Does anyone find the Hulk a bit overpowered?

[lowly marvelite]

Because he's too angry!

TEOTMU, deluxe edition, lists one of Hulk's ability's as resistance to mind control. Don't know if that's just an offshoot of his exposure to gamma rays or that his IQ just drops to about 14 when he's that angry. But someone on these boards mentioned that Hulk's strength, although astronomical, should still be finite...because he can only get so angry.

I tend to agree with that statement. I would say WW Hulk equals the angriest depictions of Hulk...and he seemed to be at the limit of his strength when he faced down the Sentry. I guess I'm saying that with Hulk somewhere, there is ceiling to his strength.

 

[herakles]

Thor and Herc have both stalemated him and Thor has beaten him.

The thing about a Herc vs. Hulk battle is Hulk gets stronger as he gets madder and Herc just stays the same. Even if Herc's a better fighter I see Hulk winning more times than not for this reason.

No one remembers that Hercules was the inventor of Pankration ie MMA so in a realistic fight all Herc would do is choke Hulk out or break an elbow, knee, or ankle! yes he would get mad BUT how can you get mad when you can't breath and Herc is more than strong to cut off Hulk's O2 supply!

As far as Hulk being over powered....I think someone put it best Marvel's powerhouses ie Thor and SS just are written extremely poorly when they encounter Hulk! Both Thor and SS have the ability to siphon energy so both could siphon the gamma radiation out Hulk changing him back to Banner! Case in Point Thor could siphon enuff gamma radiation from and just hit Hulk with a God Blast! Something IMO should be more than enuff to KO a weakened Hulk!

WWH was just a wet dream for Hulk fans IMO Planet Hulk was way better! Only good thing about WWH Hulk is Sentry lost! I HATE Sentry!

 

[herakles]

UFC match on youtube. Brock Lesnar Versus Randy Couture. I stated it earlier, but no one paid attention. I can't post it, but it proves my point that power can overcome guile.

Also Randy Couture is 45 years old! That's ancient in Athletics! I'd like to see Lesner fight a 35 year old Couture!?

 

[moraldeficiency]

Also you could throw in the fact hulk has no fighting skills whatsoever and herc has been training for thousands of years.

 

[herakles]

Everything about the red Hulk storyline has thrown established continuity out the window, so it's hard to take anything in it seriously.

Oh and anything about Hulk doesn't at time do the same? Sorry but that sounds like a copout? Face it more often than not Hulk writers protray him in a ridiculously powered manner at times!

 

[herakles]

You hit the nail on the head in spite of your relative lack of reading. The Hulk doesn't develop in his savage, childlike state. He exists only as a foil for Bruce Banner, who is sophisticated and intelligent enough to develop as a character. It's only when we see other sides of the Hulk (Joe Fixit, Planet Hulk, professor, Maestro) that we actually see the Hulk himself develop. In fact, Planet Hulk was cool because it had a role reversal where Banner, who's relatively consistent, was used as a foil to acknowledge the amazing development of the Hulk's character.

But, like you said, even though the "default" Hulk is nothing more than a plot device, the focus has shifted more and more onto him because he's big and he can break stuff.

Mr Fixit Grey Hulk imo is the best Hulk.

 

[greenrage36]

I'm still going with my theory that the Hulk's physiology allows him to reach higher, more intense levels of an emotive state, hence why he can keep getting angry...and stronger..and angry...and stronger..and on and on. It might be said that in the bulk of the MU Hulk could be titled as the "angriest one there is", and since this works along with his strength level..well, that's why his strength has such a huge jump factor. In other words, whereas a normal person (dare I say, superhero?), can only get so angry whether at an event or person or a really good "yo, mama" joke, ol' Greenskin can keep GETTING madder and madder...epecially if he has something to focus that anger on.
Hells bells, I'd be p'o'd too, if I had the overall intellect of a 4 year old, and was trying to keep pace in a 'yo,mama' challange. That's more than enough to start a rampage right there!!! t:

Anyway....

 

[bryanss3]

Mr Fixit Grey Hulk imo is the best Hulk.

I love Joe Fixit. I wish they'd have Fred Van Lente write a Joe Fixit mini or something just for the hell of it.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

No one remembers that Hercules was the inventor of Pankration ie MMA so in a realistic fight all Herc would do is choke Hulk out or break an elbow, knee, or ankle! yes he would get mad BUT how can you get mad when you can't breath and Herc is more than strong to cut off Hulk's O2 supply!

Depending on the level of his anger, Hulk is just going to instantly recover from any broken bones Herc is able to administer...Hulk has had 70% of his mass obliterated, and regenerated on the spot.

As far as cutting off his oxygen, it's been done in the past (Ghost Rider, FF), but more recent attempts (Thunderbolts) have ended in failure.

