Time and time again, the Jade Giant has cemented himself as one of the most powerful superheroes in existence. He’s hoisted a 150 billion ton mountain over his head, he dove into a sea of magma and pulled together the broken pieces of Sakaar when it was was on the brink of destruction, and smashed an asteroid twice the size of earth into tiny pieces with a single punch. Powerful heroes and villains alike have been smashed to smithereens by the Hulk -- you have to be incredibly unlucky, foolish or powerful to even think about going toe-to-toe with such a destructive force.
Despite sitting near the top of the Marvel food chain, Hulk is not unbeatable. Although he usually gets the best of his opponent, he can lose if he is outsmarted or outpowered. Due to his volatile, unpredictable nature, it makes sense that a lot of heroes have had to throw down with Hulk in the past. His rage often gets the better of him, which works great against villains. But sometimes, the responsibility lays with the heroes to put a stop to his rampages. Here’s a list of 16 of those superheroes who have managed to beat Hulk in a fight, ranked by just how strong they are.
16 HAWKEYE
You wouldn’t think a souped-up Robin Hood would stand much of a chance against a raging Hulk, and you’d be right. In a one-on-one fight, Hawkeye’s arrows would be like impotent mosquitoes bouncing off Hulk’s skin. There encounter wasn’t much of a fight, but Hawkeye killed Bruce Banner, effectively killing the Hulk. In “Civil War II”, Bruce Banner hasn’t hulked out for over a year. However, a new character with precognitive vision foresees Hulk going on a rampage and killing all the heroes, leading a group of superheroes gather at Banner’s lab to confront him. They even accuse him of working on experiments to bring the Hulk back (he’s doing the exact opposite).
Before the argument can escalate any further, Banner is struck with an arrow, courtesy of Hawkeye.
Banner made a deal with Hawkeye, that if he ever seemed like he was going to revert back to the Hulk, Hawkeye would take him out. Banner gave him a special ‘anti-hulk’ arrow to make sure the job was done and sure enough, the precog character aroused enough suspicion in Hawkeye’s mind to put an end to the Hulk once and for all. Who knows? If they had kept accusing Banner, they may have triggered a transformation themselves, but an arrow to the brain put an end to the Hulk before he could start again.
15 BATMAN
Most of the Hulk’s defeats have come from characters within the Marvel Universe, but every so often we’re treated to a Marvel and DC crossover where our favorite heroes and villains from both universes collide. This is the case for the 1981 release of DC Special Series Vol. 1 #27, entitled “The Monster and the Madman”. These two heroes are polar opposites -- the Hulk gets by on pure strength, whereas the powerless Batman uses tactics and strategy to get the best of superpowered opponents, making this a perfect example of brains versus brawn.
In this issue, Bruce Banner works for Wayne Research to develop a gamma gun meant to cure diseases, but, of course, the Joker shows up intent on stealing the gun for his own purposes. The Clown Prince of Crime’s surprise entrance causes Banner to transform, and The Joker convinces the Hulk that Batman is his enemy. In the ensuing fight, it takes all of Bruce’s power just to stay alive. A fist fight with Hulk would be a death sentence so Batman uses knockout gas from his utility belt, but the Hulk laughs at the feeble attempt and just holds his breath. Batman uses this opportunity to deliver a full power kick to Hulk’s solar plexus, forcing him to breathe in the gas and faint. Sneaky, tricky and 100% Batman.
14 HAVOK
The Summers family has given rise to some incredibly powerful, laser beam inspired heroes. Cyclops, Havok and especially Vulcan are all incredibly powerful, but Havok is the only one of the three who has managed to take down the Hulk. In the Incredible Hulk #150, Havok plays the hero in a hostage rescue situation, much like the classic tale of King Kong. Hulk takes Lorna Dane captive, thinking she’s his beloved Princess Jarella.
You have to be crazy brave to antagonize Hulk to fight you one-on-one, which is exactly what Havok does.
We have to imagine that when Hulk tears off the face of a cliff to use as a baseball bat, Havok was getting a little nervous. Not to mention, Lorna was right on top of the piece of rock Hulk was fixing to swing at him. A tight spot and trying to save the girl you love often gives way to a breakthrough for a hero, and such is the case for Havok. He gathers all of his energy and concentrates it in a focused beam at Hulk’s head. This causes Hulk extreme agony and he admits he’s never felt any pain like it before. This attack drains him of his energy quickly, and he soon falls unconscious due to the pain. Score one for cosmic energy!
13 DEADPOOL
Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth, is not known for taking his job too seriously, so how on earth can he manage to take down the Hulk? Well, we’ve always believed that if Deadpool applies himself, he can be one of the most deadly characters in the Marvel Universe. This was most likely the inspiration for the off-canon one-shot, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe. Deadpool escapes from a psychic facility where a robotic clone of Psycho-Man is trying to enslave him. The lingering effects of the experiments mess with his mind even more and he decides he needs to end the Marvel Universe.
