Hulk smashed!
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00:00 So, as we all know, the Hulk is a raw embodiment of anger, power and might, a combination that
00:05 makes him one of the most formidable characters in the Marvel Universe. But he's not unbeatable,
00:12 as many have proved throughout his time in the comics and, indeed, in films. So let's
00:16 take a look at some of them today as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these
00:19 are 10 different ways that you can actually defeat the Hulk.
00:23 10. The Power Cosmic
00:26 There are a precious few comic book characters the Hulk has failed to knock out, but one
00:30 that he tends to struggle with is the Silver Surfer. The pair memorably cross paths in
00:34 Tales to Astonish #92 and #93, a story which saw the Green Goliath attempt to hitch a ride
00:39 into outer space on the Silver Surfer's board to flee from his earthly pursuers, led,
00:44 as usual, by General Ross. The Surfer wasn't overly keen on the idea of a potential Hulk
00:48 rampage in the cosmos, and declined to be his Silver Chauffeur, a disagreement that
00:53 soon turned violent when Banner's alter-ego reacted the only way it knew how, which is
00:57 angrily. Even without calling upon his godly abilities, the Surfer was capable of putting
01:02 the Hulk on his backside, which he did without breaking a sweat by hurling his bloody board
01:07 at him. When the not-so-jolly Green Giant refused to stay down, Rad used the Power Cosmic
01:12 to send his opponent into unconsciousness, becoming one of the few heroes to make taking
01:16 down the Hulk look relatively easy.
01:18 9. Stark Industries Tech
01:20 There have been numerous attempts to cure Bruce Banner of his anger issues in the past,
01:25 but most of them have succeeded only in triggering another Hulk rampage. This was indeed the
01:29 case of Iron Man #132, when Tony Stark exposed his science bro to chemicals, forcing the
01:35 billionaire playboy to don his famous armour as a plan B. This was 1980, long before the
01:41 Hulkbuster suit was a thing, but Iron Man's eventual victory proved that Stark Industries
01:45 Tech definitely belongs on the list of Hulk Banes.
01:49 After failing to stop the Hulk by drowning him and garrotting him with a length of chain,
01:53 Stark took down the Green Behemoth by channelling all of his armour's remaining power into
01:57 one earth-shattering punch. The result was a total knockout for both the Hulk and the
02:01 Iron Man suit that Stark was wearing at the time. It's a good job he had a dozen more
02:05 back home, right?
02:06 8. Divine Lightning
02:08 Considering Bruce Banner and Thor are supposed to be buddies, they've definitely come to
02:12 blows on a confounding number of occasions. And there's little to separate them when
02:16 their head-to-head record is scrutinised. Sometimes the Hulk comes off worse, other
02:20 times it's the Thunder God, but both are usually worse for wear by the end of the scrap.
02:24 One thing that can be gleaned from their encounters is that Thor's Divine Lightning has proven
02:29 effective at stopping the Hulk in his tracks. In 2001's The Incredible Hulk Annual, a
02:33 sneak elemental attack to the back of the head was enough to put Banner's monstrous
02:37 ego out cold. Of course, he later wakes up and beats Thor to a pulp, but the point still
02:42 stands.
02:43 7. Adamantium
02:45 Wolverine vs The Hulk is one of the greatest showdowns in Marvel Comics history, which
02:49 is no doubt why writers continue to pit them against one another. The Green Behemoth may
02:54 have raw strength and power on his side, but Wolverine's adamantium claws really do level
02:58 the playing field. The unbreakable metal is robust enough to cut through the hide of some
03:02 of the toughest comic book cookies, including Luke Cage, The Thing, and indeed, The Hulk.
03:07 Wolverine has been known to hack, slash, gouge and stab his long-time rival something rotten
03:12 in the past, but has rarely beaten him outside of the "what if" scenarios. That said,
03:16 there are times where he definitely could have killed him. During their battle in The
03:20 Incredible Hulk #181, Banner was fortunate the pair eventually joined forces to take
03:24 down the mutual foe of the Wendigo, because Logan basically had him on the ropes. Wolverine
03:29 isn't the only adamantium-enhanced character in the Marvel Universe, another is Speedfreak,
03:33 and he's also had some success in mutilating the Hulk, only for Banner's rapid healing
03:37 abilities to save his hide.
03:39 6. Doctor Doom's Neuro Ray
03:42 Bruce Banner has got a lot of Hulks on his back, one being Joe Fixit, a grey-skinned,
03:47 more intelligent version of the classic green incarnation. When this personality emerged
03:51 in Fantastic Four #320, he proved no match for the infinite resourcefulness of Doctor
03:56 Victor Von Doom. The pair did battle against a desert backdrop, and while Doom's armour
04:00 and weaponry allowed him to hold his own for a while, the metal-faced Latverian knew that
04:04 he'd have to get creative in order to win this particular fight. The Doctor used a Neuro
04:09 Ray to incapacitate his foe, taking control of his movement until he was completely subdued,
04:14 but this was only half the battle. With the Hulk at his mercy, Doom played on his ego,
04:19 another Achilles heel for Banner, goading him into picking a fight with the Thing by
04:22 accusing him of fearing the Fantastic Four's rocky behemoth and hiding away from him.
