How Powerful The Hulk Really Is In Each MCU Movie

It’s not just Hulk‘s charm that makes him the most beloved intergalactic gladiator on Planet Sakaar, his immense power has hardly ever been rivaled in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, Hulk has always been a force to be reckoned with, strong enough to beat Juggernaut with only one hit and break entire planets using only his fists. Of course, the movies have to tone his power down to avoid making him the go-to solution for every one of the Avengers’ problems, but Hulk is still such a powerful character in the MCU that even the Asgardian gods tremble when they think about fighting him.

Hulk’s might is one of the most important aspects to get right in a live-action adaptation. Back in 1978, The Incredible Hulk TV show didn’t count with the technology required to create a credible depiction of the gargantuan monster, so the producers cast the obviously human yet physically imposing bodybuilding champion Lou Ferrigno, who captured a lot of the character’s physicality despite the lack of VFX to enhance his performance. The Green Goliath only received a proper cinematic translation of his beastly powers with Ang Lee’s Hulk in 2003, but the director opted for a more psychological approach to the film instead of the typical high-octane brawl extravaganza. In 2008, Hulk finally put his brawn to the test for The Incredible Hulk, where he not only received a clearer display of his power but also played an important part in founding what would later become the most successful franchise in film history.

With Hulk at home in the MCU and Mark Ruffalo’s graceful acting chops under the motion capture suit, Marvel fans can have a better idea of how powerful the green giant really is. Still, the constant turmoil within Bruce Banner’s mind makes Hulk a character in permanent evolution. This is is beneficial for the troubled scientist but doesn’t do any favors for his alter ego’s power level. Here’s how powerful Hulk is in each of his MCU appearances.

The Incredible Hulk

The opening credits of Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk retell the origin story of the Hulk as a flashback. This version of Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is convinced by General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) to replicate the Super Soldier Serum that gave Captain America (Chris Evans) his powers. Oblivious to the fact that the experiment will be used to create more Super Soldiers for warmongering purposes, Banner boosts the procedure with dangerous quantities of gamma radiation and tests it on himself. This decision leads him to absorb all of the radiation at a cellular level, permanently changing his physiology. Therefore, when his heartbeat reaches a certain threshold, a rage-fueled creature takes over his mind and body. At around 9 ft tall and with a muscle-bound physique, this new being earns the name of “The Hulk” – a stronger, faster, and more durable entity than any Super Soldier General Ross could have ever wished for.

Hulk can crush metal like paper and withstand heavy artillery without a scratch. His skin is almost impenetrable, only vulnerable to the sharp bones of another mutated behemoth like the Abomination (Tim Roth). He can also leap great distances for a prolonged time, climb brick walls using his bare hands, and run faster than most vehicles. Besides, his healing factor is the most efficient out of any other character in the MCU so far and even applies to Banner in his human form, as evidenced by how he once tried to shoot himself but “the other guy spit it out”. While Hulk can’t lift billions of tons like in the comics, he can clap his hands so hard that he sets off a powerful shockwave capable of putting down a gasoline fire instantly, and also smash his hands on the ground to create deep cracks that destabilize his enemies. There’s little the Hulk can’t do at this point in the MCU timeline if he’s feeling angry enough. The downside of Banner’s new abilities is that he has no control over them. When he transforms, his conscience steps back to give rise to the Hulk, who has barely any communication skills and is driven mostly by instinct.

The Avengers

Although the ability to transform into an unstoppable rage monster sounds exciting to many fans of the character, Bruce Banner suffers this predicament too much to accept an uncertain future as a living time bomb. After he drops off the map at the end of The Incredible Hulk, he learns to control his inner beast and keep it at bay until the appropriate moment calls for him to unleash it. Contrary to what one would expect, he doesn’t accomplish this by keeping his mind in a serene state; instead, he retains all of his rage barely under the surface so he can decide when and where to transform. This technique allows him to work alongside his fellow Avengers and aim his power at the right targets during the Chitauri invasion on Earth. However, Banner can still transform involuntarily if his emotions get out of hand.

Avengers: Actors Who Almost Played The Original 6 Heroes

In The Avengers, Hulk is undoubtedly the strongest member of the team. At this point, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is not powerful enough to subdue him and the only blow that knocks him out is a fall from a jet at a high altitude. As soon as Bruce Banner reveals to his teammates that he can transform at will, Hulk makes his heroic entrance to stop a Chitauri Leviathan with only one punch. The Avengers officially assemble for the first time and Hulk follows Captain America’s orders to smash dozens of Chitauri soldiers effortlessly. Shorter but bulkier than the Hulk from The Incredible Hulk, Mark Ruffalo’s rage machine shakes Loki (Tom Hiddleston) around by his foot like a ragdoll and punches Thor out of frame without even looking. He only finds himself in trouble when multiple Chitauri ships rally to shoot at him simultaneously from above, and Avengers: Endgame showed that his other weakness at this point in the timeline is his hatred for stairs.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

By the moment the Avengers storm the Sokovian HYDRA base in the opening sequence of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Hulk has already accustomed to the idea of teamwork. The green monster comes in very handy to the team when military bunkers are in urgent need to be smashed. When his services are no longer required, Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) brings Bruce Banner back with a technique both of them have developed in which she reminds Hulk that “the sun’s getting real low” – a signal for him to calm down and return to his human form. Despite Banner’s improved control over his transformation, Hulk is still as powerful as ever, which means he can become a dangerous threat if not restrained properly.

When Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) implants a nightmarish vision within Bruce Banner’s mind, Hulk becomes more violent than ever. With most of the Avengers incapacitated by their future ally’s enchantments, Tony Stark is left alone with the task of neutralizing Hulk before he lays waste to the entire city of Johannesburg. Thankfully, fighting alongside the Hulk has helped Stark understand his behavior. Equipped with the towering Hulkbuster armor, Stark still struggles to keep up with him. After punching him, dragging him on concrete, blasting him with reinforced lasers, and hitting him with an elevator, he only manages to knock out one of his teeth. But the fact that Stark ultimately tames him proves that, at his peak and fully out of control, Hulk is still not powerful enough to defeat the Avengers if he were to face them all. Still, he can become an unstoppable force if his allies are not around to beat some sense into him or sing him a lullaby.

Thor: Ragnarok

Hulk grows weary of causing chaos everywhere he goes, and his participation in the destruction of Sokovia after wrecking Johannesburg is the last straw for his rapidly-evolving conscience. So, after slapping Ultron around at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, he jumps onto the Avengers’ Quinjet and flies away without any apparent destination. Luckily enough, a convenient wormhole transports him to the trash planet of Sakaar, where he finally finds a fitting place to use his immense power among other strong outcasts from all over the cosmos. Soon after landing, Hulk signs up as a fighter in the Contest of Champions – a gladiator-style tournament helmed by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). Embellished with makeshift armor, Hulk becomes a celebrity and refuses to transform back into Bruce Banner for around two years.

With the acclaim of massive crowds and in such a violent environment, Hulk develops his combat skills and gains a fair amount of intellect, so it’s easy for him to defeat Thor when the god arrives at the arena. But despite slamming him on the ground like he did with Loki, Thor’s newly acquired ability to summon lightning without the need for Mjolnir gives the Asgardian god the upper hand until Grandmaster stops the fight. It appears Hulk’s frustration with Banner helps him return even stronger, as he manages to fight Hela’s (Cate Blanchett) enormous hellhound Fenris and throw him to outer space during Asgard’s dying moments. Hulk is also able to hurt a full-powered Surtur before the fire demon flicks him off. Everything points out Hulk can’t be outmatched at this point, but his biggest nightmare is just around the corner.

Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War opens with the arrival of Thanos to Thor’s ship heading to Earth. After Loki reveals he secretly took the Tesseract from Odin’s Vault, he prompts Hulk to come out of the shadows and attack Thanos despite feeling weary from the unexpected raid. For a few moments, Hulk appears to win the fight, but even the Black Order knows Thanos is just testing the ground. Thanos easily overpowers Hulk and hits him in strategic points to incapacitate him, rendering Hulk’s brute force useless. Thanos finishes him off with a knee strike to the face and a slam on the ground. Barely conscious, Hulk is saved by a dying Heimdall (Idris Elba), who uses his last strength to send him to the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York to deliver the message that Thanos is coming to Earth. After that, Hulk refuses to return, so Bruce Banner is forced to wear the Hulkbuster armor to fight Thanos’s army in Wakanda. This time the big green monster is nothing more than a nuisance in the battle.

Avengers: Endgame

Thanos’s snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War seems like a pretty definitive tragedy for everyone across the universe, and Bruce Banner is no exception. Still feeling unbalanced with the Hulk inside him but without the ability to fully control him, Banner spends eighteen months in a gamma lab trying to fuse the man with the monster. He achieves it but sacrifices most of Hulk’s power to make peace with his alter ego. Professor Hulk or “Smart Hulk” is not half as powerful as the traditional Hulk, nor is he rage-fueled. However, he’s mighty enough to wield the Infinity Gauntlet and snap his fingers without dying in the process. Although he loses his arm as a result, he’s strong enough to lift the base of the destroyed Avengers facility after Thanos totals it.

Hulk might not live up to his comic book counterpart’s preposterous feats of power, but he’s still one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After suffering so much with his duality, it’s nice to see Bruce Banner find peace as a celebrity. Yet, his journey is far from over, and there’s a chance Hulk can return stronger than ever in the She-Hulk Disney+ show or in another future MCU installment.

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