The Maestro is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Peter David and artist George Pérez, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect #1 (December 1992). Depicted as an evil version of the Hulk from an alternate future (designated by Marvel as Earth-9200), the Maestro possesses Bruce Banner's intelligence and the Hulk's strength and more malevolent personality traits.
The Maestro has appeared in video games, and made his animation debut in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
Publication history The Maestro first appeared as the main antagonist in The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect #1-2 (December 1992–January 1993). The character was created by Peter David and George Pérez.
The term maestro is an Italian/Spanish/Portuguese word meaning teacher, master or a musical conductor.
Fictional character biography After a nuclear war destroys most of the human race, A.I.M. and MODOK capture the Hulk and other radiation-empowered heroes to recreate their immunity to radiation. About one hundred years later, the Hulk (now in a state where he retains Bruce Banner's intelligence) escapes and decides to rebuild the world himself.Maestro #1 (October 2020) Traveling to America, he becomes disheartened with the state of the country, until he finds people still alive under Washington. The entrance is guarded by the Machine Man, who leads the Hulk to the ruler of the survivors, the 'Maestro', who the Hulk recognizes as Hercules.Maestro #2 (November 2020) Afterwards, Hulk meets with Rick Jones, who explains that Hercules is only interested in ruling humans, having sparring matches, and sex. Although the Hulk expresses little interest in helping people after they caused the apocalypse, when Rick reminds him that most of the people close to Hulk were just normal humans, he infiltrates the remains of Alchemax to create the Dogs of War to oppose Hercules's forces.Maestro #3 (December 2020)
Hercules enters the fray and fights off the Dogs of War. He then goads Hulk into a fight and easily bests him, sparing his life to make him a part of his entourage. Hulk instead vanishes for a number of years before returning with U-Foes member Vapor, who fatally poisons Hercules. Hulk then betrays Vapor, freezes her body, shatters her into pieces, and has the pieces buried over a vast area so she can never regenerate.Maestro #4 (January 2021) As Hulk tries to publicly cremate Hercules' corpse, he springs back to life, sent by Hades to enact his revenge. Hercules proves too powerful a physical threat and even the Dogs of War are no challenge for him. When a former member of Rick's rebels unleashes a weapon designed by Forge years previously to kill Hulk, the evil Hulk manages to use it to kill Hercules once and for all. Hulk confronts Rick about his friends' failed attempt to kill him, but finds him gone. Rick contacts Hulk remotely, comparing him to his father Brian Banner, before trying to kill him with a bomb. Hulk survives the explosion.Maestro #5 (February 2021)
Maestro develops a new movement he calls Post-Apocalyptic Existence, or PAX, which will destroy the remaining divisions in humanity and replace it with a single overlord: himself. Maestro implements this movement by expanding his domain beyond Dystopia to surrounding areas like Connecticut and the underground community living beneath Washington, D.C., though the community escaped and destroyed their home to spite Maestro. Maestro also joins forces with Doctor Doom to destroy both A.I.M. and Maestro's former team the Pantheon as they threaten their plans to rule the world. When A.I.M. and the Pantheon are vanquished, Maestro and Doom turn on each other, leading to a fight between the two and Doom retreating.Maestro: War and Pax #1-5 (2021). Marvel Comics.
Driven insane by the devastation of everything he has lost, along with gaining strength from the excess radiation he absorbed from the nuclear fallout, Hulk adopts the title of "Maestro". An elderly Rick Jones encounters the reality-hopping mutant Proteus, who has possessed the body of an alternate reality Hulk from the year 2099. Proteus intends to discard his current body and possess the Maestro. Rick, unaware of Proteus' plan, provides him with Forge's weapon, which may be able to kill Maestro. The plan fails when the Maestro is warned by the Exiles, who are pursuing Proteus. Proteus possesses a new host and flees to another world, breaking the Maestro's neck during his escape.Exiles #80 (July 2006)
Years later, the Maestro (fully recovered from his injury) encounters a time-traveling Genis-Vell and Spider-Man from 2099. Manipulated by the supervillain Thanatos, the three battle. Genis-Vell and Spider-Man 2099 return to their own time, with no consequence for the Maestro, when the elderly Rick uses his ability to wield Thor's hammer Mjolnir to defeat Thanatos.Captain Marvel (vol. 3) #27-30 (March–May 2002)
Acquiring Doctor Doom's time machine, the rebels opposing the Maestro bring the Professor Hulk forward from the past, hoping that he can defeat the Maestro. Although Hulk's ability to improvise allows him to score some effective blows against the Maestro, the Maestro's superior strength and experience, combined with his knowledge of the Hulk's strategies, allow him to easily dominate the Hulk and break his neck. Knowing Hulk will soon heal, he shows Hulk around the city, attempting to convince his younger self to side with him. The Maestro is defeated when the Hulk lures him back into the rebel's base—the Maestro throwing Rick Jones into Wolverine's skeleton in the process— and uses Doom's time machine to send the Maestro back in time to ground zero during the testing of the original Gamma Bomb. The Maestro is killed in the same moment that creates the Hulk. Hulk: Future Imperfect #2 January 1993
