Abomination vs. Smart Hulk: Who Is More Powerful In The MCU?

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ reintroduction of Abomination into the MCU created the possibility for another confrontation between him and Hulk, though this time as “Smart Hulk.” Although the movie’s post-credits scene showed that Bruce Banner had chosen to re-separate the 2 halves of his psyche, the teaser for the upcoming Disney+ She-Hulk series revealed him as Smart Hulk once more, likely taking place before Shang-Chi to help bridge the gap between that film and Avengers: Endgame. Since Abomination is also set to appear in She-Hulk, the series may be paving the way for a rematch between him and this new version of Hulk. But who would win in a one-on-one fight?

Bruce chose to become Smart Hulk in Endgame after the many ups and downs he endured with his angry alter ego over the years, ever since his initial accident with gamma radiation in The Incredible Hulk movie. By retaining Bruce’s mind while in Hulk’s body, Smart Hulk proved to have a lot of advantages, as he was now capable of utilizing both his physical and mental strengths at the same time. However, against someone like Abomination, these advantages would not be enough on their own.

The Incredible Hulk movie proved that Abomination was no match for Hulk in his regular form, but Smart Hulk is a different story. Hulk’s powers of superhuman strength, speed, durability, and healing are fueled by his rage — the angrier Hulk becomes, the stronger he becomes. As long as he has enough time to reach that level of anger, Hulk is practically unstoppable. On the other hand, Abomination’s power levels remain the same regardless of his emotional state. When Hulk is at his calmest, Abomination is often portrayed as being twice as strong, though Hulk usually ends up winning most of their confrontations due to the great strength increase he experiences when he gets truly angry. Yet, this would no longer be the case with Smart Hulk.

Smart Hulk, also known as Professor Hulk, has many advantages over his more emotional, mindless form. By combining Hulk’s strength with Bruce’s intellect, Smart Hulk can fight strategically. This also means, however, that he cannot reach the same strength levels as before because he cannot get as angry. This might not pose too much of a problem against an ordinary opponent, but Abomination’s abilities require every amount of strength Hulk can summon. Even worse, since Abomination cannot transform into his weaker alter ego, Emil Blonsky, he can never be caught off guard either. All of these factors make it incredibly likely that Smart Hulk would not prevail.

This said, Shang-Chi appeared to suggest Smart Hulk is no longer Banner and the Hulk’s current form, as the scientist appeared in his human form in the film – suggesting a future MCU battle would now have to be between Abomination and the regular Hulk. It’s rare for Hulk in any form to face a being stronger than him, but Abomination possesses such a similar skillset that Hulk needs to be in his best shape to fight him. Although Abomination‘s brief appearance in Shang-Chi, working with Wong in Xialing’s fight club, seemingly implied that he’s no longer the villain he used to be, only time will tell how he might react once face to face with Hulk again. Hopefully, the She-Hulk series will give viewers a proper rematch between them.

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