Bruce Banner was one of Marvel's first superheroes, a mix of the Wolfman idea and the giant monster trope. A mild-mannered, yet brilliant scientist and expert in gamma radiation, Banner was caught in a gamma explosion during a test and found it turned him into Hulk, a rage-fuelled monster who was as much an antihero as a superhero.
However, through the years, Banner went through many changes. He changed colors more than once. He was smart, mindless, savage and noble. He had control of Hulk and other times Hulk took control of him. Through it all, Bruce Banner and The Hulk remained linked as the most notable gamma monster in the Marvel Universe. Here is a look at all Bruce Banner's incarnations of The Hulk, ranked.
12 12. GRAY HULK
The Hulk was not always green. He was also not always a creature that came out when Bruce Banner was angry, agitated or injured. In the beginning, Hulk was just like the Wolfman -- he came out when the sun went down and Banner returned during the daylight hours.
However, while this was the original Hulk, he was not very powerful. He was actually kind of a jerk who had intelligence but didn't care about helping people. He was also the weakest version of Hulk that ever existed and was changed up after just six issues.
11 11. THE PROFESSOR
The Professor was a lie. This was the merged Hulk that Doc Samson created when he took Bruce Banner, Joe Fixit, and the Incredible Hulk and convinced them to team up to stop the rampaging savage Hulk that was intent on destroying everything. Samson used the memories of Banner's dad torturing him and the subconscious memories of killing that man to merge them into one being.
This ended up as The Professor. While he thought he was Bruce Banner controlling The Incredible Hulk, he was actually an entirely new split personality -- the being that Banner wishes he was. He is larger than the other Hulks and smarter but has a safeguard that limits his power by reverting him to Banner before he gets out of control.
10 10. JOE FIXIT
Joe Fixit is the most popular alternate incarnation of Bruce Banner's Hulk personas. This reverted Hulk back to the gray state but it was much more powerful than the original gray Hulk. It did have the same change in transformation, where Joe Fixit comes out at night.
The difference between Joe Fixit and The Incredible Hulk is that Joe Fixit is, in no way, a hero or an antihero, for that matter. There is also one other thing keeping Joe Fixit ranked low on the power charts -- like The Professor, he doesn't have the rage increases the power benefit of the other incarnations of Hulk.
9 9. MINDLESS HULK
When Bruce Banner and Hulk coexisted as Merged Hulk, there was a problem deep within their subconscious. While Banner believed he was in control, he had a deep-seated fear that the savage Hulk would one day bust out and he would lose control again. It was those fears that allowed a door to open for Nightmare to get in.
Sadly, Nightmare messed with Hulk's mind so much that Bruce Banner finally committed a psychic suicide and Hulk broke free, a mindless beast with no goal but destruction. It was very powerful but, as with most wild incarnations of Hulk, it was beaten from within in its own subconscious.
8 8. GREEN SCAR
Green Scar was a tragic incarnation of Hulk and one that finally found the peace and happiness he was always denied on Earth. It started when he was tricked by his own friends and sent off Earth to the planet of Sakaar. While there, he was captured and became a gladiator before freeing the inhabitants.
He then became a king and married his loved one, making her his queen. While she was pregnant with his children, an attack killed her and most of his people, and Green Scar left the planet in another, very deadly incarnation.
7 7. INCREDIBLE HULK
This incarnation of The Hulk is the one most the world know. It is Bruce Banner until he is injured or scared and then he becomes Hulk with a different personality and the desire to just wreck things. The Hulk seen in the classic Incredible Hulk TV show, the Incredible Hulk movie, and all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies until Avengers: Endgame changed him are this incarnation
This version, as explained in the comics, is Bruce Banner's subconscious -- a creature with the mind of a child lashing out against the abuse inflicted on Banner when he himself was a child. He is also innocent and kind and only lashes out against those he believes wants to hurt him.
6 6. DOC GREEN
Doc Green is an incarnation of The Hulk that was created when one of Bruce Banner's own S.H.I.E.L.D. assistants shot him in the head, causing brain damage. Bruce Banner used his Extremis tech to save Hulk and that ended up giving Hulk genius level intellect in Hulk's body.
There are two things to note about Doc Green. One, he is arrogant and he decided that no one but him should be a gamma-powered being and set out to strip everyone of their powers, including his own son Skaar. Second, he feared he would end up becoming the future Maestro and chose to revert back to his old self rather than let that happen.
5 5. MCU HULK
While the MCU Hulk is mostly the Incredible Hulk from the comics, there are a few differences. This character really went through some interesting changes over the course of his storyline. In Incredible Hulk, he was the basic Hulk monster who just wanted to be left alone but had the military hunting him down.
He then became a hero thanks to The Avengers movies, and slowly started to try to speak. It also showed the ways that they could calm him. In Thor: Ragnarok, he could speak like a child and had more of the temperament of a child. Finally, he went full Professor Hulk by Avengers: Endgame, one of the franchise's best character transformations.
4 4. ULTIMATE HULK
The Ultimate Hulk is the version fo Bruce Banner from the Marvel Ultimate comic book line. There was more than one Hulk in the Ultimate Universe but Banner was the main one. This version had a different origin, as he was working on the Super-Soldier Formula and thought he came up with the perfect solution and tested it on himself.
It turned him into Hulk. Banner tried to crack the formula later, but grew frustrated and became more of an antagonistic character as a result. He ended up helping the Ultimates save the world but could not keep control and had to be stopped by the heroes. Nick Fury actually tried to assassinate him but Hulk escaped and remained in hiding until the Ultimate End.
3 3. MAESTRO
Maestro is Hulk from an alternate future. There have been a few of these alternate future versions. One was in Hulk: The End which saw Hulk as the last survivor on Earth who was continuously eaten by mutant cockroaches but kept coming back. He was also around in Old Man Logan as a villain who ate Logan and had the mutant regenerate and burst through Hulk from the inside out.
However, easily the best incarnation of future Hulk was Maestro. This took place about 100 years in the future after a nuclear war wiped out much of the population and almost all superheroes. Hulk was not only smart here, but insane by all the radiation he absorbed. That also made him extremely powerful and the Incredible Hulk was no match for Maestro when he ended up traveling through time to this world.
2 2. WORLD BREAKER HULK
When Green Scar Hulk lost his wife, his unborn babies, and his adoptive planet in an attack and believed that his old friends from Earth were responsible, he became World Breaker Hulk. This caused Hulk to bring his friends with him from Sakaar and start World War Hulk.
This is easily one of the most powerful versions of Hulk ever -- his anger and grief overpowering him and making him lash out at those he believes betrayed him and murdered his loved ones. This Hulk beat Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, and just about every hero thrown at him. It was only his humanity when he learned the truth behind the bombing that stopped his path of destruction.
1 1. IMMORTAL HULK
The Immortal Hulk is also known as the Devil Hulk and was created when a demonic monster took over Bruce Banner's mind. After Bruce Banner died when Hawkeye killed him in the second Civil War, he was resurrected and since he was not right in the head after dying, it allowed the Devil Hulk to become the dominant personality.
This version takes all the hatred and fear based on how the world had treated Hulk and Bruce Banner rose and developed control. Much like gray Hulk, this one only comes out at night and is even stronger because if Banner is killed during the day, Hulk resurrects at night, driving Banner further and further insane. The Immortal Hulk is the strongest incarnation of Hulk to ever exist.