He renders the Fantastic Four a broken pile of superhero scrap, uses the ‘God Taser’ to incapacitate and behead Uatu the Watcher, and then turns Spider-Man’s brain into a soupy splattering on the streets of New York City, so when it comes to the Hulk, their first encounter doesn’t go great. Deadpool is savagely torn in half by the Hulk who just wants to be left alone. No dice -- Deadpool gets wheat Deadpool wants. After putting himself back together, he tracks Hulk to a cave where he’s fallen asleep and reverted to Banner. An idealist if there ever was one, Deadpool uses this chance to cut off his head. Not a graceful win, but a win nonetheless.
12 WOLVERINE
Deadpool and Wolverine may lack strength compared to Hulk, but there’s something to be said for a good healing factor. When being drawn and quartered is nothing more than an inconvenience, fights take on a whole other feeling. Wolverine’s advantage over Deadpool? Sharp claws and a tendency to take things seriously. As deadly as he is, Deadpool is a sadistically fun-loving character, but Wolverine is all about giving people the business. The business in his case being stabbing, slashing and generally tearing things to pieces. Wolverine is no stranger to the brutality of the Hulk.
He’s also been ripped in half, and in “World War Hulk”, has his brain turned to pudding by a flurry of gamma powered punches.
However, Wolverine gets his comeuppance in “Old Man Logan”, delivering possibly one of the most gruesome comic book deaths ever. In this timeline, Hulk is insane and evil. He makes his henchmen kill Wolverine’s family. In a fit of rage, Wolverine takes on Hulk for one final fight. Hulk brutally devours Wolverine, adamantium and all. He must forget about the healing factor though, because he’s treated to one of the worst cases of indigestion ever. After a few hours, Wolverine has completely regenerated inside of Hulk’s stomach. He tears a hole to freedom out of the Jade Giant’s back in a glorious collage of gamma irradiated viscera.
11 SPIDER-MAN
The wall-crawler has thrown down with Hulk many times over the years, but their battles usually revolve around Spider-Man avoiding Hulk’s bone shattering blows while trying to lead him away from people -- it’s the ultimate showdown of power versus agility. As strong as Spider-Man may be, he lacks the raw power to deal with a rampaging Hulk. However, when Spider-Man actually does defeat Hulk, he was imbued with the Power Cosmic -- the same power wielded by the god-like Galactus and wielded to a lesser extent by his heralds like the Silver Surfer. Add access to godly cosmic powers to an already powerful superhero, and you’ve got a recipe to defeat the Hulk.
In The Amazing Spider-Man #328, Sebastian Shaw hires the Hulk to attack the cosmic-powered Spider-Man. On Roosevelt Island, the two have a throw down of epic proportions. The powered up Spider-Man is too agile for Hulk to land a blow on and he even discovers he has the ability to fire light beams from his eyes. Suddenly, two kids enter the scene wanting to help Spider-Man. Not wanting a raging Hulk to endanger them, Spider-Man punches Hulk so hard he is sent into orbit. Ever the superhero, the rushes into the sky and pulls Hulk back to Earth so he won’t suffocate.
10 STORM
Storm is one of those characters that is hard to get a grasp on just how strong she is. She’s one of the strongest Alpha level mutants, but a lot of fans have competing opinions about her. Some view her god-like abilities with awe, whereas others think "Pfft, a gust of wind... so what?”. Here’s hoping that after reading this entry, Storm gets some respect put on her name, as a fight against the Hulk is incredibly difficult and a fight against Hulk when he is possessed by the evil being Onslaught is nigh impossible. In The Incredible Hulk #444, Onslaught possesses the Hulk and forces him to battle Storm and Cable.
Storm warns the Hulk to stop before she has to get ugly, and what follows next is a prime example of when an underrated character finally cuts loose.
With everything she’s got -- let’s face it, there’s no other way to stop the Hulk -- she nails him with a lightning strike powerful enough to stop his heart. Keep in mind, this is the same character who has survived nuclear bombs so that lightning strike must have been something else. Storm then uses the same ability to get his heart pumping again. Killing the Hulk is not an easy feat and bringing him back to life after, shows just how powerful Storm is.
9 IRON MAN
Iron Man has been quite the punching bag for Hulk over the years. Genius level intellect and top of the line technology just hasn’t been enough to overcome the Green Goliath. Stark invented the Hulkbuster Armor for the sole purpose of being able to take him down. Even the huge exoskeleton and rocket-powered gauntlets capable of sending Hulk flying for miles aren’t enough to finish the job. Honestly, the utter beatdown of Iron Man in “World War Hulk” sets the tone for most of their encounters. However, in Iron Man #132, before the Hulkbuster Armor was even invented, Iron Man got the best of him.
