Prologue: In a Manhattan warehouse, the fugitive Bruce Banner tries desperately to explain to Spider-Man the vast conspiracy that has the US military on his trail. When the soldiers led by General Ross burst in, Banner transforms into the Hulk and leaps away with the army in pursuit, leaving a confused Spidey amid the wreckage of the building….
August 1942: The US Army’s designated "super-soldier" is killed in action, leading President Roosevelt to demand the creation of a genuine super-soldier as a rallying point for the troops….
1943: In Sicily, three soldiers, Nick Fury, James Howlett, and Fisk, are caught looting a safe. Fisk is shot trying to escape, the others arrested. Fury becomes an unwilling test subject for Project: Rebirth under Dr. Erskine. An injection causes him to go berserk and rip his way out of his bonds, fighting off guards and making his way to freedom. Erskine calls it a breakthrough. In Canada, James Howlett is being subjected to even more gruesome experiments, driving him insane. Escaping into the Arctic wastes, he is shot down by pursuing guards and quickly heals of even fatal wounds—as a mysterious stone stele observes. Three years later, the ramifications of the experiments on Howlett become clear: the scientists have created the first human mutation—and James Howlett is Mutant Zero….