imperfect #1
Powers/Abilities: The Maestro has the exact same abilities as the
Hulk but at a higher level due to the years of gamma absorption.
Artist Representation Gallery
Origin: The Maestro comes from an alternate reality where nuclear
wars destroyed the world's heroes and most of it's population, leaving
a barren, barely livable planet. While the few humans were trying
to survive miles beneath the surface, the Hulk, driven insane by the
radiation and power, built a city which protected people from the
radiation. The Hulk renamed himself the Maestro and allowed you to
live in the city as long as you did what you were told and gave him
whatever he wanted.
GREAT MOMENTS IN HISTORY
Future Imperfect #1:THe Minister goes to the palace and disturbs
the Maestro during extra-curricular activies to tell him that the
Hulk has been spotted in the city. Later, some of the Maestro soldiers
catch Pizfz,one of the rebels, and hold him hostage. Maestro comes
in and offers Pizfiz the chance to live and reap rewards if he tells
them where the rebels are located. Pizfiz spits in the Maestro's face.
The Maestro gets extremely upset and is about to hit Pizfiz, killing
him, when the Minister stops the Maestro and tells him that is exactly
what Pizfiz wants. If the Maestro kills him, then he can't tell them
where the rebels are. The Maestro thanks the Minister for stopping
him. The Minister uses a machine which shows what Pizfiz was doing
48 hours previously which was basically go back in time with Janis
Jones to give Rick Jones a message from the future. The Maestro
gets bored of what they were watching and wants to find out how they
went back in time. The Minister warns that jumping around too much
can damage the mind. The Maestro says he doesn't care and just to
do it. Pizfiz's memories show the rebels tasting Doctor Doom's time
machine and the old Rick Jones giving a note to Janis
to give to his younger self. Pizfiz's mind suddenly shuts down and
is wiped clean due to the stress. Realizing that Pizfiz is now useless,
the Maestro crushes his head with his fist and walks away. The Minister
and soldiers lead the Maestro to a section of the city they have suspected
the rebels to be located near and Pizfiz's memories confirm their
suspisions. The Minister says that the depth at which the rebels are
located has also prevented them from doing anything. The Maestro just
starts to tear up the ground and dig down. The Maestro finally makes
it to the rebel base and tells the soldiers to go find the rebels
but to leave the big green one to him. The soldiers go into the base
and are all killed by bobbie-traps. The Maestro walks through all
the traps and gets mad because they are ruinging his close. He gets
to the end of the traps and demands for the rebles to show themselves.
The Hulk raises from the floor and the two come face to face.
Future Imperfect #2: The Maestro and the Hulk fight each other
in the city. At one point, the Maestro threatens to kill a girl and
the Hulk tries to call the bluff but when the Maestro starts to slam
the girl into the ground, the Hulk runs forward and gets a sucker
punch. During the battle, the Maestro antagnizes the Hulk about how
he knows everything the Hulk is going to do during the fight and that
the rebels should have brought someone else back in time to stop him.
The Hulk manages to catch the Maestro by surprise and knocks him into
a building. The building collapses and while the Hulk is trying to
save people buried in the rubble, the Maestro comes up behind the
Hulk and breaks the Hulk's neck. As everything turns black for the
Hulk, he hears the Meastro telling him he is not going to die. While
the Maestro sits on his throne surrounded by women, the Minister makes
mention of the Hulk's screams. The Maestro tells the Minister that
he is killing the Hulk with kindness as he orders some of the women
to go to the Hulk and help him "relax" (the Hulk's neck was broken
so he could not move his arms or legs). Later, the Maestro arranges
for the Hulk to get around in a chair that floats. He makes a sarcastic
remark to the Hulk wherein the Hulk says that if he could kill himself
right there, he would just to end the existence of the Maestro. The
Maestro gets a gun from the Minister and gives it to the Hulk, who
has healed enough to move his fingers. The Maestro dares the Hulk
to shoot himself. The Hulk doesn't believe the Maestro would put himself
at that much risk. The Maestro tells the Hulk that he has no memory
of what the Hulk is currently experiencing so the rebels plucked him
from an alternative timeline so if he kills himself, it would not
affect him. The Hulk says counters with the Maestro is lying about
not remembering because he heard it when he experienced it as the
Hulk and is just trying to trick him. The Maestro just dares him again
but the Hulk can't bring himself to do it. Later, the Maestro takes
the Hulk out of the city to the wastelands where some people still
try to survive. He greets the leader of the people and asks where
his daughter is. The leader tells the Maestro that his daughter is
scrawny and ugly. The Maestro doesn't like the answer but before anything
more happens, the daughter steps up and presents herself to the Maestro.
