9 Avengers Fates Worse Than Deaths

3. Discovering That A Friend Caused Your Suffering

Age Of Ultron
Marvel Comics

As the story famously goes, Bruce Banner was exposed to extreme gamma rays after rushing to the rescue of young Rick Jones. Of course, that incident resulted in Banner developing a monstrous, rage-filled, hulking alter-ego that has been both a blessing and a curse.

In a major twist, 2014's Original Sin story revealed that Tony Stark had actually had a nefarious hand to play in the creation of the Hulk.

Unfortunately for Tony, this revelation came to light at a time when the Bruce/Hulk dynamic was at one of its Smart Hulk stages. That means that Iron Man was faced with a ferocious, ruthless, beastly frame that was under the control of the mind of Bruce Banner.

For those unfamiliar with Original Sin, the main crux of this arc is the murder of Uatu the Watcher. That death led to a whole host of dirty little secrets coming to the fore, and one such secret was the Armoured Avenger's role in creating the Incredible Hulk.

As was revealed in a flashback, General Ross had hired Tony Stark to increase the strength of the gamma bomb to levels that would have extreme consequences. And what did Stark charge for this work? Why, he merely asked for two bottles of vintage whiskey and a fee of $500,000 per day.

So, not only did Banner discover that his fellow Avenger had played a part in creating the Jade Giant alter-ego who Bruce has spent so many years battling, but Tony also made a huge paycheck from all of this.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.