- 06/06/2025
Hulk smashed!
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00So as we all know, the Hulk is a raw embodiment of anger, power, and might,
00:05a combination that makes him one of the most formidable characters in the Marvel Universe.
00:09But he's not unbeatable, as many have proved throughout his time in the comics and indeed in
00:15films. So let's take a look at some of them today. As I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:19and these are 10 different ways that you can actually defeat the Hulk.
00:2310. The Power Cosmic
00:25There are a precious few comic book characters the Hulk has failed to knock out,
00:29but one that he tends to struggle with is The Silver Surfer. The pair memorably crossed paths
00:34in Tales to Astonish No. 92 and 93, a story which saw the Green Goliath attempt to hitch a ride into
00:39outer space on The Silver Surfer's board to flee from his earthly pursuers, led, as usual, by General
00:45Ross. The Surfer wasn't overly keen on the idea of a potential Hulk rampage in the cosmos and
00:50declined to be his Silver Chauffeur, a disagreement that soon turned violent when Banner's alter ego
00:55reacted the only way it knew how, which is angrily. Even without calling upon his godly
01:00abilities, The Surfer was capable of putting the Hulk on his backside, which he did without breaking
01:05a sweat by hurling his bloody board at him. When the not-so-jolly Green Giant refused to stay down,
01:10Rad used the Power Cosmic to send his opponent into unconsciousness, becoming one of the few heroes to
01:15make taking down the Hulk look relatively easy.
01:189. Stark Industries Tech There have been numerous attempts to cure Bruce
01:22Banner of his anger issues in the past, but most of them have succeeded only in triggering another
01:27Hulk rampage. This was indeed the case of Iron Man No. 132, when Tony Stark exposed his science
01:33bro to chemicals, forcing the billionaire playboy to don his famous armour as a plan B. This was 1980,
01:40long before the Hulkbuster suit was a thing, but Iron Man's eventual victory proved that Stark
01:45industry's tech definitely belongs on the list of Hulk Banes. After failing to stop the Hulk by
01:50drowning him and garrotting him with a length of chain, Stark took down the Green Behemoth by
01:54channeling all of his armour's remaining power into one earth-shattering punch. The result was a total
02:00knockout for both the Hulk and the Iron Man suit that Stark was wearing at the time. It's a good job
02:04that he had a dozen more back home, right?
02:068. Divine Lightning
02:08Considering Bruce Banner and Thor are supposed to be buddies, they've definitely come to blows on a
02:13confounding number of occasions. And there's little to separate them when their head-to-head record is
02:17scrutinised. Sometimes the Hulk comes off worse, other times it's the Thunder God, but both are
02:22usually worse for wear by the end of the scrap. One thing that can be gleaned from their encounters
02:26is that Thor's Divine Lightning has proven effective at stopping the Hulk in his tracks.
02:31In 2001's The Incredible Hulk Annual, a sneak elemental attack to the back of the head was enough to put
02:36Banner's monstrous ego out cold. Of course, he later wakes up and beats Thor to a pulp,
02:41but the point still stands.
02:437. Adamantium
02:45Wolverine vs. The Hulk is one of the greatest showdowns in Marvel Comics history, which is
02:50no doubt why writers continue to pit them against one another. The Green Behemoth may have raw strength
02:54and power on his side, but Wolverine's adamantium claws really do level the playing field. The
02:59unbreakable metal is robust enough to cut through the hide of some of the toughest comic book cookies,
03:04including Luke Cage, The Thing, and indeed, The Hulk. Wolverine has been known to hack,
03:09slash, gouge, and stab his longtime rival something rotten in the past, but has rarely beaten him
03:14outside of the what-if scenarios. That said, there are times where he definitely could have killed
03:18him. During their battle in The Incredible Hulk number 181, Banner was fortunate the pair
03:22eventually joined forces to take down the mutual foe of the Wendigo, because Logan basically had
03:27him on the ropes. Wolverine isn't the only adamantium-enhanced character in the Marvel Universe.
03:32Another is Speed Freak, and he's also had some success in mutilating the Hulk,
03:36only for Banner's rapid healing abilities to save his hide.
03:396. Dr. Doom's Neuro Ray
03:41Bruce Banner has got a lot of hulks on his back, one being Joe Fixit, a grey-skinned,
03:47more intelligent version of the classic Green incarnation. When this personality emerged in
03:51Fantastic Four number 320, he proved no match for the infinite resourcefulness of Dr. Victor Von Doom.
03:57The pair did battle against a desert backdrop, and while Doom's armour and weaponry allowed him to
04:01hold his own for a while, the metal-faced Latverian knew that he'd have to get creative in order to
04:06win this particular fight. The Doctor used a Neuro Ray to incapacitate his foe, taking control of his
04:11movement until he was completely subdued, but this was only half the battle. With the Hulk at his
04:16mercy, Doom played on his ego, another Achilles' heel for Banner, goading him into picking a fight
04:21with the Thing by accusing him of fearing the Fantastic Four's rocky behemoth and hiding away from him.