The Maestro looks her over and finds her satisfactory and takes her
with him back to the palace. In return, he gives the people enough
food to last until their crops come in. The Hulk asks why the Maestro
doesn't let those people live in the city. The Maestro tells the Hulk
that his resources are finite plus the people are ugly so he wouldn't
want them making his city depressing. He tells the Hulk that he is
slowly releasing nutrients into the ground so that eventually they
will be able to make a living out of the crops. While one of the Maestro's
slaves helps the Hulk get ready for a banquet, the Maestro tells the
Hulk he knew from experience that a broken neck would not kill him
but would be the longest to heal back from. At the banquet, the Maestro
tells the Hulk not to judge him because he has not gone through what
he has. After all the world has put him through, the Maestro figures
he is due to rule it. He offers the Hulk the chance to rule by his
side and tells him to sleep on the decision. The rebels dig up from
underground to the Hulk's room and they and the Hulk (who was actually
healed and faking still being hurt) make the Minister lead them to
where the Maestro is staying. The Hulk goes to break down the door
and as he does, the Maestro fires a powerful weapon Forge created
years ago to stop the Hulk. The Maestro tells the rebels he knew that
the Hulk was faking still being hurt and that they would come rescue
him and he allowed it so that they would all be in one spot and he
can get rid of them all at once. As fighting erupts, the Maestro looks
for the injured Hulk, who has crawled away. Before he goes to look
for the Hulk, the Maestro breaks the neck of the Minister, knowing
that the Minister had tried to assassinate the Hulk in his sleep.
The Maestro follows the blood trail underground back to the rebel
hideout. He finds Rick Jones and throws a punch at him and Rick brings
up Captain America's shield just in time. Unfortunately the force
of the hit sends him flying back into Wolverine's skeleton and Rick
is impaled on Wolverine's claws. The Maestro laughs at the irony.
As the Maestro walks away, the Hulk picks up the shield and throws
it at the Maestro's chest and tries to cut him in half. The two fight
but the Hulk is too injured and the Maestro easily brings the Hulk
down. The Hulk crawls further into Rick's lab and the Maestro follows
him telling him that it is survival of the fittest. The Maestro tells
the Hulk that he is the future but the Hulk tells him he is history
and touchs a button. The Maestro asks what the Hulk has done as he
realizes that the Hulk has activated Doctor Doom's time machine with
him standing on it. The Maestro finds himself standing in the desert
and figures no matter where he is, he will just conquer the people.
He sees a young kid running in the distance followed by a man in white
coat. He finally realizes who it is as he turns around and finds himself
standing right beside the gamma bomb that created the Hulk in the
first place. The bomb goes off, atomizing the Maestro while at the
same time creating the Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk #460: While Bruce Banner and the Hulk try
to merge back into one being, Bruce has visions in his mind. At one
point, he meets the Maestro, who tells him that death does not mean
the same for them as it does other people. Given time, the Hulk will
always come back. The Maestro then explains that the Hulk has always
been drawn back to the site of the gamma bomb explosion by the soul
of the Maestro calling him back. The purpose was to draw off gamma
radiation from the Hulk to reform his body and come back to life.
Bruce doesn't believe him. The Hulk and Bruce Banner merge back together
at the site of the gamma bomb explosion, releasing large amounts of
gamma radiation. Hours after he has left, a very thin looking Maestro
pulls himself out the pit that was created although he is barely alive.
The Incredible Hulk #461: The still weak Maestro stumbles through
the desert until he finally collapses, not able to go any further.
He lies there until a group of trolls come and pick up his body and
take it away. Later, while Bruce and General Ross are having a conversation
at a diner, trolls come out of the ground in front of the restaurant,
followed by the Destroyer. The Maestro, whose soul is in the body
of the armored Destroyer, tells Bruce that he could sense where he
was since they are linked. The Hulk doesn't recognize that the Maestro's
soul is possessing the Destroyers shell. The Hulk and Destroyer/Maestro
start to fight as the Destroyer/Maestro sets the trolls onto General
Ross. The Hulk sees Ross in trouble and also notices the Destroyer/Maestro
charging his disintegration beam so the Hulk ducks just in time and
causes the beam to destroy the trolls. The Hulk and Destroyer/Maestro
fight further and Destroyer/Maestro causes bleeding and a large amount
of injury to the Hulk. The Hulk begins to figureout subconsciously
exactly who he is fighting. The Destroyer/Maestro walks forward towards
the Hulk and steps in a pool of the Hulk's blood. The shell of the
Destroyer sees the Hulk's soul as the same as the Maestro's soul,
so he sucks the Hulk's soul into him as well. The two souls fight
for control of the Destroyer shell, as the trolls watch the Maestro's
body writhe in the depths below. The Maestro figures to at least destroy
the Hulk's body so he charges up the disintergration beam. The Hulk
forces the Destroyer's visor shut just as the beam goes off causing
a huge backlash. The shell of the Destroyer falls back into the pit
with the trolls and the Maestro's body, causing a cave in and killing
everyone in the process.
Captain Marvel Vol 3 #29: Captain Marvel and Spider-Man from
2099 travel in time and land in a large castle. Suddenly, the Maestro
comes in and asks the Minister if they had invited any guests.
The Incredible Hulk #457: The Maestro starts to battle Captain
Marvel and Spider-Man 2099. The Maestro grabs Captain Marvel by each
hand and also thinks he is the original Captain Marvel with a new
costume. He forces Captain Marvel to strike his bands together and
is surprised when Rick Jones doesn't appear. Captain Marvel was just
waiting for innocent people to leave the throne room and since they
have, Captain Marvel lets loose and sends the Maestro flying outside.
Spider-Man 2099 webs the Maestro's face and Spidey and Captain Marvel
attack him. The webbing ticks off the Maestro enough that he decides
to go get Spidey first but Captain Marvel flies inbetween and is about
to hit the Maestro with a blast when he disappears. The Maestro just
looks a Spidey and charges him. The Maestro gets ahold of Spidey and
is about to tear him apart when Spidey disappears also.
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