10 Different Ways You Can Actually Defeat The Hulk

WhatCulture

2 days ago

Hulk smashed!

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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 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 bro to

01:33chemicals, forcing the billionaire playboy to don his famous armour as a plan B. This was 1980, long

01:40before the Hulkbuster suit was a thing, but Iron Man's eventual victory proved that Stark Industries

01:45tech definitely belongs on the list of Hulk Banes. After failing to stop the Hulk by drowning him

01:51and garrotting him with a length of chain, Stark took down the Green Behemoth by channeling all

01:55of 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 Considering Bruce Banner and Thor are supposed to be buddies,

02:11they've definitely come to blows on a confounding number of occasions. And there's

02:15little to separate them when their head-to-head record is scrutinised. Sometimes the Hulk comes

02:19off worse, other times it's the Thunder God, but both are usually worse for wear by the end of the

02:24scrap. One thing that can be gleaned from their encounters is that Thor's Divine Lightning has

02:28proven effective at stopping the Hulk in his tracks. In 2001's The Incredible Hulk Annual,

02:33a sneak elemental attack to the back of the head was enough to put Banner's monstrous ego out cold.

02:38Of course, he later wakes up and beats Thor to a pulp, but the point still stands.

02:437. Adamantium Wolverine vs. The Hulk is one of the

02:46greatest showdowns in Marvel Comics history, which is no doubt why writers continue to pit

02:52them against one another. The Green Behemoth may have raw strength and power on his side,

02:56but Wolverine's Adamantium claws really do level the playing field. The unbreakable metal is robust

03:01enough to cut through the hide of some of the toughest comic book cookies, including Luke Cage,

03:05The Thing, and indeed, The Hulk. Wolverine has been known to hack, slash, gouge,

03:10and stab his longtime rival something rotten in the past, but has rarely beaten him outside of

03:14the what-if scenarios. That said, there are times where he definitely could have killed him. During

03:19their battle in The Incredible Hulk number 181, Banner was fortunate the pair eventually joined

03:23forces to take down the mutual foe of the Wendigo, because Logan basically had him on the ropes.

03:28Wolverine isn't the only Adamantium-enhanced character in the Marvel Universe. Another is

03:32Speed Freak, and he's also had some success in mutilating the Hulk, only for Banner's rapid healing

03:37abilities to save his hide. 6. 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 a B-list

04:35X-Man in Incredible Hulk number 150. An unfortunate case of mistaken identity sparked a battle with

04:41Havoc. Hulk erroneously believed the mutant Polaris was his former squeeze-dreller, the green-skinned

04:46Princess of Kai, and snatched her King Kong style. Things got hairy when the arrival of a military

04:51jeep sent the Jade behemoth into a state of rage, but Alex Summers arrived on the scene to rescue his

04:56ex-teammate. Havoc's energy-based attacks didn't prove especially effective at first, but he was forced

05:02to strategize when the Hulk threatened to crush him with a cliff face, channeling a focused plasma

05:06blast into his opponent's forehead and sending him out for the count. It was quite the David

05:10vs. 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 number 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,

05:38stole the device, unleashed the Hulk, and manipulated him into attacking the Caped Crusader. Batman,

05:44a mere mortal, knew that he stood no chance in a toe-to-toe battle against the rampaging embodiment

05:49of anger, but the world's greatest detective always has a trick or two up his sleeve, or in this case,

05:54tucked into his utility belt. The Dark Knight hit the Hulk with a hefty dose of sleeping gas,

05:58and his opponent's only response was to hold his breath. One precise kick to the solar plexus

06:02later, and Banner choked down a lungful, sending him to the land of Nod.

06:063. Teamwork

06:08The Hulk has been known to smash his way through some of the Marvel Universe's most powerful

06:12collectives, including multiple versions of the Avengers and the X-Men, but other teams have taken

06:17him down by functioning like a well-oiled machine. A classic example is the Fantastic Four in issue number

06:23166 of their eponymous series, which dates back to 1979. The Human Torch temporarily blinded Hulk

06:29with fire, Mr. Fantastic then bound his limbs, and the Invisible Woman generated a force field

06:33around his head to deprive him of air. It was Banner's frequent combatant The Thing who delivered

06:38the knockout 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 alone.

06:52You just have to hit him really, really hard. There aren't too many characters in the Marvel

06:56Universe capable of mustering this kind of force, but they do exist, and there are also a few in the

07:00world of DC Comics as well. In the 1996 crossover event DC vs Marvel, Superman proved a match for the

07:07Hulk throughout their slugfest, and took him out by landing an almighty punch after weakening him

07:12with a dose of heat vision. Back to the Marvel world, though, and The Thing has always been enough of

07:16the 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

07:31during a jungle 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 or

07:45shrug off anything that's thrown at his alter ego, but Marvel characters with lightning-fast

07:49reflexes can beat this defense mechanism. Hawkeye proved enough of a sharp shooter to hit Banner

07:54with an arrow to the head before he could transform in Civil War II, but before you go gunning for

07:59Clint Barton, 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 Avengers.

08:09Upon learning this, Banner ordered Barton to neutralize him if there was ever a hint of him turning again.

08:14A flash of green appeared in Bruce's eyes, and Hawke begrudgingly hit him with an arrow.

08:18He 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 Hulk. I hope that

08:33you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments section below.

08:36As always, I've been Jules. You can go follow me over on Twitter,

08:39at RetroJay with a zero, or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice,

08:42where I do all of my streaming outside of work, as well as my Warhammer battle reports,

08:45and it'd be great to see you over there.

08:47As always, I've been Jules. You have been awesome. Never forget that,

08:50and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.

10 Different Ways You Can Actually Defeat The Hulk

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