The Hulk is the strongest one there is, and he’s been proving that for decades. The Hulk took two very different ideas — body horror and Atomic Age anxiety — and melded them into something new. The Hulk has become one of Marvel’s most complex characters, not to mention one of the most powerful. The Hulk isn’t a traditional superhero; while he fights villains, his greatest enemy is himself. The Hulk’s stories have become psychological masterpieces, and they’ve given readers some of the greatest fights in comics. The Hulk has defeated a who’s who of villains in the Marvel Universe, and everyone fears the power of the Hulk, including Thanos (unlike in the MCU, Hulk has the power to destroy Thanos in battle). Even superteams have no chance against the Hulk, as he trashes teams like the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four like they’re not there.
Marvel and DC Comics are crossing over again, something that readers haven’t seen in decades. The Hulk hasn’t gotten announced for any crossovers yet (although he did star in one of the first Marvel/DC crossovers back in the day against Batman) but as one of the most popular Marvel heroes, it’s only a matter of time before the Hulk shows up. The Hulk has ran through the greatest heroes of the Marvel Universe, so seeing him go up against the heroes of DC will definitely be a treat. While there are definitely a lot of DC heroes that Hulk would smash, these seven DC heroes would defeat the Hulk (and Batman isn’t one of them), cutting the Green Goliath down to size.
7) Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing is one of the most powerful — and storied — characters in DC Comics. Swamp Thing is the avatar of the Green, the energy behind all plant life on Earth. Swamp Thing is super strong, but his greatest power is his ability to control plant life. Swamp Thing is basically a consciousness that can create bodies from anything that grows. Swamp Thing can’t really be destroyed, as every time one of this bodies is destroyed he can build an all-new one. In fact, Swamp Thing can control multiple bodies at once, allowing him to attack his enemies from every angle. Swamp Thing has even been able to defeat Superman, both the all-powerful pre-Crisis version and the less powerful modern versions, so him taking down the Hulk is basically academic. Nothing that Hulk could do would actually have an effect on Swamp Thing. One of the things people forget is that the Hulk needs to be able to breath, and Swamp Thing would easily fill his airways with plants until he falls. Or he can take control of the gut flora that inside everyone and use that to defeat the Hulk. Hulk can smash anyone, but Swamp Thing is basically unstoppable. It would be an excellent fight, but Swamp Thing has this one in the bag.
6) The Flash
Wally West is the greatest Flash, reaching levels of power that his predecessors could never imagine until he showed them it was possible. Wally West is the master of the Speed Force, which allows him to do amazing things with speed and physics. The Flash is the kind of character that only loses because he wants to. The Flash can move faster than people think (and I mean that as the speed of thought, although he’s also faster than you can imagine), and there’s really no stopping the Flash when he’s serious about the fight. The Hulk and the Flash have their power levels in common; both of them have basically infinite power. However, as great as the Hulk’s limitless strength is, the Flash’s limitless speed is superior. The Hulk would get mighty strong throughout this fight, as not being able to hit the Flash would infuriate him, but his strength wouldn’t be enough because of one simple move: the infinite mass punch. So, the closer you get to the speed of light, the more your mass increases, to the point where once you actually hit the speed of light, you have infinite mass (at least theoretically; the speed of light so far has been impossible to reach). The Speed Force allows the Flash to go to light speed and beyond, so he can basically hit the Hulk with infinite mass. Of course, the Flash wouldn’t need to reach infinite mass to do the deed, but you get the point.
5) The Spectre
The Spectre is one of the most powerful beings in comics. The Spectre is the Angel of God’s Vengeance, come to Earth to punish the wicked. The Spectre has complete control over reality; his ’90s series saw him doing terrible things to anyone in his way. The Spectre has been able to wrestle the Anti-Monitor himself, who was more powerful than a pre-Crisis Kryptonian (basically, pre-Crisis Kryptonians could move planets like they’re beach balls). The Spectre can be defeated, but it takes magical know how that very few beings possess. You know who definitely doesn’t possess that know how? The Hulk. The Hulk has infinite strength and is powered by the One Below All, but he doesn’t have the kind of power that the Spectre has. This is really only a fight if the Spectre wants it to be; the Spectre would only fist fight the Hulk if he felt like it. Otherwise, he can basically do anything he wants to the Hulk. The Hulk has definitely hurt the innocent in his rampages, and the Spectre would make him pay for every life he ruined in the most way imaginable.
