Hulk vs Doctor Doom: You Won't Believe the Real Winner of This Throwdown

When it comes to physical powerhouse characters, there's no one in the Marvel Universe stronger than the Hulk. That might make it seem like Doctor Doom would be easily defeated in a battle between the two, due to the great difference in their physical strength. But that's not exactly the case. Doctor Doom has a surprisingly good winning streak against the emerald giant.

Doctor Doom is a tyrant bent on world domination, and as such, he's come up against the Avengers and various heroes in the Marvel Universe time and time again - which means that, of course, Doctor Doom has traded blows with the Hulk on many occasions.

Due to the Hulk's overwhelming strength, it might be easy to assume that Doctor Doom was obliterated every time he went up against the Hulk, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Doctor Doom may not be as physically strong as the Hulk, but he is immensely intelligent and clever, and he has outsmarted the Hulk many times over the years.

Doctor Doom Doesn't Have Much Trouble With Hulk

The Incredible Hulk #143 by Roy Thomas, Dick Ayers, John Severin, and Sam Rosen

One of the first times that Doctor Doom and the Hulk came into conflict was during the events of The Incredible Hulk #143 by Roy Thomas and Dick Ayers. Doctor Doom intended to use the Hulk to destroy all enemy nations around Latveria, allowing Doom to expand his empire. This plan almost went off flawlessly. Doctor Doom was able to capture the Hulk and disable him twice. The first time Doctor Doom used sleeping gas to knock out Bruce Banner when he tried to transform. The second time, Doom used tranquilizers to force the Hulk to transform back into Banner.

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After that, Doctor Doom strapped Bruce down into some manner of contraption that began brainwashing him. If it hadn't been for Doctor Doom's other hostage, Valeria, Doom would have succeeded in brainwashing the Hulk into his perfect weapon. To recap, Doctor Doom defeated Bruce Banner in a fight, defeated the Hulk, and nearly brainwashed them both. Even after the Hulk escapes and has a rematch against Doctor Doom, the fight ends with no clear victor. While the Hulk definitely seemed to be at an advantage, Doom states that he would not have stopped fighting, which means that he might have won - eventually.

Doctor Doom Easily Took Down Two Hulks

The Incredible Hulk #606 by Greg Pak, Paul Pelletier, Danny Miki, Frank D'Armata, and Simon Bowland

Doctor Doom has even gone up against two Hulk-level beings and beaten both of them. During the events of The Incredible Hulk #606 by Greg Pak and Paul Pelletier, Doctor Doom was attacked by a Hulk robot powered by the Power Cosmic. Despite this power, Doctor Doom easily overwhelmed the machine. The important part of this feat is the fact that Hulk's son, Skaar, believed that this machine was, in fact, the Hulk, meaning its physical strength is likely comparable. To save his father, Skaar attacked Doctor Doom, only to also be defeated by the Latvarian dictator. Once again, Bruce Banner only barely manages to defeat Doom in this situation.

As Doctor Doom very nearly kills Skaar, Bruce Banner appears to save his son. While he does manage to chase Doctor Doom off, it was mostly by pure luck. When Doctor Doom absorbed the energy of the Hulk robot, he also absorbed a poison that reduced his intelligence, which was put in place by the Leader. Bruce Banner managed to exploit Doom's bad luck to run Doctor Doom off, but he didn't plant the poison himself. Banner merely took advantage of someone else's plan. He didn't trick Doom into ingesting the poison either, meaning that this fight can't really be called a Hulk victory.

Even Doctor Doom Believes That He Can Defeat the Hulk

"Captain America + Cyclops" by Gerry Duggan, David Yardin, Cam Smith, Terry Pallot, Andres Mossa, and Clayton Cowles from A+X #17

In A+X #17 by Gerry Duggan and David Yardin, Doctor Doom is trapped in an illusion where he decimates the Avengers. Doom easily kills everyone he comes up against, including the Hulk. Doom's brilliant strategy for killing the Hulk is breaking the Hulk's arm, forcing the Hulk to transform back into Banner due to the Hulk's childlike response to pain. Once the Hulk is Banner again, Doom simply kills Banner. The illusion only breaks when Doctor Doom lifts Thor's hammer Mjölnir, which Doom recognizes as an impossibility for him. It's important to note that while lifting Mjölnir was a step too far for Doom, killing the Hulk wasn't.

Doctor Doom truly believes that this strategy would bring down the Hulk, and considering how masterfully Doom handled both Bruce Banner and the Hulk in The IncredibleHulk #143, it's very possible that this plan would work. Over the decades, Doctor Doom has demonstrated his ability to completely dominate the Hulk, and even in situations where the Hulk gets the upper hand, it never seems like Doctor Doom is truly on the losing side, with them usually ending at a draw. Of these two characters, it seems that Doctor Doom is the real winner.

A+X #17, The Incredible Hulk #606, and The Incredible Hulk #143 are all available now from Marvel Comics!

Hulk

Created By

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

First Appearance

The Incredible Hulk (1962)

Alias

Robert Bruce Banner

Alliance

Avengers, Defenders, Horsemen of Apocalypse, Fantastic Four, Pantheon, Warbound, S.M.A.S.H., Secret Avengers

The Hulk, a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, is physicist Bruce Banner transformed by gamma radiation. He morphs into a giant, green-skinned creature of immense strength and invulnerability when angered. Struggling with his transformations, Hulk allies with other heroes, battling villains while balancing his intellect with uncontrollable rage, making him a central figure in Marvel's universe.

Franchise

Marvel

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