During testing for a cure, Banner hulks out and breaks free from his restraints. Iron Man clears out the civilians and begins to battle, yet again, with the Jade Giant. Outmatched in strength, he forces their fight underwater to try and knock Hulk unconscious but as expected, it fails. Iron Man realizes that normal attacks won’t be enough to win the fight, so he focuses all the power in his suit into a single strike. In a charged up attack that would make Captain Falcon jealous, he delivers a crushing punch to Hulk’s jaw, knocking him out cold. The punch completely drains the suit of power but proves to be enough for Iron Man’s first victory over the Hulk.
8 FANTASTIC FOUR
A four-on-one fight may seem unfair but unfortunately, that’s the kind of firepower you need to bring down the Hulk. The Fantastic Four members have clashed with the Hulk before, but in this instance, they manage to get the better of him. In Fantastic Four #166, the team is called in by the military to assist in developing a cure for the Hulk -- because that’s always gone so well. During an airplane flight, the Fantastic Four spots the Hulk leap past their plane, accidentally smashing one of the wings. The team works together to save the plane from a crash landing and are then transported to a military base where they’ve detected the gamma radiation from Hulk’s body.
It’s a dirty fight but if you don’t have the raw power to deal with the Hulk, you’ve got to use tactics.
Mr. Fantastic uses his stretchiness to wrap the Hulk up like a superpowered burrito, Invisible Woman places an invisible forcefield around his head so he can’t breathe and, to cap off what’s already an adverse situation, Mr. Fantastic orders The Thing to knock the Hulk out. Ben admittedly takes little pleasure in beating his rival in such an underhanded way, but a win is a win.
7 NAMOR
Often heralded as the first mutant in Marvel, Namor is the son of a human sea captain and the princess of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. Underwater, Namor, the prince of Atlantis, has no equal -- the extent of his powers is relative to how close he is to water. For example, when underwater, he has enough strength to lift and throw a water-filled ocean liner. If the Hulk was looking to beat Namor in a fight, the place to do it is on land. However, intelligence has never been his strong point, so in Avengers #3, Hulk makes the mistake of jumping into the water to fight Namor. A few panels later, Namor drags Hulk’s unconscious body to the shore.
Namor once again used his water-based advantage in Tales to Astonish #100 to take out the Green Goliath. Their blows have so much power, they create a giant tsunami that takes out an entire island base. Even when they’re not seriously fighting, Namor has beaten the Hulk. In a test of power, the two agreed to play a game of underwater chicken in Incredible Hulk #118. After they smashed into each other, Namor was fine but Hulk was knocked out cold, reverting to Bruce Banner.
6 THE THING
The Thing and Hulk are like an old married couple, but instead of constantly bickering with words, they just beat the snot out of each other. We can call them friends or allies, but the fact remains: these two have fought each other a ridiculous amount if times. More often than not it’ll be a draw, or Hulk will win -- it seems that smashing is more effective than clobbering. However, there is one notable time where The Thing manhandles the Hulk. In Fantastic Four #320, Dr. Doom goads Hulk into chasing after The Thing, saying he’s powered up and stronger than Hulk is.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Hulk sets out to New York to defeat the rocky brawler.
It’s important to note that this isn’t normal green Hulk -- this is gray Hulk, or Mister Fixit. He’s incredibly strong but lacks the pure rage and power of the green Hulk. The battle goes just about how you’d expect. Both fighters are sent airborne by blows, tossed into cars and punched through the ground multiple times. However, The Thing’s powered up form, evident by the jagged rocks and red eyes, is too much for this version of the Hulk. The only thing that stopped Ben from mashing his head into the pavement was the confusing arrival of a green Hulk robot.
5 THOR
The God of Thunder vs the Jade Giant -- it’s as classic a battle as you can hope for in Marvel. They may both be considered good guys, but it hasn’t stopped these two powerhouses from exchanging blows. Often times, these fights end in a draw, and we never truly figure out who the ultimate winner is. However, Thor has bested the Hulk on a few occasions. In 2001’s Incredible Hulk Annual, Thor uses a sneaky, well-placed lightning blot to the back of Hulk’s head, completely knocking him out. Of course, when flying away with him, Hulk wakes up and beats the snot out of Thor -- so that’s kind of a draw.
