Maestro (Marvel)

"You don't know what lies ahead for you. I do. Listen to me, Bruce...they're going to take it all away. You're going to end up with nothing and no one. ... Persecution. Betrayal. Hatred. These things don't change."

- Maestro.

Maestro is an alternate-future version of the popular Marvel hero known as the Hulk, however he is a brutal tyrant who is stronger, more experienced and much more ruthless than his current self - he was the chief antagonist of the Future Imperfect storyarc and was strong enough to snap the neck of the Hulk - temporarily paralysing the hero.

Maestro ruled over a barren world torn asunder by nuclear war, his powers amplified due to the now plentiful radiation in the atmosphere and his mind all but shattered by the many cruel events of his life - he took command of this broken world and united it under his iron-grip, ruling over the few human survivors as a dictator whose word was law and who had a liking of ruling in a fashion similiar to the ancient warlords.

When modern-day Hulk was transported to this dark future he found himself quickly at war with the Maestro and found himself battling not only a monstrous enemy but also a being that represented how far Hulk's hatred could run, the embodiment of what could happen if Hulk ever truly gave in to his inner-rage and hostility.

Maestro and Hulk battled fiercely until Hulk was forced to defeat Maestro via transporting him back in time to ground-zero of the site where the gamma-bomb that bestowed Banner with Hulk's power was detonated - this act wiped Maestro out on the atomic scale but it is unclear whether this is truly enough to stop his return some day.

Maestro eventually returned after absorbing enough radiation, but was trapped inside a mountain by Hulk.