Spider-Man, Punisher and Hulk walk into a trap. Nobody brought insurance.
Frank Castle has the Cosmic Cube.
Spider-Man wants it back.
Hulk wants it too.
This is already the sort of situation where the sensible response would be to quietly leave Florida and pretend you never saw anything.
Unfortunately, nobody in Spider-Man: Long Way Home #3 is particularly interested in sensible responses.
Written by Jonathan Hickman, with art by Adam Kubert and colors by Arthur Hesli, the issue continues the increasingly violent chase after the Cube. Frank is especially motivated after Hulk killed his old military friend Lt. Sheppard, while Spider-Man has been tasked by S.H.I.E.L.D. with recovering the reality-altering object before things somehow get even worse.
Spoiler:
Things get worse.
PROS
The best thing about this issue is how much of it is essentially three incredibly stubborn people trying to outsmart each other.
Frank knows Hulk is coming.
Spider-Man knows Frank knows Hulk is coming.
Hulk presumably knows everybody is coming and mostly seems excited about getting to smash the building they are coming to.
So Frank creates a trap.
Then puts another trap inside the trap.
And probably keeps an emergency trap somewhere in his utility belt just in case.
Spider-Man arrives at the warehouse and immediately recognizes that the conveniently glowing Cosmic Cube sitting out in the open is obviously bait. His response?
Basically:
I absolutely will not touch that.
Five minutes later:
Maybe just a closer look.
Peter Parker, ladies and gentlemen.
It’s a wonderfully Spider-Man moment because Hickman lets Peter be smart without making him immune to curiosity. He knows something is wrong. He knows Castle is somewhere nearby.
But it’s the Cosmic Cube.
You try walking past it.
Frank inevitably attacks, leading to a brief but entertaining Spider-Man/Punisher scuffle. Peter doesn’t actually want a fight—he just wants the Cube—and Frank has bigger problems anyway.
Then a gigantic green foot announces that the bigger problem has arrived.
From there, this issue becomes one enormous Frank Castle Home Alone setup, except Kevin McCallister apparently bought his supplies from the Pentagon.
Frank detonates the warehouse.
Hulk emerges from the flames essentially asking if he was supposed to feel something.
Frank reveals an entire hidden arsenal.
Missiles. Guns. Explosives. Enough military hardware to make Rhodey ask uncomfortable questions.
Hulk looks at all of it with the approximate enthusiasm of someone discovering a mildly inconvenient speed bump.
That contrast is hilarious.
Frank has clearly spent considerable time creating his perfect anti-Hulk kill box, and Hulk simply keeps advancing while turning the surrounding environment into increasingly expensive confetti.
Adam Kubert absolutely feasts on this sequence.
Several pages essentially abandon traditional panel-to-panel storytelling and become gigantic explosions of debris, fire, shattered concrete and raw Hulk destruction. There’s a tremendous sense of scale as the warehouse practically disintegrates around these characters.
Peter also works perfectly as the audience surrogate.
Frank: elaborate military strategy.
Hulk: unstoppable rage monster.
Spider-Man: Guys, could we maybe concentrate on the glowing reality cube?
Somebody has to be the adult here.
Apparently it’s Peter.
That’s terrifying.
CONS
My biggest complaint is that the issue becomes so committed to the big Hulk-versus-everything spectacle that Spider-Man spends part of his own comic feeling like the guy who accidentally wandered onto somebody else’s action movie set.
He gets some good jokes and action early on, but once Frank unleashes his warehouse-sized contingency plan, Peter mostly has to survive the resulting chaos.
And the middle stretch is intentionally very visual—beautifully visual—but there are several consecutive pages of destruction where the plot itself barely moves.
Kubert makes those pages gorgeous.
Still, at some point you may find yourself thinking:
Yes, Hulk. We understand. Warehouse bad.
FINAL THOUGHTS: IF YOU WANT A HOLLYWOOD ACTION THRILLER, THIS IS FOR YOU!!!
Spider-Man: Long Way Home #3 is basically one giant trap going spectacularly wrong, and I mean that as a compliment.
Hickman keeps the personalities distinct: Frank is relentless, Peter is clever and compulsively wisecracking, and Hulk has absolutely no interest in respecting anyone’s carefully constructed plan.
Then comes the final punchline.
After all the tricks, explosions, weapons and fighting…
the Cosmic Cube ends up resting in Hulk’s hand.
Peter:
“Oh no.”
Frank:
“Hrmph.”
Hulk:
“Game over.”
That seems bad.
Like, reality-altering angry Hulk holding a Cosmic Cube bad.
Suddenly Frank’s exploding warehouse is starting to look like the calm part of the story.
Good luck next issue, Peter.
Maybe bring a second warehouse. 🕷️💥💚
