7 New MCU Characters Who Could Beat The Hulk

The years haven’t been kind to Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bruce Banner’s alter-ego comes out of the gates swinging, defeating Abomination in The Incredible Hulk and teaching Loki a lesson in The Avengers. The green waters get muddied after that, though, with a fling with Black Widow and a trip to Sakaar getting in the way of the character’s development. And just when the Hulk is ready to rejoin the fray, he takes a beating from Thanos and refuses to come out for the rest of Avengers: Infinity War. It goes so bad that Banner has to bring the brains and brawn together to create the Smart Hulk.

But there may still be hope for the Jade Giant. All signs point to the Savage Hulk making his live-action debut in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, opening the door for a return to form. Hulk really doesn’t have a choice but to get his act together because the competition for the title of strongest in the MCU is only getting fiercer.

7) Mephisto

While throwing a solid right hook might seem like a prerequisite to defeating the Hulk, that’s not actually the case. Messing with his mind also does the trick, as seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Wanda Maximoff takes control of him. Mephisto only has a few scenes in Ironheart, but he proves to be just as effective at manipulating people as the Scarlet Witch. He’s also sure to have a few other tricks up his sleeve that will render the Hulk’s strength useless.

6) Galactus

Hulk pulls off some pretty impressive feats in the MCU, such as defeating Fenris Wolf in Thor: Ragnarok. However, knocking out an undead creature would be child’s play for Galactus, who wields the Power Cosmic and eats planets to survive. All of the genius minds in the Fantastic Four can’t even come up with a way to defeat the Devourer of Worlds; they decide the only course of action is just to send him away and hope for the best.

5) Silver Surfer

If there’s one thing the Hulk isn’t, it’s fast. Thor is able to take advantage of Hulk’s lack of speed in Ragnarok and get the edge in their fight in the colosseum. But the God of Thunder doesn’t have anything on Galactus’ herald, Silver Surfer, who can travel across the galaxy in a matter of seconds. Not even Galactus sees her coming at the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, when she hits him like a missile and sends him through the portal.

4) The Thing

It’s easy to forget that behind The Thing’s rocky exterior is a brilliant mind that allows him to fly spaceships and outsmart villains. Hulk isn’t able to access Banner’s mind when he’s not in Smart Hulk form, so the advantage has to go to Ben Grimm. There’s also precedence for The Thing beating Hulk. In the comics, when Hulk is under mind control, The Thing puts all of his strength into one punch that knocks his opponent out cold.

3) Franklin Richards

Hulk might be a mindless beast, but even he knows not to mess with kids. After all, he has one of his own now, and it would crush him if anything happened to Skaar. However, Franklin Richards might force Hulk’s hands because the young hero is as powerful as any being in the MCU. Like Galactus, he has access to the Power Cosmic, which allows him to bend reality and bring people back from the dead.

2) Sentry

With the Avengers out of the picture, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine attempts to replace them in Thunderbolts with Project Sentry, which delivers Bob Reynolds to her. Bob doesn’t exactly have his head on straight, but that doesn’t mean he’s lacking in the power department. He makes a group of super soldiers look like a joke and would likely do the same to the Hulk if he got provoked. And that’s not even mentioning Bob’s alter ego, the Void, which would surely do a number on Banner and his green friend.

1) Infinity Hulk

Hulk claims to be the strongest there is. The reality is that he’s not even the strongest version of himself. Marvel Zombies introduces Infinity Hulk, a variant of the hero that absorbed all of the energy of the Infinity Stones. He does serious damage to Scarlet Witch’s undead army before getting overwhelmed. Regular Hulk wouldn’t have lasted nearly as long.

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