Meet Amadeus Cho, the New & 'Totally Awesome Hulk' From Marvel

Marvel is making history as it introduces Amadeus Cho as the "Totally Awesome Hulk." The comic series, which will hit stores in December, will be the first time ever, in Marvel's history, when a Korean-American character takes lead. Additionally, the story will be written and the character drawn by Korean-Americans Greg Pak and Francis Cho.  

In June, Marvel's editor-in-chief, Axel Alonso, announced a new direction to which Marvel is planning to take its readers - the All-New All-Different Marvel. When he made the announcement, he also made the promise to take readers into a "universe comprised of bold new landscapes populated with characters and teams both familiar and brand-new." Davide Gabriel, Marvel's SVP of Sales and Marketing, added that it "is going to be an absolute game changer for Marvel.

Having Amadeus Cho as the new "Totally Awesome Hulk," is part of delivering that promise. "One of the things that's going to be special about it is that you have three creators who are working on what I would consider to be most high-profile Asian-American superhero you've seen. Come December, arguably the strongest character in the Marvel Universe is going to be Asian-American," Alonso told Entertainment Weekly.

Alonso further explained that Amadeus, whom he described as the 98-pound weakling, is perfect as Hulk because of two important aspects. One is that "physically, he's like Banner," and second "he's so different from Banner."

"He's so different - he's a teenage kid, who's hasn't lived much yet. When Banner inherited the burden of being the Hulk, he was an adult. Amadeus is a plucky kid. He's got a chip on his shoulder, he's the fifth or sixth smartest guy in the world according to the official rankings, and I think he's just going to carry himself very differently with that power," Alonso said.

Writer Greg Pak agreed, saying Amadeus is just 19 years old but already is full of a "ridiculous amount of confidence" that may actually spell trouble for everyone else in the Marvel Universe.

With Amadeus taking on Hulk, Alonso said Banner will not be left in the Marvel Universe. Actually, readers will be seeing how Banner's life can be as fascinating now that he had unloaded the burden of being Hulk. Alonso assured that Banner's story is "far from being finished," to which Pak seconded saying, "there's a big mystery of what exactly is going on with Banner and exactly what happened with Banner, and what state he's in now."

On that note, Pak revealed that the story of the "Totally Awesome Hulk" will be told on three levels. There will be a big monster hunt for the physical plotline; there will also be the mystery of what happened to Banner; and then an emotional plotline where characters will "grapple with some real things."

Pak teased that there will be brand new characters. Among them is a girl that will serve as "great foil for Amadeus" and a big villainous character which is an original creation from artist Cho. Alonso further teased that there are gems in "Totally Awesome Hulk" that will be of significance to the entire Marvel Universe.