Still, while the Hulk has the brawn, his brain is lacking. There have been other heroes who have gotten ahead of him just with their smarts and careful planning. Obviously, big hitters like Sentry, Galactus, and even Superman have been able to withstand the emerald giant’s assault. But these are the more surprising heroes to hand The Hulk an L.

8 The Punisher

To casual comic fans, it’s hard to imagine The Punisher killing off every superhero in the Marvel Universe. His superpower is guns! What can he do against the rest? However, to comic buffs, 1995’s The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is writer Garth Ennis being Garth Ennis. He has a certain style, and the typical spandex-clad hero with superpowers doesn’t fit into that.

Thus, the comic presents a world where Frank ‘Punisher’ Castle’s family was killed in a fight between superheroes and aliens. In revenge, he starts his campaign against other heroes and villains. With the Hulk, he simply shot him with a tracking device while he was on a rampage. Then, the Punisher follows him, finds Bruce Banner, and shoots him dead. If only it worked like that in the other continuities.

7 Deadpool

Following in the Punisher’s footsteps, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe was the first of three stories in the Deadpool Killology, alongside Deadpool Killustrated and Deadpool Kills Deadpool. Written by Cullen Bunn, Deadpool is taken into a psychiatric ward by the X-Men, only for his doctor to be the villain Psycho-Man in disguise. He tries to brainwash Deadpool into being his minion, but all he does is replace the voices in Deadpool’s head with one craving nothing but destruction.

In every other comic, the Hulk has smashed Deadpool to bits quite easily, and it’s the same here too! The Hulk rips the Merc with a Mouth apart during a rampage and then sleeps it off. Unaware that Deadpool’s healing factor can keep him going long enough to fit himself back together. Like in the Punisher story, Deadpool finds Banner where the Hulk once rested, and then lops his head off with his sword. If only it worked like that in the other continuities.

6 Spider-Man

Spider-Man’s a smart guy, so seeing his name on this list, there was probably some issue where he had to trap the Hulk in the motherload of all webs, right? How else could he beat him? Brute force? Well, yes. In Amazing Spider-Man #328, the arachnid-based hero was caught up in Loki’s ‘Acts of Vengeance’ masterplan that pitted different heroes against each other. He was stuck with the Gray Hulk, who wasn’t as strong as his green equivalent but was smarter to make up for it.

To stop Loki’s machinations, the Enigma Force briefly made Spider-Man the new Captain Universe. His strength was increased 50-fold, making him Marvel’s strongest ever hero at the time. He not only beat the Hulk down but smacked him up beyond the stratosphere and into space. Luckily for him, Spidey used his temporary powers to fly up and bring him back down to Earth.

5 Storm & Cable

The mid-90s villain Onslaught, a combination of Professor X and Magneto’s powers, was built up as a big deal at the time. Today, he’s just remembered as the last boss in the original Marvel Vs Capcom. But if being a psychic, magnetic monstrosity wasn’t enough, he managed to possess the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk #444. With a super-powered mind, super strength, and superpowers, who or what could beat him? Just two X-Men.

Storm and Cable tried to reach the Hulk’s conscious buried within his body, but with no luck. So, Cable figures another way. If Storm combined a lightning strike with his psychic attack at the same time, they could purge Onslaught out of the Hulk by ‘rebooting’ his brain like a computer. They did so, and it worked! Except the Hulk didn’t wake up. They actually killed the hero off… Briefly. He came back after another mental dive and lightning bolt. Still, it showed how vulnerable the Hulk could be to the right heroes.

4 Havok

Why ask two X-Men to beat the Hulk when only one will do? Havok, the brother of Cyclops, took on the Behemoth in Incredible Hulk #150 after a little misunderstanding. The Hulk mistook Polaris for his lost love Jarella, Princess of K’ai in the Microverse (just roll with it). He took her up the side of a cliff, and Havok went in pursuit to help her out.

Havok defended himself with his energy waves, though they didn’t do much to slow the giant down. But he got an opportunity when the Hulk picked up a small mountain. Havok focused all his energy waves entirely on the Hulk’s forehead, straining him further. The stress from the waves and the weight of the mountain was too much and made the Hulk pass out.

3 Dr Octopus

Spider-Man needed cosmic powers to beat a weaker version of the Hulk. Dr Octopus just needed some new arms. In Spider-Man #19, the Hulk came in to help the friendly neighborhood hero against the new and reformed Sinister Six. He one-shot Mysterio, Electro, Vulture, and Hobgoblin each with ease, so it seemed like an easy end to the issue.

Then Dr Octopus came in, held the Hulk in place, and pummeled him with his robot arms until he was knocked out cold. It was because he had them replaced with adamantium arms, which he boasted were strong enough to beat Thor, let alone the Hulk. It was said that writer Peter David was so annoyed with this that he had the Hulk get revenge by beating the multi-armed scientist with a flick of his finger in Incredible Hulk #396 shortly after its release.

2 Hawkeye

This one’s relatively recent. Marvel made a sequel to their Civil War event comic with Civil War II in 2016. The former was already of questionable quality, but the latter really rubbed people up the wrong way. Notably with its conclusion where the Hulk got killed. In the story, Bruce Banner had seemingly cured himself of the Hulk for good. However, a character called Ulysses foresaw a disaster caused by a hero or a villain.

The other heroes suspected Banner’s alter-ego would return, especially as he’d been experimenting with gamma radiation again. Banner pled his case, only to be killed by a gamma-coated arrow to the head. Hawkeye said Banner asked him to kill him off and gave him the means to do so. All he had to do was wait for a flick of green in Banner’s eyes as the cue to shoot. Thus, the Hulk was dead…for two years. He came back in 2018 and still holds a grudge against the Avengers’ premier archer.

1 Batman

There are likely two reactions to the fact that Batman beat the Hulk: incredulity or exasperation. With the Caped Crusader’s popularity, it can feel like these feats are just there to look badass than to provide a compelling story. However, the best writers can still make an effective David & Goliath tale with Batman and a stronger foe without turning his Utility Belt into a waist-based equivalent of Mary Poppins’ bag.

Things were friendly enough between Marvel and DC in 1981 for the Hulk to become a threat in DC Special Series #27. Written by the late Len Wein, the Hulk is tricked by the Joker into thinking Batman is an enemy. The Hulk gets him in a bear hug, leaving Batman with only one last gasp: throwing out a sleeping gas pellet. Hulk holds his breath, so Batman kicks him as hard as he can in the solar plexus, winding the giant into breathing in the gas and passing out. While some may question it, these tactics are why Batman’s fights can be so great. They’re simple yet clever.

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