Nowadays, we have seen many WWE superstars crossover into the world of comic books and have made notable appearances on the big screen. Dwayne Johnson and John Cena recently became a part of DC Extended Universe, while former WWE Champion Batista has been with the Marvel franchise for quite some time as part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. But even in this area, as with pro wrestling, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan was a pioneer.

Thanks to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, comic books have become more mainstream. Still, they had a wide audience even decades ago and were a big part of the pop culture. At the same time, wrestling was also in a boom period and one of their biggest stars, Hulk Hogan, made a few appearances in the Marvel Comics.

Hulk Hogan appeared alongside popular Marvel superhero

Hulk Hogan became a sensation during the 1980s following his success with WWE. Hogan was at the center wrestling’s most successful era, which saw WWE partner with a lot of celebrities and pop culture icons. The Hulkster was as popular a name as anyone in the mainstream media.

WWE’s connection with other big industries led to many notable names crossing over to the squared circle. This also meant a few of their stars made cross-promotional appearances as well. Hogan enjoyed celebrity status as wrestling’s biggest name and this led to Marvel Comics, including him in a few of their comics. The Immortal One became a part of Marvel’s Earth-616 Canon in 1988.

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The former WWE Champion made a cameo appearance in the 1988 issue of Iron Man Volume 1. Hogan showed up in the Issue 227 of Iron Man. Surprisingly, he didn’t appear as a wrestler in his iconic gear, but sported a suit. In fact, Marvel presented him as Terry Bollea, his real name, instead of his famous in-ring persona.

In the comic book, Hogan catches Tony Stark wearing his Iron Man suit during a fight against another character Beetle. Other famous names such as former U.S. President Donald Trump and Michael J. Fox also joined Hogan in the same issue. It was common for comic books to include celebrities in their issues and Hogan’s stature as a pop culture icon merited his appearance in Marvel Comics.

Hulk Hogan battled Marvel’s Hulk in a comic book

Hulk Hogan’s Iron Man appearance wasn’t his only one in Marvel Comics. WWE billed Hogan as ‘The Incredible Hulk Hogan. This didn’t sit well with Marvel, who owned the rights to the name ‘The Incredible Hulk’. Consequently, in 1984 Marvel signed a deal with WWE that allowed them to use the name Hulk Hogan but also pay the comic book company royalty for every wrestling match Hogan appeared in for 20 years.

Marvel then played this real-life deal into a storyline in one of their comics. The story featured a Hogan-esque character who claimed to be the only Hulk. This leads to a confrontation with the superhero, The Incredible Hulk, and the two have a wrestling match. In an ironic twist, The Incredible Hulk squashes Hogan’s character in a typical over-the-top comic book style.

Indeed, this must have been a fascinating experience for comic books and wrestling fans to see two popular characters interact with each other in this way.

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