Hulk vs. Red Hulk Fight Winner Declared by MCU Star (But Are They Right?)

The Hulk’s power in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a topic consistently debated and considered by Marvel fans; even the Avengers themselves have brought it up more than once. With his sporadic appearances across the MCU, and ever-evolving character arc, the Hulk’s abilities can sometimes be inconsistent. That said, when Marvel needs him to be the strongest Avenger and to fully smash something, he can do it when called upon. With that narrative uncertainty up in the air, it can result in fans wondering who really would win in any kind of major Marvel fight, especially with the Hulk.

One of the biggest questions that MCU Fans have been wondering about the past couple of years is how Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk would hold up against the latest new Gamma monster in the MCU, Thaddeus Ross’ Red Hulk. First introduced into the MCU with this year’s Captain America: Brave New World, with no other Hulk to fight in front of him, it wasn’t immediately obvious from his appearance just how powerful he really was. Even with that question lingering, Ruffalo himself knows exactly the answer.

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Could the MCU Hulk Beat Red Hulk?

While appearing on We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi Hasan, Ruffalo was asked a some rapid-fire Marvel questions including the one we all want to know here, “Who wins, Hulk or Red Hulk?” Ruffalo, naturally, replied, “Hulk.” When asked for his reasoning, he responded with the kind of answer that fans love to hear, “No one beats the Hulk. Not even the Red Hulk.”

In the pages of Marvel comics, the Hulk vs Red Hulk debate requires a little more nuance, as Ross is capable of holding onto some of his military strategy despite being a rage-fueled gamma monster so hot that his footprints turn sand into diamonds. In the MCU, however, the Red Hulk is nerfed somewhat and largely just fits the bill of being another Hulk in the grand scheme of things. As we’ve seen in other Marvel movies and shows, though, the Hulk really does have few equals in a fight, meaning, yes, if the Hulk and the Red Hulk were to come to blows on the big screen, Ruffalo’s green giant would almost certainly win.

What makes this clear can be found in Captain America: Brave New World, as Ross and this Red Hulk form are defeated by Sam Wilson, not by exhausting him physically or even defeating him in combat, but by appealing to his human nature that was still hiding within. That’s not to say that Hulk himself is not also susceptible to a similar defeat, but there’s no precedent for it in the MCU beyond his relationship with Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron, something we’re ten years removed from at this point.

Ruffalo went on to make another noteworthy claim about his MCU Hulk, though, claiming that he would also come out victorious in a fight with Superman. There have been a handful of Superman vs Hulk fights in the pages of Marvel and DC crossover comics, with Superman largely coming out the victor in them, but that doesn’t end the debate in the slightest. Hulk’s near-limitless strength from his rage has many fans certain he could take the Man of Steel, especially after he died thanks to the Hulk-adjacent character Doomsday in the 1990s. That said, it’s never been seen in comics, not yet, at least.