Hulk Smash! 10 Differences Between The Incredible Hulk And The Immortal Hulk

A major change occurred in the life of Bruce Banner and it all started when he rose from the grave. The world believed that Banner and the Hulk were gone but nothing can keep the big guy down forever. While it took a while before anyone realized that he was back, Hulk did return and he was drastically different.

In the pages of Immortal Hulk, the constant resurrections did its number on the green goliath and he is now very different than he has ever been before. Taking on some qualities from Grey Hulk and Doc Green, the new Hulk is smart, angry, and is taking the idea of vengeance to a brand-new, horrifying level. Here is a look at 10 differences between the Incredible Hulk and the Immortal Hulk.

10. EXTREMELY ARTICULATE

While there have been moments where the Hulk has been very articulate—such as his Doc Green and Mr. Fixit days—Immortal Hulk is a very angry and aggressive character that has no problem chatting it up with a villain before he exacts vengeance on them.

In the first issue of Immortal Hulk, he corners a young man who took the life of a child in a convenience store robbery. He made sure to tell him the little girl's name and age and then even listened to what the man had to say before he took vengeance on him. This is very different than the Incredible Hulk, who was all about smashing things first and almost never talking about it.

In the second issue of Immortal Hulk, Banner was walking along contemplating his new life, when he realizes that he was always the smart one; the scientist who could solve almost any problem when given the time. However, he also realized that maybe Hulk is smarter than him now.

Banner rationalizes that he is still a smart, brilliant, scientific mind. However, Hulk is also very smart now. He's able to lead Bruce to where he needs to go to "atone" for his sins and bring justice to the world. He is also cocky, at one time calling Captain America by the name "Captain Hydra" and asking if two heads would take the place of one if he ripped it off.

8. EXTREMELY VENGEFUL

One of the most unsettling things about the Immortal Hulk compared to the Incredible Hulk is that he is extremely vengeful now. In the past, Hulk just smashed things. Even when he had a semblance of intelligence, he was still someone who would smash now and ask questions later.

However, much like Ghost Rider, Immortal Hulk is about finding people who hurt others and making them pay for it. What is really interesting about the new Immortal Hulk compared to the Incredible Hulk is that he limits what he does. He hurts people—badly—but usually stops himself before he takes a life; although in many cases they are beyond help by that point.

7. HE SMELLS LIARS

In the first issue of Immortal Hulk, he approached a young man who took a child's life in a convenience store robbery and asked him if he knew how he found him. Hulk then admits that he can "smell liars" and that he tracked him there through smell. It seemed like he was just saying things to scare the man but there was some truth to it.

After Hulk concussed Thor in a battle when The Avengers came for him in Immortal Hulk #7, Thor said that Hulk could smell liars. Captain America doubted this since lying has no smell, but Thor said it was something that comes from the world of gods and devils and Hulk has that power now.

There were many homages to the classic Hulk stories — both from the comics and the TV show. A perfect example comes in the second issue when he sees a reporter named McGee reporting on him, along with a young man named Dell Frye who has perished; both names from the classic TV show.

The TV show was about Banner going from town to town, helping people along the way as Hulk. In the second issue, Banner does the same — moving on to a new town to solve a crime. It was Hulk that led him there in his subconscious, giving him gut feelings to find the clues before he could come out and solve the problem.

5. CAN ONLY TRANSFORM AT NIGHT

Bruce Banner could change into The Incredible Hulk at almost any time when his aggression and anger got the best of him. However, in a call-back to the original Grey Hulk, Banner can only turn into the Immortal Hulk at nighttime. This was also true with Mr. Fixit, but it is the first time that this has happened for a green Hulk.

As Banner said in the second issue, as well as issue seven when he battled The Avengers, the night is the Hulk's time. When the sun comes down, the Hulk comes out and that is when the villains find their safety has run out.

Another problem with the Hulk coming out only at night is that Bruce Banner never changes into the Hulk when he gets hurt. One of the biggest problems with Banner was that he would change into the Hulk when his adrenaline reached a certain level, or if his pain increased, making him lose control.

In the first issue of Immortal Hulk, this was proven to be very different from the Incredible Hulk. As a matter of a fact, in the convenience store robbery, the burglar shot Banner in the head and he fell lifeless to the floor. It wasn't until the sun went down that he changed into the Hulk and was once again resurrected from the dead.

3. STRONGER THAN EVER

The Incredible Hulk has always been strong. If you ask him, he is the strongest one there is. If you ask anyone else, he might be the strongest one of them all. When he gets angrier, he becomes stronger; so he is practically unbeatable when he grows furious. The Immortal Hulk doesn't need the anger to power up —he is possibly the strongest base-level Hulk of all-time.

Immortal Hulk hit Thor so hard that it knocked a tooth out, gave him a concussion, and caused him to need serious medical attention after a fight. Hulk hit She-Hulk so hard that she flew two miles away. He destroyed Hulk-Buster armor and overloaded Black Panther's Panther Habit — all things that the Incredible Hulk wasn't able to do in his base form.

2. FASTER REGENERATIVE POWERS

The Incredible Hulk has always had regenerative powers, however, they were nothing like the Immortal Hulk has. In Immortal Hulk #3, he faced off with a villain known as Hotshot. The villain had taken a priest hostage and demanded help exorcizing a demon from his girlfriend when Hulk showed up.

When Hotshot believed that Hulk was the demon known as the One Below, he blew a giant hole in him. This was shocking since it has been almost impossible to even wound Hulk, much less blow a hole through his body. However, more shocking was the fact that the hole immediately closed up and healed itself.

1. CAN MOVE SEVERED BODY PARTS MENTALLY

Not only can the Immortal Hulk regenerate, but he now possesses similar powers to Deadpool when it comes to mental control over his body parts. Remember when Deadpool was chopped into pieces and his head could still speak and communicate? Well, Hulk can also use his mind to move around severed body parts.

In Immortal Hulk #7, The Avengers used a giant UV light known as the Helios Laser to destroy the Immortal Hulk, but they knew that without the lights, he would regenerate. That happened in the next issue when his body parts were separated and placed in Petrie dishes, but he was able to control his hands and used them to move his individual parts back together and reform instantly.

NEXT: VIDEO: Marvel Characters Who Have Smashed The Hulk