Immortal Hulk brought a lot of changes to the character and one key aspect has an interesting connection to a particular film from Quentin Tarantino.
A fan-favorite addition to the Hulk’s lore has a surprising connection to beloved director Quentin Tarantino. A terrifying aspect of the acclaimed Immortal Hulk run as a minor, yet fun connection to one of Tarantino’s feature films.
The 2018 series Immortal Hulk was a critically lauded run on the Jade Giant that brought the character back to his more horror-based roots. The series was a deep-dive into Bruce Banner’s mythos that looked at the various personalities of the Hulk. It also provided a cosmic explanation for why Hulk was seemingly able to survive the brutal punishment he’d faced over the years. Immortal Hulk introduced the concept of the Green Door, a barrier that allows those affected by gamma rays to return to life after they die. The Green Door was also connected to a terrifying nexus known as the Below-Place, the home of a terrifying entity known as the One-Below-All.
The Green Door Changed Hulk Lore Forever
The Green Door plays a huge role in Immortal Hulk #10 by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett. Hulk is caught in a battle with his old enemy, Carl Creel, the Absorbing Man. In the middle of the fight, Hulk realizes that whatever is possessing Creel is after gamma radiation and wants more after draining the Hulk. Hulk tries to explain what’s going on to Alpha Flight’s Puck, but the monster inside Creel gets all the gamma he needs and opens the Green Door, swallowing everyone on the battlefield and taking them to the Below-Place. The issue also features the quote “Green door, what’s that secret you’re keeping?” from Marvin Moore’s song, “The Green Door”. Moore’s song was prominently featured in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood, where it seemingly foreshadows actor Rick Dalton’s desperate desire to break back into the Hollywood A-list.
The Green Door Connects Hulk and Quentin Tarantino
There’s a lot of debate on the subject of what “The Green Door” song is actually about – from Prohibition Era speakeasies to an iconic London lesbian club – but it ultimately describes the speaker being repeatedly turned away from a desirable nightspot. However, many of its lyrics are given new meaning in the context of Immortal Hulk. In addition to the lyric featured in the series’ tenth issue, the line “Midnight. One more night without sleeping,” evokes the increasingly strict relationship where Bruce is dominant during the day, and his Hulk persona comes out with its own agenda at night.
The inclusion of Hulk’s alternate gangster persona Joe Fixit – who takes a new form in the series as ‘Sunshine Joe’ – also lends new meaning to, “When I said Joe sent me, someone laughed out loud behind the green door.” There’s even a line that captures the mysterious nature and appearance of the One-Below-All: “Saw an eyeball peep in through a smoky cloud behind the green door.” The concept of figures hidden behind the Green Door laughing at the speaker is darkly true in Immortal Hulk, as first Bruce’s father and then the Leader conspire against him in secret.
Hulk Made “The Green Door” Terrifying
Immortal Hulk and Quentin Tarantino obviously had different ideas in mind with their uses of “The Green Door”. Tarantino used the song to help flesh out the old-school Hollywood feel of Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood while Immortal Hulk took the song in a dark, cosmic direction to add to the Hulk’s mythos. But it goes to show how older media such as songs from yesteryear can take on new life and form surprising connections with unexpected properties. Quentin Tarantino might not be directing a Hulk movie anytime soon, but the two have a bond thanks to their selection of one classic song.
