The Hulk's Greatest Comic Book Love Never Made it To The MCU
The Incredible Hulk is not often seen as being caring, but the Green Goliath has fallen in love many times over the years, with ONE love interest in particular standing out. As Bruce Banner, The Hulk is often associated with Betty Ross, the daughter of General "Thunderbolt" Ross. Though their relationship over the years has taken several turns, the two are often drawn back to each other. However, the Hulk has had other love interests over the years, like Caiera, the paramour he found on the Planet Sakaar. One often forgotten love interest was especially prominent in the 1970's, and would not be found in space or on earth, but in the microverse.
By the 1970's, the world knew that the Hulk and Bruce Banner were one and the same, and General Ross and the U.S. Military sought to apprehend him by any means necessary. On one occasion, the Hulk was captured with the help of Reed Richards and Charles Xavier. However, before the Hulk could be taken into custody, he was teleported out of captivity and into the clutches of an ancient creature named Psyklop. Psyklop, a worshiper of Dark Gods, had used his powers to imprison the Hulk, and planned on feeding him to his masters. Before the Hulk could be turned into food, Psyklop chose to shrink the Hulk in an effort to better study the his powers. While Hulk was being shrunk, however, The Avengers stumble upon Psyklop and a fight breaks out. In the ensuing scuffle, the Hulk was shrunk down much smaller than Psyklop intended, and Hulk accidentally traveled to K'ai, one of many worlds in the microverse. Shortly after his arrival, the Hulk would meet, arguably, the greatest love of his life: Jarella.
Jarella is the leader of K'ai, a world inhabited by a species of green-skinned creatures. When the Hulk fended off various creatures attacking her city, the citizens came to hail him as a hero. Jarella, realizing that the Hulk did not know their language, taught it to Hulk, which also brought Bruce Banner's personality to the surface (similar to Professor Hulk). Though the two fell in love, and even planned to be wed, one member of the royal family, Visis, sent assassins after the two lovers, wanting to rule K'ai himself. The Hulk proved to be more than Visis and his assassins could handle, and the villain was arrested and put to death (though he would return in subsequent storylines). Though Hulk and Jarella overcame this scuffle, their happiness would be short lived, as Psyklop managed to track the Hulk to his micro-kingdom, and returned him to normal size. Though Hulk was able to defeat Psyklop, he was separated from his love for a short time.
Jarella eventually would also be grown to "average" size, with no method of returning to the microverse. Jarella, though upset, was also overjoyed at the prospect of being with Bruce, and the two resumed their relationship. However, while out shopping, Bruce and Jarella encountered the evil robot Crypto-Man, who was in the middle of robbing a bank. Bruce transformed into the Hulk shortly and the two began to fight.
In the brawl, Crypto-Man used his laser-beam to destroy part of a building as innocent children were watching in awe. Jarella, seeing that debris was about to crush the children, pushed them out of the way, but was crushed in the process. Hulk managed to destroy Crypto-Man, and took Jarella back to Gamma Base, his headquarters at the time, to give her medical care. Doctor Leonard Samson, a longtime ally of the Hulk, told his friend that there was nothing to be done, and Jarella was dead. Hulk desperately tried to find a way to save his love, even asking Doctor Strange for help, but ultimately accepted that she was gone.
Unlike Betty Ross, who loves Bruce; and Caiera, who only loved the Hulk, Jarella loved both Bruce and the Hulk. Jarella was a heroic figure herself, leading her kingdom as best she could, and choosing to spend her last moments saving children from a species she was hardly familiar with. While K'ai has been revisited over the years, and Jarella has been mentioned from time to time, she has never been properly resurrected in main continuity. With the concept of the Microverse already in play, Jarella would be perfect as the Hulk's new love interest in the MCU, as her heroic but loving character would be great to see on the big screen.