You May Not Have Realized, But These 10 Marvel Villains Could Take Down the Hulk
Out of all of Marvel Comics’ classic characters, it's Hulk who most often called The Strongest One There Is. As such, Bruce Banner’s brutish alter ego is one of the most powerful beings in all the Marvel Multiverse, and there are few foes who can stand in his way and live to tell the tale.
But while the Jade Giant’s strength is incalculable, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s unbeatable. And despite his claim of being the strongest hero around, there are more than a few villains capable of putting the Hulk in his place.
10 Graviton
Created by Jim Shooter & Sal Buscema
A longtime foe to all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Dr. Franklin Hall a.k.a. Graviton is one of Marvel’s most dangerous rogues thanks to his combination of incredible power and undeniable insanity. As his name would suggest, Hall is a master at manipulating both gravitons and anti-gravitons – giving him near-total control of gravity’s pull on any person or object in his two-mile range.
Graviton has weaponized this gravitational mastery in more than a few ways, allowing him to fly as well as generate force fields, concussive blasts, and miniature gravitational fields. Hall can even collapse a being’s own gravitational field to crush them where they stand if he’s not content to simply immobilize them. Even the Hulk is subject to gravity, and if Graviton’s not powerful enough to crush the Jade Giant into the Earth, he can at least propel him away from it entirely.
9 Titannus
Created by Robert Kirkman & Scott Kolins
Titannus may not be the first name that comes to mind when discussing Super-Skrulls, but his power levels make him a major force to be reckoned with and he’s even defeated the Hulk before along with several other heavy hitters like Doctor Strange, Sunfire, She-Hulk, Carol Danvers’ Ms. Marvel, and Nova.
Titannus is physically strong and durable enough to break She-Hulk’s arm and beat a raging Hulk till he reverts Bruce Banner all while simultaneously engaging Spider-Man, Wolverine and others, and his energy absorbing armor allows him to drain the Hulk’s strength-inducing gamma radiation. In fact, the only way Titannus was defeated in his initial appearance was when he chose to crush his own head in despair – and even then, he returned to menace Marvel’s heroes after growing a new head.
8 The Champion
Created by Tom DeFalco & Ron Wilson
As one of the Elders of the Universe, Tryco Slatterus, better known as The Champion is one of the oldest living entities in the Marvel Universe with a raw physical power to match his impressive lifespan. Able to lift well over 100 tons, Champion’s strength was formerly further enhanced by the Power Gem of Infinity Gauntlet fame, making him nigh-unbeatable and giving him quite the edge when he first journeyed to Earth to battle its greatest warriors in a contest of strength.
Easily defeating the likes of Colossus, Sasquatch, Wonder Man, and the Thing, Slatterus never pit his might against the raging Hulk whom he, at the time, considered a mindless beast not worth the effort. Champion has since lost the Power Gem, but his Power Primordial still makes him incredibly dangerous even to one such as the Green Goliath.
7 Kurse
Created by Walt Simonson
The Dark Elf called Algrom the Strong lived up to his name long before he battered the God of Thunder himself as the inhuman Kurse. One of Svartalfheim’s most powerful warriors, Algrom was enhanced by the Beyonder, increasing his prodigious strength until he was roughly twice as strong as Thor and then enhancing him further still once Thor’s own power was enhanced.
Along with this great strength came incredible stamina and durability reinforced by living armor as well as speed and reflexes unexpected his massive frame. With such raw power at his disposal, this means that Kurse is one of the few beings who could most likely match the Hulk blow for blow. After all, anyone tough enough to nearly kill Thor is more than capable of standing against Hulk himself.
6 Morlun
Created by J. Michael Straczynski & John Romita Jr.
One of the deadliest Inheritors to ever stalk the Spider-Verse, Morlun is one of the strongest beings that Spider-Man has ever had the misfortune of facing off against and genuine threat that should be considered in a weight-class that could rival the Hulk. This multiversal leech is imbued with incredible strength – a strength further enhanced by absorbing the life force of his victims – to the point that he’s even capable of tearing apart Adamantium with his bare hands.
