10 Different Ways You Can Actually Defeat The Hulk

WhatCulture

06/06/2025

Hulk smashed!

Transcript

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.

10 Different Ways You Can Actually Defeat The Hulk

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