04:275. Plasma Blasts
04:28One of the Hulk's least incredible moments came way back way in 1972, when he was taken down by
04:34a B-list X-Man in Incredible Hulk number 150. An unfortunate case of mistaken identity sparked
04:40a battle with havoc. Hulk erroneously believed the mutant Polaris was his former squeeze-dreller,
04:45the green-skinned Princess of Kai, and snatched her King Kong style. Things got hairy when the arrival
04:50of a military jeep sent the Jade behemoth into a state of rage, but Alex Summers arrived on the scene
04:56to rescue his ex-teammate. Havoc's energy-based attacks didn't prove especially effective at
05:01first, but he was forced to strategize when the Hulk threatened to crush him with a cliff face,
05:05channeling a focused plasma blast into his opponent's forehead and sending him out for
05:09the count. It was quite the David vs. Goliath victory for Havoc here.
05:124. Sleeping Gas
05:14It turns out that you don't need divine elemental capabilities, cosmic powers, or even super strength
05:19to put the Hulk down, because good old-fashioned sleeping gas will suffice. In a dramatic twist,
05:23it's actually a DC Comics hero who demonstrated this during 1981's DC Special Series No. 27,
05:29in which Batman crossed paths with Bruce Banner. This rare crossover comic found Banner exploring
05:34the medical potential of a gamma gun from Wayne Tech, before the Joker arrived on the scene,
05:39stole the device, unleashed the Hulk, and manipulated him into attacking the Caped Crusader.
05:43Batman, a mere mortal, knew that he stood no chance in a toe-to-toe battle against the rampaging
05:48embodiment of anger, but the world's greatest detective always has a trick or two up his
05:52sleeve, or in this case, tucked into his utility belt. The Dark Knight hit the Hulk with a hefty
05:57dose of sleeping gas, and his opponent's only response was to hold his breath. One precise
06:01kick to the solar plexus later, and Banner choked down a lungful, sending him to the land of Nod.
06:073. Teamwork
06:08The Hulk has been known to smash his way through some of the Marvel Universe's most powerful collectives,
06:13including multiple versions of the Avengers and the X-Men, but other teams have taken him down
06:17by functioning like a well-oiled machine. A classic example is the Fantastic Four in issue
06:22number 166 of their eponymous series, which dates back to 1979. The Human Torch temporarily blinded
06:29Hulk with fire, Mr. Fantastic then bound his limbs, and the Invisible Woman generated a force field around
06:33his head to deprive him of air. It was Banner's frequent combatant, The Thing, who delivered the
06:38knockout blow, though, but in all fairness to Ben Grimm, he felt super bad about it afterwards.
06:432. HITTING HIM REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HARD
06:47Contrary to popular belief, it is actually possible to defeat the Hulk through brute strength
06:51alone. You just have to hit him really, really hard. There aren't too many characters in the
06:55Marvel Universe capable of mustering this kind of force, but they do exist, and there are also a few
07:00in the world of DC Comics as well. In the 1996 crossover event DC vs. Marvel, Superman proved a match
07:07for the Hulk throughout their slugfest, and took him out by landing an almighty punch after weakening
07:11him with a dose of heat vision. Back to the Marvel world, though, and The Thing has always been enough
07:16of a heavy hitter to topple the Tower of Green Chaos, although their scraps can go either way.
07:21Moreover, X-Men villain the Juggernaut has also served Banner with a beatdown or two in the past,
07:26notably in 1993's Incredible Hulk number 402 when he choked the Hulk into unconsciousness during a
07:31jungle showdown. 1. TAKING OUT BANNER BEFORE HE'S ABLE TO CHANGE
07:36Obviously, the Hulk is most vulnerable in Bruce Banner form, but an attack on the mild-mannered
07:41scientist usually sends him spiralling into the Green Goliath mode. Hulk has been known to parry
07:45or shrug off anything that's thrown at his alter ego, but Marvel characters with lightning-fast
07:49reflexes can beat this defence mechanism. Hawkeye proved enough of a sharpshooter to hit Banner with
07:54an arrow to the head before he could transform in Civil War II, but before you go gunning for Clint
08:00Barton, it's important to note that he was acting on Bruce's instructions. Long story short,
08:04Ulysses experienced a prophetic vision indicating the Hulk was destined to kill the rest of the
08:08Avengers. Upon learning this, Banner ordered Barton to neutralise him if there was ever a hint
08:13of him turning again. A flash of green appeared in Bruce's eyes, and Hawke begrudgingly hit him
08:17with an arrow. He spent the rest of the storyline on trial for murder, but was later acquitted.
08:22But you know what? He probably would have gotten off with this charge sooner if his lawyer had just
08:25played the nobody-actually-stays-dead-in-comics card, because you know what? That's the bloody truth.
08:29And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 different ways you can actually defeat the
08:32Hulk. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in
08:35the comments section below. As always, I've been Jules. You can go follow me over on Twitter
08:39at RetroJayWithAZero, or you can swing by LiveAndLet'sDice, where I do all of my streaming
08:43outside of work, as well as my Warhammer Battle Reports, and it'd be great to see you over there.
08:47As always, I've been Jules. You have been awesome. Never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
08:52Bye.
Recommended
0:50
|
Up next
13:05
2:25
13:40
10:20
16:36
10:09