Hulk Hogan Had a Marvel Comics Connection Long Before He Became a WWE Legend
The name Hulk Hogan had a connection to Marvel Comics long before it became legendary in pro wrestling.
The Lapsed Fan shared a video on X/Twitter that featured a moment they believed was the first time late WWE legend Hulk Hogan used the term “Hulkamania” in a promo. The clip is notable because it was not from the time Hogan was the face of WWE/WWF in 1984, but from four years earlier, when he was a heel.
The post got a reply from another user, who noted that “Hulk Hogan” was actually used as a character in a 1961 Marvel comic called “Marvel Gunsmoke Western.” An outlaw named Hulk Hogan is featured as the villain in a 1961 A Two Gun Kid story called “Hands of the Hulk.”
Hulk Hogan details trademark battle with Marvel Comics
Due to the similarity between his name and “The Incredible Hulk,” Hulk Hogan faced a trademark dispute with Marvel Comics in 1984. However, WWE and Hogan avoided a massive lawsuit from them by signing a restrictive 20-year licensing agreement over the “Hulk” name.
As per the terms, Marvel received a cut of Hulk Hogan’s merchandise sales and a flat $100 fee for every single match he wrestled. The contract also strictly banned Hogan from being billed as “The Incredible,” using the iconic comic book font, or wearing the Hulk’s signature colors of green and purple.
Hulk Hogan spoke about the trademark battle back in 2023 on This Past Weekend with Theo Von.
“Vince gave me the name, now Vince [Sr.] dies,” Hogan recalled. “Vince, his son, takes over. Right when Hulk Hogan takes off, we get a call from Marvel Comics. ‘You’re infringing on our mark. Reasonably similar. We’re going to sue you, put you in litigation.’ We went ahead and let them have the name, didn’t license the name. I only had to pay them one-tenth of 1%. So out of a dollar, if I had a penny, I only had to pay them one-tenth of a penny. That went from 1985 to 2005, 20 years.
The Hulkster got the rights to the name from Marvel for $750,000
The costly arrangement followed Hulk Hogan to WCW, but things changed as the contract neared its expiration in 2005. Hogan said Marvel Comics lost a legal battle with WWE over intellectual properties and owed Vince McMahon $35 million. Instead of paying the huge sum, Marvel attempted to settle by handing over the trademark.
However, Hogan used that loophole to step in and buy the rights to his name and “Hulkamania” for what he said was a fair market value of $750,000.
“All of a sudden, Marvel Comics gets in a bitch-fest with WWE about intellectual properties, they can’t re-air old Hulk Hogan matches,” Hogan explained. “Marvel Comics lost. They owed Vince $35 million. But they made a huge mistake. They said, ‘No, instead of paying $35 million, how about we give you the Hulk Hogan name.’ I heard about it and went, ‘You guys screwed up now.’
“Now, I don’t have to pay $35 million for the name. You have to sell it for me for fair money value,’ which is only $750,000. I bought the name back. Vince wanted to buy the name from me. [I told him] ‘Nah, I got this one.’ I bought the name back and I own everything. There’s not many guys that can say that.”
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The post Hulk Hogan Had a Marvel Comics Connection Long Before He Became a WWE Legend appeared first on Wrestlezone.
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