04:27 5. Plasma Blasts
04:29 One of the Hulk's least incredible moments came way back way in 1972, when he was taken
04:34 down by a B-list X-Man in Incredible Hulk #150. An unfortunate case of mistaken identity
04:40 sparked a battle with Havok. Hulk erroneously believed the mutant Polaris was his former
04:44 squeezed dorella, the green-skinned Princess of Kai, and snatched her King Kong style.
04:49 Things got hairy when the arrival of a military jeep sent the jade behemoth into a state of
04:53 rage, but Alex Summers arrived on the scene to rescue his ex-teammate. Havok's energy-based
04:59 attacks didn't prove especially effective at first, but he was forced to strategise
05:02 when the Hulk threatened to crush him with a cliff face, channelling a focused plasma
05:06 blast into his opponent's forehead and sending him out for the count. It was quite the David
05:10 vs. Goliath victory for Havok here.
05:13 4. Sleeping Gas
05:14 It turns out that you don't need divine elemental capabilities, cosmic powers, or
05:18 even super strength to put the Hulk down, because good old-fashioned sleeping gas will
05:22 suffice. In a dramatic twist, it's actually a DC Comics hero who demonstrated this during
05:27 1981's DC Special Series #27, in which Batman crossed paths with Bruce Banner. This rare
05:32 crossover comic found Banner exploring the medical potential of a gamma gun from Wayne
05:37 Tech before the Joker arrived on the scene, stole the device, unleashed the Hulk, and
05:41 manipulated him into attacking the Caped Crusader. Batman, a mere mortal, knew that he stood
05:46 no chance in a toe-to-toe battle against the rampaging embodiment of anger, but the world's
05:50 greatest detective always has a trick or two up his sleeve, or in this case, tucked into
05:54 his utility belt. The Dark Knight hit the Hulk with a hefty dose of sleeping gas, and
05:58 his opponent's only response was to hold his breath. One precise kick to the solar
06:02 plexus later, and Banner choked down a lungful, sending him to the land of Nod.
06:07 3. Teamwork
06:08 The Hulk has been known to smash his way through some of the Marvel Universe's most powerful
06:12 collectives, including multiple versions of the Avengers and the X-Men. But other teams
06:17 have taken him down by functioning like a well-oiled machine. A classic example is the
06:21 Fantastic Four in issue #166 of their eponymous series, which dates back to 1979. The Human
06:27 Torch temporarily blinded Hulk with fire, Mr Fantastic then bound his limbs, and the
06:32 Invisible Woman generated a force field around his head to deprive him of air. It was Banner's
06:36 frequent combatant, The Thing, who delivered the knockout blow, though. But in all fairness
06:40 to Ben Grimm, he felt super bad about it afterwards.
06:43 2. Hitting him really, really, really hard
06:47 Contrary to popular belief, it is actually possible to defeat the Hulk through brute
06:51 strength alone. You just have to hit him really, really hard. There aren't too many characters
06:55 in the Marvel Universe capable of mustering this kind of force, but they do exist, and
07:00 there are also a few in the world of DC Comics as well. In the 1996 crossover event DC vs
07:05 Marvel, Superman proved a match for the Hulk throughout their slugfest, and took him out
07:09 by landing an almighty punch after weakening him with a dose of heat vision. Back to the
07:14 Marvel World, though, and The Thing has always been enough of a heavy hitter to topple the
07:17 Tower of Green Chaos, although their scraps can go either way.
07:21 Moreover, X-Men villain the Juggernaut has also served Banner with a beatdown or two
07:25 in the past, notably in 1993's Incredible Hulk #402 when he choked the Hulk into unconsciousness
07:31 during a jungle showdown.
07:33 1. Taking out Banner before he's able to change
07:36 Obviously the Hulk is most vulnerable in brute Banner form, but an attack on the mild-mannered
07:41 scientist usually sends him spiralling into the Green Goliath mode. Hulk has been known
07:45 to parry or shrug off anything that's thrown at his alter ego, but Marvel characters with
07:49 lightning-fast reflexes can beat this defence mechanism. Hawkeye proved enough of a sharp
07:53 shooter to hit Banner with an arrow to the head before he could transform in Civil War
07:57 2. But before you go gunning for Clint Barton, it's important to note that he was acting
08:01 on Bruce's instructions. Long story short, Ulysses experienced a prophetic vision indicating
08:07 the Hulk was destined to kill the rest of the Avengers. Upon learning this, Banner ordered
08:11 Barton to neutralise him if there was ever a hint of him turning again.
08:14 A flash of green appeared in Bruce's eyes, and Hulk begrudgingly hit him with an arrow.
08:18 He spent the rest of the storyline on trial for murder, but was later acquitted.
08:21 But you know what? He probably would have gotten off with this charge sooner if his
08:24 lawyer had just played the 'nobody actually stays dead in comics' card. Because you
08:28 know what? That's the bloody truth.
08:29 And there we go my friends, those were 10 different ways you can actually defeat the
08:32 Hulk. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down
08:35 in the comments section below. As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter
08:39 @RetroJWithA0, or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice where I do all of my streaming
08:43 outside of work, as well as my Warhammer Battle Reports, and it'd be great to see you over
08:47 there.
08:48 You have been awesome. Never forget that and I'll speak to you soon. Bye