4) Green Lantern
So, I feel like this one is going to be controversial, but I stand by it. The Green Lantern ring is the greatest weapon in the universe. Back in JLA #22-23, Dream called the Green Lantern ring a wishing ring, which is the best way to describe it. It can do anything its wearer can imagine. Hal Jordan is the greatest Green Lantern of them all, his willpower allowing him to do things with his ring that no one else could. One of the best things about the Green Lantern is that it has an onboard computer. It would be able to tell Hal the power of the Hulk, which would case Hal to go on the defensive. Green Lantern shields are basically impregnable, although the Hulk has broken energy shields before. Hal can easily keep himself out of the Hulk’s reach, which would keep him safe from the strength of the Hulk. However, defense doesn’t win fights and the Hulk’s power would keep all but the most devastating attacks from hurting him. As we brought up earlier, the Hulk does need to breathe. Hal would figure this out pretty quickly, and use his ring to cut off the Hulk’s air supply. That would be all she wrote for this fight; Hulk is more powerful, but Hal is way smarter, and that’s going to make all of the difference.
3) Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter is low-key one of the most powerful heroes in the DC Multiverse. J’onn J’onnz is basically the Swiss army knife of superheroes. He has Superman-level strength, super speed, invulnerability, super senses, Martian vision, shapeshifting, telepathy, invisibility, intangibility, and the power to fly. He’s one of the smartest heroes around, and has been able to help the Justice League win some of the most difficult fights imaginable. One thing that people seem to forget is that the Hulk doesn’t have infinite strength right away; he can build up to amazing feats of strength, but he starts out at Class 100 (meaning he can lift 100 tons). The Martian Manhunter is much stronger than that at first. Once he realizes that he can cut loose against the Hulk, he’ll be able to devastate the Hulk. His speed and flight will allow him to stay out of the Hulk’s way, with his Martian vision eyeblasts allowing him to keep hitting the Hulk. On top of that, Martian Manhunter’s telepathic will have an effect on the Hulk; at the very least, it would allow him to know what the Hulk is going to do before he does it. The Hulk would be a challenge for the Martian Manhunter, but he thrives in challenging situations.
2) Supergirl
Supergirl is quite different from Superman, having grown up on Krypton. Supergirl experienced the destruction of everything she knew, and much like her cousin, she decided to make sure that the Earth does not go the way of Krypton. One thing that not a lot of people know is that Supergirl is actually more powerful than Superman; most people think that she’s weaker, which definitely isn’t the case. The Hulk is very strong, but he really can’t stand up to the kind of power that Supergirl brings to bear. She’s faster, she’s stronger (well, for a while at least), but most of all she’s smarter. The Hulk would give Supergirl a good fight, but once she realizes what she’s dealing with, the kid gloves are off. The Hulk would learn a lesson that a lot of other people have learned — never underestimate Supergirl.
1) Superman
Superman versus the Hulk is one of those fights that everyone wants to see, but honestly, it’s not really even a question — Superman wins the fight. Superman isn’t unstoppable and can be defeated, but Hulk just doesn’t have the power to do so. Superman can move planets and fly at the speed of light. He’s infinitely faster than the Hulk. Superman holds back, but he wouldn’t have to do that with the Hulk. While there’s a chance that the Hulk can eventually get strong enough to actually hurt Superman, this fight isn’t going to last that long. Superman is strong enough to choke out the Hulk, but honestly, he can probably knock the Hulk out with one punch if he hit him hard enough. The Hulk is powerful, but Superman is his superior in every way.
What DC heroes do you think can beat the Hulk? Sound off in the comments below.
The post 7 DC Heroes Hulk Can’t Beat, Ranked (and Batman Isn’t #1) appeared first on ComicBook.com.