Morlun’s speed, stamina, and durability are similarly impressive, and his vampiric nature makes him functionally immortal. Such power-draining abilities would make him a perfect match for the nigh-all powerful Hulk, and once he’s gotten a taste of the Strongest Avenger’s energies, the Inheritor could track the Hulk to the ends of the Earth.
5 The U-Foes
Created by Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema
Uncannily powerful villains who gained their abilities in a botched attempt to replicate the Fantastic Four’s origin, the U-Foes have long been some of the Hulk’s most powerful and most viscous enemies. The telekinetic Vector, the gaseous and radioactive siblings Vapor and X-Ray, and the metallic Ironclad are no match for ol’ Jade Jaws individually, but as a unit, they’ve pushed Banner’s alter ego to his limit and even defeated him on occasion.
While their villainous natures don’t make them the strongest team players, true coordination makes the U-Foes a major threat. Their most recent clash with the Immortal Hulk may not have worked in their favor – despite succeeding in killing the Hulk temporarily using X-Ray’s anti-gamma rays – but the U-Foes always come back and there’s no way they’re forgetting their archnemesis.
4 Zom
Created by Stan Lee & Marie Severin
Zom is not a traditional Hulk villain, but this mystical monster from outside reality has more than enough power to battle the Green Goliath and has even tangentially taken Jade Jaws to task in the past. Stronger than even Dormammu, Zom’s dark power has been summoned by famous Marvel sorcerers in the past, specifically the Sorcerers Supreme, Dr. Strange and Clea.
It was using a fraction of Zom’s power that Doctor Strange managed to go toe-to-toe with the Hulk during the events of World War Hulk, battering the warlord of Skaar until he’s knocked unconscious trying to contain Zom’s rage. A fully empowered and independent Zom is a near cosmic entity, so there’s no surprise that he could be a match for Hulk – but the odds of an entity like Zom ever facing Hulk one on one are exceedingly low.
3 Mangog
Created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
The living manifestation of the hatred of billions for All-Father Odin himself, the Mangog is an indescribably powerful entity that has menaced Thor and the Asgardians on multiple occasions. Physically, Mangog is incredibly strong, wielding the power of a billion, billion living beings and far stronger than even Thor.
While his other physical attributes are similarly elevated, including notable energy manipulation powers and shapeshifting abilities, the Mangog’s true strength against an entity like the Hulk is the actual source of is power: the ability to feed off the rage and hatred of others. The Hulk is called The Strongest One There is largely because his strength increases with his rage. The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets, but against the Mangog, the Green Goliath’s usual advantage would only make his foe stronger.
2 Molecule Man
Created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Owen Reece has been a singular figure in multiple multiverse-wide catastrophes and that is thanks in no small part to the awesome power he wields as the Molecule Man. Turned into a multiversal bomb by the all-powerful race of Beyonders, Molecule Man is essentially omniscient and able to manipulate reality at a will.
Considering such power – power that is directly responsible for the advent of Battleworld during Secret Wars as well as the restored Eighth Cosmos – Molecule Man could simply erase Bruce Banner from existence should the ever come to blows. Without his power, Reece is a relatively out-of-shape human being, but while he may be not match for the Hulk in terms of physical strength, it’s these reality warping powers that make him a bonafide bruiser against the Hulk.
1 The Void
Created by Paul Jenkins & Jae Lee
The darker half of the Golden Guardian of Good called the Sentry, the Void is the exact opposite of Bob Reynolds’ better angel, one of the most powerful entities in the Marvel Universe, and one of the few beings that a Savage Hulk outright fears. Gifted with countless abilties including incalculable strength, immortality, biokinesis, and molecular manipulating abilities that outpace even Molecule Man, the Void has traumatized the Hulk more than once.
Ultimately, the Void’s power cannot be overstated, and he’s literally snapped the Hulk’s limbs as if they were dry twigs and left the Jade Giant a quivering mess. In his Sentry form, Bob Reynolds has fought the Hulk to a standstill until they’ve both reverted to their human natures, but should Marvel Comics ever fully unleash the Void from his weaker half, it could well be the Green Goliath’s worse nightmare.
