‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Directors Explain in Detail Why Thanos Was Able to Beat Hulk

Avengers: Infinity War opened with one of the biggest one-on-one fights a Marvel fan can imagine as the Hulk went toe-to-toe with the Mad Titan, Thanos. Thanos ultimately came out on top of that battle but did he have some help in toppling the jade giant?

During a question and answer session following a special screening of Avengers: Infinity War, directors Joe and Anthony Russo revealed whether Thanos beat Hulk because he’s just that powerful, or because he had that Power Stone at his disposal.

Joe Russo says it wasn’t the Infinity Stones that beat Hulk, that was all Thanos.

“I would say that he’s just that powerful,” said Joe Russo. “You didn’t see him actively use the Power Stone in the fight. I think ultimately the way we looked at that fight and the way we talked about it with our stunt team when we were executing it was Hulk is obviously very powerful but he’s a little mindless in his fighting style. It’s aggressive. It’s pummeling. Thanos is the Genghis Khan of the universe. He’s a very skilled fighter and equally as strong. So when you put those two up against each other, the more skilled fighter is going to win. Which is why Hulk has a moment where he overpowers Thanos, but ultimately Thanos is smarter.”

On the Avengers: Infinity War Blu-ray commentary track, Russo discussed how losing this fight affected the Hulk. “The other guy” was unwilling to come when Bruce Banner called for him after this encounter, but Russo explained that it isn’t as simple as the Hulk being afraid of Thanos, as some fans had assumed.

“People speculated whether there was some fear on the Hulk’s part about having to face Thanos again but I think ultimately what it is is that he’s tired of playing hero to Bruce Banner,” Russo said. “This was an interesting journey that we went on with Banner, trying to decide how to move him forward in the Marvel universe. What makes him unique as a character is that there’s a host body that is being fought over by two distinct personalities who hate each other. Both want control of the host body. We though an interesting direction to take him in is, ‘Well, what if Banner, who typically uses the Hulk to solve crisis situations, what if the Hulk were no longer interested in solving those problems for Banner?’ So, the relationship is becoming increasingly dysfunctional and that’s what’s going on here.”

What do you think of the Hulk vs. Thanos fight in Avengers: Infinity War? Let us know in the comments!

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home media.

Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019; Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019; Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th, 2019.