The 'She-Hulk' Finale Makes Marvel's Cosmic Family A Bit Bigger
The following story contains spoilers for Episode 9 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, "Whose Show Is This?"
Well that sure was a finale, was it not? She-Hulk:Attorney at Law brought every thread needled throughout its first season together in a finale that included some predictable—Todd was Hulk King after all—and some utterly-unpredictable—including that Disney+ fourth wall break for the ages. And while we saw the return of most of the She-Hulk standouts from throughout the season, including Blonsky, Titania, Daredevil, and even Wong (though we missed Madisynn!), there was one major moment that everyone's talking about: Bruce Banner returning from his sabbatical on Sakaar—and revealing that he has a son, appropriately named Skaar.
Whoa! Bruce is now the third of the original Avengers to be a new parent, coming after Thor (who adopted Gorr the God Butcher's daughter, Love, at the end of Thor: Love & Thunder) and the late Tony (who has a young daughter named Morgan), joining the likes of Clint Barton and Scott Lang, who have been at the whole "parenting" thing for a while.
We'll talk about all of the happenings of the She-Hulk finale—K.E.V.I.N? That X-Men mention? Daredevil???— ad nauseum, don't you worry. But for now, let's hone in on one thing: The Hulk has a son? The Hulk has a son. Here's everything we know about Skaar—where he comes from, what his Marvel Comics history tells us, and what his appearance in She-Hulk could mean in the MCU going forward.
Who is Skaar?
As we lean at the Walters/Banner family BBQ at the end of the episode, Skaar is Bruce Banner's son. You may recall that the car accident that resulted in Jen gaining her She-Hulk powers in the first place was caused by a Sakaaran spaceship hovering in the middle of the road, trying to send Bruce a message; by Episode 2 of the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law season, Bruce was jetting off to Sakaar to figure some stuff out.
Well, by the end of the season, Bruce is back. And stuff has been figured out—in "Whose Show Is This?" he tells everyone about his son. Skaar doesn't speak when introduced, but he's wearing battle gear similar to what we saw Bruce wearing when he was under The Grandmaster's (Jeff Goldblum) control in Thor: Ragnarok. Where things go from here is anyone's guess.
Who is Skaar's mother?
As mentioned above, you may recall that Bruce was stuck on Sakaar—exclusively in The Incredible Hulk form—for two full years, spanning from the time right after Avengers: Age of Ultron (when he flew away in a Quinjet) into the events of Thor: Ragnarok, when he met up with Thor in The Grandmaster's battle arena.
Time moves differently in Sakaar and on different planets, which explains why Skaar appears to be older than just a couple years old. But you may be wondering who Skaar's mother is, which, fair. In the famous "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk" comic arcs, Hulk has a back and forth relationship with Caiera, who is a Shadow Person on Sakaar with "The Old Power," which essentially gives her superpowers. She is initially allied with the Red King, the villain of the story, before turning on him and siding with the Hulk (who becomes Green King), and marrying him.
She dies in an explosion that destroys most of Sakaar, but posthumously (through her otherworldly powers and a cocoon!) gives birth to not one but two sons—Skaar and Hiro-Kala. It remains to be seen if we will meet the second one any time soon in the MCU.
What is Skaar's Marvel Comics history?
Skaar was created by writer Greg Pak and artist John Romita Jr. in the famous "Planet Hulk" Marvel Comics storyline, which ran between 2006 and 2007. Skaar's first appearance was in What If? Planet Hulk #1.
His first canonical appearance, however—What If? comics, much like the MCU series of the same name, exist outside of the main continuity—was in World War Hulk #5. He's also had spin-off arcs and series in his own name, including "Son of Hulk" and Planet Skaar.
Which is all to say—he's a relatively new character, speaking as far as Marvel goes. "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk" are considered two of Marvel's greatest stories ever—so we won't spoil those stories too much. But once Skaar is born (in a cocoon following his mother's death), he ages rapidly, and once he's fully-grown eventually has one main goal: to go to earth and kill his father, The Incredible Hulk.
The MCU seems to have already switched that whole situation up. But we will see what happens.
What does Skaar's presence mean for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Marvel fans have been waiting for another solo Hulk adventure for nearly 15 years, ever since 2008's The Incredible Hulk (which, you may recall, starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner and not Mark Ruffalo). But murky rights issues with Universal have seemingly kept those desires at bay.
But with Hulk jetting off to Sakaar earlier in the series—and now introducing his son, Skaar, at the end of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law—seem to hint that a World War Hulk storyline could finally be coming soon, perhaps even on the big screen.
Hulk's entire Sakaar return and discovery happened off-screen, so that could make for some nice back-and-forth flashbacks in whatever movie is coming. Director Kat Coiro did a very nice job working with Ruffalo in She-Hulk—maybe she'd be game to helm the much-awaited feature film?
Skaar is played by actor Wil Deusner
19-year-old actor Wil Deusner makes his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Skaar in the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law finale. He may not look familiar for multiple reasons: first, well, he's under the same motion capture/CGI technology that Tatiana Maslany (as She-Hulk), Mark Ruffalo (as The Hulk) and Tim Roth (as The Abomination) are all under.
But he's also only had a handful of roles so far in his career: he's got a recurring role in another superhero world, playing Joey Zarick on DC's Stargirl, and also appeared in a couple episodes of Hulu's Shut Eye alongside Jeffrey Donovan back in 2017.
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