 

[herakles]

Depending on the level of his anger, Hulk is just going to instantly recover from any broken bones Herc is able to administer...Hulk has had 70% of his mass obliterated, and regenerated on the spot.

As far as cutting off his oxygen, it's been done in the past (Ghost Rider, FF), but more recent attempts (Thunderbolts) have ended in failure.

what about the time involving the snake? IMO when Herc being a master of submission holds grab Hulk early he chocks out Hulk! When your getting choked you panic not get angry!

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

what about the time involving the snake?

What about all the previous fights they've had where Herc was on the losing end?

 

[OnedetachedonE]

I don't find him overpowered. But there are others out there more powerful than the Hulk. Way more powerful.

 

[Thor The Mighty]

I don't find him overpowered. But there are others out there more powerful than the Hulk. Way more powerful.

There should be but that's only until they face the Hulk.

 

[Union Jack]

if compared to marvel heroes he is slightly overpowered but in a good way.
Compared to DC no he's not IMO.

 

[The Morningstar]

It's not that he's overpowered, it's that a lot of the time he's written inconsistently. Like Pre-Crisis Superman, he's strength is dictated by the plot.

When Pak is writing him sometimes he becomes a full blown Mary Sue.

And the difference between Marvels heavyweights and DCs heavyweights is that DC throws in superspeed too. You'll rarely find a DC tank who doesn't have some level of superspeed, most of them are FTL or near enough.

Whereas the only Marvel heavy hitters with that kind of speed are the likes of Silver Surfer, Gladiator, Nova, Sentry and Thor. But even then the only ones with FTL are Surfer, Glads and Nova. Sentry and Thor are hypersonic.

 

[CLARKY]

anyone?

I do. Slowly Marvel made him the most powerful being in their universe, with theso funny line " no upper limit".
I can get that angrier = stronger, I think it is cool but personally, I have an upper limit to my anger or my rage. I suppose screaming like an animal while destroying my house and killing people around out of rage because all my family was murdered, my home destroyed, and the children I dont have yet killed. Beyond that, I suppose there is nothing.
I think Hulk is overpowered, yes.

 

[Roose Bolton]

It's not that he's overpowered, it's that a lot of the time he's written inconsistently. Like Pre-Crisis Superman, he's strength is dictated by the plot.

When Pak is writing him sometimes he becomes a full blown Mary Sue.

And the difference between Marvels heavyweights and DCs heavyweights is that DC throws in superspeed too. You'll rarely find a DC tank who doesn't have some level of superspeed, most of them are FTL or near enough.

Whereas the only Marvel heavy hitters with that kind of speed are the likes of Silver Surfer, Gladiator, Nova, Sentry and Thor. But even then the only ones with FTL are Surfer, Glads and Nova. Sentry and Thor are hypersonic.

Wouldn't Sentry theoretically be able to move as fast as he wants?

 

[storyteller]

Honestly the last few hulk stories just took it way out there(though I guess magic was involved). But there's always a writer who takes it right back down to rational levels.

As to being able to take on whole avengers teams. Well most members don't have great superhuman strength.

 

[KevanG]

These old threads keep popping up everywhere. I keep seeing them and thinking "Why does that seem familiar?" until I open it.

But yeah, the Hulk is totally over-powered. I like the stories dealing with things that aren't just smash smash smash. Like when Betty died a couple of years ago. Of course she got better but it was a quite good storyline.

 

[Lantern Venom]

The Hulk, even the Green Scar, is a long way from invincible. He seems that way because he's mostly engaged in battles with characters in close range combat. Of course his endless capacity to absorb punishment and strength are going to give him the edge. However, characters with magical/energy based attacks fare a little better since Hulk can't always reach them to use his strength.

 

[The Morningstar]

Wouldn't Sentry theoretically be able to move as fast as he wants?

Yea he should. But it was never shown. He was killed off just as he was becoming more powerful.

 

[The Question]

I think people care about The Hulk's strength too much. There are a lot of people for whom the whole "strongest one there is" thing is the most significant part of the character. Honestly, that's the part I think matters least. As long as The Hulk is strong enough to be dangerous if he's out of control, I don't really caee wether or not he can beat Thor or The Thing in a fight. What matters, to me, is Bruce Banners psychology. He has this problem that makes him dangerous to everyone around him, and he has to live with that, either by running from it, fixing it, or finding a way to take ownership of it. That's interesting. Bench pressing mountains? I don't really care.

 

[Apexpredator1]

I don't find him overpowered. And there appear to be enough comments on this thread that indicate to me that people with keener eyes see that as strong as the Hulk is, he is really outmatched by a few others at Marvel.

Having said that, a number of things contribute to the Hulk's present status as Marvel's poster boy for superhuman strength.

