17 Years Later, the MCU’s Most Intense Fight Just Got a Rematch

Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe keeps things low-key until The Avengers. Tony Stark’s first big fight comes against his dad’s old friend, who’s just looking to take control of the company that he helped build. Justin Hammer walks down a similar path, teaming up with Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2 because they both have a score to settle with the titular hero. Not even Thor, who comes from a magical kingdom in space, really gets to have an epic fight because he’s stuck in New Mexico without his hammer, Mjolnir, for the majority of his first solo movie.

Steve Rogers has it a little better than his future teammates because he gets to save the world from the Red Skull, who wants to bomb major cities, in Captain America: The First Avenger. However, despite the conflict getting so bad that Cap is willing to lay down his life, his fight with Red Skull isn’t the most intense in Phase One. No, that honor goes to another MCU battle that just got a second round after nearly two decades.

Bruce Banner Meets His Match in The Incredible Hulk

All Bruce Banner wants to do is stay off the grid in The Incredible Hulk. He knows what he’s capable of, so he carves out a life for himself in Brazil, where nobody knows him or keeps tabs on him. Unfortunately, his former life catches up to him, and Thunderbolt Ross comes sniffing around. Being chased stresses Banner out, and he can’t stop the Hulk from coming out and wreaking havoc. Ross, wanting nothing more than to take the beast down, brings in some help in the form of Emil Blonsky, a decorated soldier who knows a thing or two about capturing targets. Blonsky’s first run-in with the Hulk ends in disaster, though, and he seeks out a way to even the playing field.

After getting a dose of Banner’s blood from Samuel Sterns, Blonsky turns into the Abomination and starts tearing apart the streets of Harlem. Hulk meets him on the battlefield and uses everything he can to slow him down, including chains and cars. It takes everything in the budding hero’s power to stop his opponent from killing everyone in his path, but he gets the job done. While the two have stayed away from each other ever since the conclusion of The Incredible Hulk, the MCU just gave them another excuse to go at it.

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Abomination Takes One More Swing at the Hulk in Marvel Zombies

Being a superhero in the zombie apocalypse doesn’t sound like the worst fate. After all, zombies aren’t known for being particularly tough. Well, Marvel Zombies flips that notion on its head by turning a good chunk of the MCU’s heroes and villains into members of Scarlet Witch’s undead army. Her ultimate goal is to warp the reality of the entire world, but one person is standing in her way: Bruce Banner. After T’Challa kills Thanos and destroys the Infinity Stones, a wave of energy threatens to swallow the entire world, and Banner absorbs it to stop that from happening. The Infinity Hulk is born, and it takes Scarlet Witch a while to build a force strong enough to challenge him.

When Scarlet Witch arrives at Hulk’s position, her first move is to send zombie Abomination after him. It’s not a bad idea on her part because no one other than Thanos has pushed Banner’s alter ego as hard as Abomination has. However, Blonksy doesn’t run into the same Hulk he fought back in Harlem. Instead, he meets the might of Infinity Hulk, who wipes him off the map in an instant. While it’s a shame that the two powerhouses didn’t get to trade blows once again, it wouldn’t have been realistic for Abomination to go toe-to-toe with Marvel Zombies‘ version of Hulk.

Marvel Zombies is streaming on Disney+.

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