In an alternate future of the Marvel universe, a nuclear war killed most of humanity, including the majority of Earth's superheroes. One of the few survivors was the Hulk, who found that he simply absorbed the radiation, greatly increasing his strength. The Hulk declared himself "the Maestro" and set out to conquer the remaining world, along with his cousin, the
She-Hulk (now calling herself "Shulk") and the
Abomination. The latter two eventually betrayed him; the Abombination was exiled, and Shulk was imprisoned in the Maestro's castle.
In his time, the Maestro rules all living beings that inhabit Dystopia, a jade city of his own design protected by radiation shielding. The city bears great resemblance to
Doctor Doom's castle in
Latveria, and inside the palace walls a
bacchanalian atmosphere reigns. In the city proper, high-tech and brutal soldiers keep the "peace" and impose the Maestro's will. The events of the Hulk's ascension transpire in the "other war" after the atomic World War III, told to the time-traveling present-day Hulk by an elderly
Rick Jones. He is the last known
superhuman left on Earth, with the notable exceptions of surviving
mutants who live off the ravaged land.
Powers and abilities
Physically the Maestro is an older version of the Hulk and sports a long gray beard with long gray hair along the sides and the back but is completely bald on top of his head. He possesses even greater physical abilities than his present-day counterpart, and is not hampered by any moral or ethical considerations. The Maestro's body absorbed the radiation left over in Earth's atmosphere and the base level of his strength has been increased to a level far surpassing that of the present-day Hulk. He is thus able to do some serious damage to the Hulk in a fight, particularly since he has over a century of experience in unarmed combat that the Hulk lacks. The Incredible Hulk, however, appears to still be able to achieve greater rage than the Maestro.
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