Perhaps a more fitting entry to showcase Thor’s power is from “Fear Itself”. Thor fights against The Thing and Hulk, who have been transformed into members of the Worthy, beings powered with divine hammers. Fighting Hulk alone is tough, but fighting Hulk and the Thing is near impossible. But Thor shows us just how strong a god is as he blasts a hole through The Thing’s chest with a burst of lightning. When his initial beatdown of Hulk is fruitless, he coats himself in lightning for a final clash. After a huge burst of light, we see the Hulk launched into orbit, before crash landing in a fiery blaze halfway around the earth.
4 SUPERMAN
It’s the question that has rattled the brains of comic fans for ages: who would win in a fight between the Hulk and Superman? Well, in 1996, a limited series titled Marvel Comics vs. DC was released, pitting the two comic universes against one another. In this storyline, two godlike brothers, each of who personify either the DC or Marvel universe, become aware of the other’s existence. Wanting to see who rules the more powerful domain, they challenge each other to a series of battles that pit the heroes of their respective universe against each other.
The losing universe would subsequently be erased, giving the heroes some added incentive to not pull their punches.
We would have liked to see the Hulk put up a little more of a fight, but Superman puts him in the ground with relative ease. Superman typically has to hold back on his opponents to avoid killing them, but a powerhouse like Hulk can’t afford to have punches pulled on. Hulk gets in a couple good hits, but Superman’s final attack is too much for him. A gigantic punch from the Man of Steel sends Hulk careening into a mountainside, where it collapses on top of him. Can’t get mad when you’re knocked unconscious.
3 SENTRY
If you haven’t seen this fight from “World War Hulk” you need to -- there’s nothing more exciting than two heroes cutting loose and going at each other full force. Especially when it’s Worldbreaker Hulk and Sentry. Robert Reynolds, aka Sentry, got his powers through a special serum said to be one hundred times stronger than the one used to create Captain America. The serum apparently moves his molecules an instant ahead of the current timeline. We have no idea what this really means, but we know it makes him incredibly powerful. It’s been said that his power, when fully unleashed, is equivalent to one million exploding suns!
This is one of most brute force battles to ever grace comics. Sentry takes the Hulks punches like hardly anyone ever has before all while torching the Hulk with concentrated energy blasts. They spend most of the battle engulfed in tornado of energy created by Sentry. Nearing the end of the battle, both fighters are so exhausted they revert to their human forms to exchange the final blows. While Bruce Banner is technically the winner, Sentry did manage to put a stop to the Hulk. No one had been close to beating World Breaker Hulk at this point, and Sentry pushed him to the point of reversion. He may have lost against Banner, but he essentially beat the Hulk.
2 SILVER SURFER
God-like creatures are not be trifled with, and that includes the Herald of Galactus, the Silver Surfer, who is imbued with the Power Cosmic. As reliable as they are when it comes to heroes who can defeat the Hulk, Silver Surfer has put the Green Goliath in his place on more than one occasion. He has a host of powers that makes him more than a match for Hulk, and by wielding the Power Cosmic, Silver Surfer has incredible strength, endurance and speed. He can travel through space at the speed of light and emit bolts of cosmic force powerful enough to destroy entire planets.
However, once again, Hulk’s rage gets the better of him and puts him in a fight he shouldn’t be in.
In Tales to Astonish #93 Hulk demands that Silver Surfer take him away from earth, to a place he won’t be bothered. The Silver Surfer refuses, as he is unable to leave earth at the time, but Hulk is unaware of this. In a fit of rage, Hulk tries, and fails, to take control of the Surfer’s board. Hulk is teed up and smashed with the board, knocking him on his back. Not one to accept defeat he tries, and fails, again, but this time the Silver Surfer opts for a more powerful deterrent, knocking the Hulk unconscious with the Power Cosmic.
1 ZEUS
Zeus doesn’t just beat Hulk -- he destroys him. In fact, he annihilates him in a brutally ones-sided, bare-handed beatdown. In Incredible Hulk #622, Hulk storms Mt. Olympus after the events of the Chaos War, demanding Zeus use his power to heal the Hulk family. They were instrumental in stopping the Chaos King and Hulk wants them to get the respect and gratitude they deserve. It’s a bold move to make demands from a god -- more than bold, it’s downright dangerous which Hulk quickly finds out. The saddest part about this, is that Hulk was in the right (for the most part) but still got the whooping of a lifetime.
First, he’s shocked by a bolt of Zeus’s lightning. After goading the god on, Zeus agrees to fight hand to hand. Hulk scores one punch on Zeus. Just one, before he learns the power of a god the hard way. Zeus absolutely pulverizes him with a series of punches to the head, smashing his huge body through layers of rock. The most brutal part is when Hulk is nailed with a shot to the ribs and proceeds to puke up what appears to be half of the blood in his body. His punishment for losing? Being chained up to a rock, where vultures eat him just slowly enough so his healing factor keeps him from dying. Brutal.