Editors and writer's can be fan boys too. Stan Lee certainly had in mind Superman when he created his early stable of superheroes. The Thing was the most popular character of the Fantastic Four, Marvel's first home run. So Stan figured he model his next character after the Thing.

Enter the Hulk.

Stan indicated he wanted a guy with superhuman strength, but to arbitrarily create someone with the strength of Superman (his words, not mine...) would not be terribly original. So he created someone who was a monster (like the Thing), with the strength of Superman, but modeled after Jekyl and Hyde.

Thor is as strong as an enraged Hulk.Thor was actually Stan's first attempt at a "Cape" for Marvel comics, modeled more in the fashion of Superman, without the atypical Marvel character flaws, feet of clay types that had become a hallmark of Marvel heros at that time. However, Stan felt like he had painted himself into a corner. "Who could be stronger than the Hulk? Who could be smarter than Mr Fantastic?" He felt like the only way to top the others was to create "Super-God". Then it occurred to him, while his previous creations were mortal, why not borrow from Norse mythology and make a god a superhero. And the rest is history.

Now, Stan will be the first to tell you that at first, when the Hulk first changes, he is not as strong as Thor. However, an enraged Hulk is clearly as strong as Thor. In Bring on the Bad Guys, Stan made the comment that when trying to come up with characters capable of opposing the Hulk, they were driving themselves bonkers. "He had become so incalculably powerful that after facing down The Mighty Thor, who was left?" Hence, the creation of the Abomination (who was subsequently de-powered, destroyed and replaced by A-Bomb). The evenness of the strength between these two behemoths is exemplified in Defenders #10, where the two powerhouses stand deadlocked in stance for an hour, neither one overpowering the other (and the Hulk, presumably at his his height in strength as he was already rampaging through New York by the time he and Hulk meet). It should be noted that the question, "Who is stronger?" is NOT the same as "Who would win in a fight?". Conversely, a win for one over the other of these characters should not necessarily be an indication of who is stronger. It should also be noted that Thor has stated, and others have stated, and blurbs have indicated as much, that Thor often holds back when fighting against mortals for fear of killing any of them. This would be particularly true where Banner is concerned, who is simply suffering from the curse of a gamma radiation accident. Banner is a good man. Killing the Hulk would kill Banner. So when it comes to battle, Thor usually holds back. That is why Defenders #10 is such a powerful indicator of nothing but raw, brute superhuman strength, and how evenly the two are matched. And without any concern of harming Banner (or other nearby innocents for that matter).

It wasn't until after Stan left his duties as EIC and Jim Shooter after him, that the notion that the Hulk was stronger than Thor began to blossom under DeFalco. He outrightly declared Hulk to be stronger, although, Thor was still more powerful overall, according to him.

Up to this point, the philosophy at Marvel was to create an air of suspension of disbelief. Try and make the powers and abilities of the characters somehow...believable.

Enter Joe Quesada. "It's comics! Anything goes!!" That was his motto and it appears to have been adopted by Matt Fraction (who has quoted that motto verbatim incidentally...), the current writer for Thor. With Axel Alonzo, he seems to be valiantly carrying the torch for Quesada.

A synopsis of Thor and Hulk confrontations over the years elicits a number of different interpretations from different folks. Generally, it is agreed upon by many (not by ALL), that most of their confrontations have ended in draws, although a clear victory appears for each character in Hulk Annual 2001.

So, while Marvel may currently hold the Hulk as superior in strength currently, I think they may see Thor as more powerful. Maybe.

However, a return to Stan's original vision of Thor as Marvel's strongest, most powerful character, paints Thor as superior to the Hulk in every way.

Silver Surfer is clearly more powerful than Hulk. Just about every time these two have met, the Silver Surfer has been the clear victor. The Surfer has typically been painted as more powerful than the Hulk, and the fight usually will indicate as much.

 

[Roose Bolton]

^I'm not going to read all of that but I assume you don't find the Hulk too overpowered?

 

[Apexpredator1]

^I'm not going to read all of that but I assume you don't find the Hulk too overpowered?

Yeah. I can be long winded sometimes.

What bothers me about the Hulk is that he was not originally intended to be Marvel's top dog. Thor was, but unfortunately, Hulk is the more popular of the two. Heck, the Hulk was pretty much the central character in the Avengers film. But I will say, Thor's showing in the movie was quite respectable. He did not get punked nearly as bad as I thought he would be in the movie.

So I suppose, my answer is that I don't think the Hulk is over powered; he is simply as powerful as the writers care to make him due to his popularity and unfortunately that is tied to what is central to the Hulk; his superhuman strength and the ability to convey how strong the Hulk is is in large part related to how well he does against Thor.