Hulk learns that the "homing sense" that has always allowed him to locate ground zero, his "birth" place, is actually attracted to the Maestro's spirit. The Maestro has been absorbing gamma radiation from the Hulk each time he returns, gradually restoring himself. He emerges in a weakened and emaciated form, but is retrieved by a group of Asgardian rock trolls.The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #460 (January 1998) The Maestro attempts to use the Destroyer against the Hulk, the trolls having provided him with the armor as a weapon to compensate for his current weakness. He is driven out when the Hulk manages to transmit his soul into the Destroyer as well, exploiting the fact that the Maestro is still technically him, and forces the Maestro back into his still-weakened body, which is last seen buried in a small rockslide along with the trolls.The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #461 (February 1998)
After Banner is shot in the head, the subsequent attempt to treat the brain damage with Extremis creates the persona of Doc Green, a version of the Hulk with Banner's intelligence. Green sets out to hunt down and 'cure' other gamma mutates, but in the process he begins to experience dream-like visions of the Maestro, creating the possibility that Green would eventually become his dark future self.Hulk (vol. 3) #9 (February 2015) Green recognizes the potential dangers of the 'Maestro' aspects of his personality when he realizes that part of him enjoyed eliminating his 'rivals', deciding to accept the eventual loss of his intellect as Extremis wears off rather than risk that persona emerging. He leaves the cure with She-Hulk and instructs her to use it on him if he goes too far.Hulk (vol. 3) #16 (July 2015)
Variations Next Avengers version In the continuation of the Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow continuity featured in Avengers (vol. 4), Bruce Banner has become the Maestro, leading the resistance against the returned Ultron along with Iron Man and Spider-Girl (Felicity Hardy, the daughter of Spider-Man and the Black Cat, across the split timelines Earth-10943 and Earth-10071.Bendis, Brian Michael (w). Romita Jr., John (a). Avengers (vol. 4) #1–6 (May–October 2010). Marvel Comics.
A+X version At some point, the Maestro (or an alternate universe version of him) is sent back in time alongside the "Days of Future Past" version of Wolverine as part of a secret assignment. The two end up battling their present-day Earth-616 counterparts before being forced to flee. They are sent back to an alternate future where Red Hulk is the President of the United States of America, where it is revealed that he sent the two to kill the Earth-616 version of Red Hulk to save the world.A+X #1 (October 2012). Marvel Comics.
2099 version When Spider-Man 2099 attempts to return to his own time after the events of Spider-Verse, he ends up in a world accidentally devastated by Alchemax and ruled by the Maestro who mistakes Miguel for the original Spider-Man. The Maestro beats Miguel into submission and places him in a cell with Strange 2099.Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #9 (April 2015) The Maestro travels back to present day by having the demon possessing Strange manipulate Miguel into repairing Doctor Doom's Time Platform.Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #10 (May 2015) The Maestro timeline is described by Miguel O'Hara as having overwritten his original 2099 timeline. Miguel seemingly slays the Maestro with a weapon from the villain's trophy room, but it is later shown that the Maestro feigned defeat to follow Miguel back to the present day.
Battleworld Maestro After Doctor Doom incorporates the "Future Imperfect" timeline into his new Battleworld in "Secret Wars", the Maestro resurfaces as the ruler of the domain called Dystopia. He poses as a depowered Odin to gain the trust of the resistance movement, and confronts the resistance's leader Thunderbolt Ross (this reality's version of the Thing).Future Imperfect #1 (August 2015) After a brutal fight, the Maestro offers to release Dystopia from his tyrannical rule if Ross can help him kill God Emperor Doom.Future Imperfect #2 (September 2015) To this end, the Maestro sets out to find the Destroyer in another zone of Battleworld. Although he tracks it to a region of Asgardia where it is guarded by Ulik, he is shocked to learn that its final line of defense is the 'Ancient One', an elderly Rick Jones.Future Imperfect #4 (October 2015) After merging with the Destroyer, the Maestro kills God Emperor Doom and conquers Battleworld. It is revealed that the entire battle was an illusion that has ensnared Maestro. Believing himself to be victorious, Maestro reverts to his human form, with Rick stating that he'll remain trapped in the illusion until he dies.Future Imperfect #5 (November 2015)
Eight months later, in the "All-New, All-Different Marvel" branding, the Maestro is seen working for the Collector as his "Summoner" in the new Contest of Champions.Contest of Champions #1 (December 2015) The Collector apparently saved the Maestro from his fate and feels the villain owes him his life as a result, though the Maestro is less than grateful. He is seen scheming to find a way to kill the Collector and escape his servitude.Contest of Champions #2 (January 2016) After assuming control of the Power Primordial contained within the Iso-Sphere that the Grandmaster and Collector were competing for, Maestro recreates Battleworld.Contest of Champions #6 (May 2016) He is defeated after Outlaw destroys the Iso-Sphere, and is later imprisoned in the Collector's display room.Contest of Champions #10 (September 2016)
King A Maestro from an unidentified alternate reality arrives in the Old Man Logan reality where he rounded up the surviving members of the Hulk Gang, planning to help them build a paradise for all Hulks on Earth-616. With help from Cambria Banner, Logan and Hawkeye of Earth-616 were able to defeat Maestro, and the surviving members of the Hulk Gang went their separate ways.Old Man Logan (vol. 2) #25-30 (August 2017-January 2018)