Hulk vs. Thing

[Cap808]

I'm probably showing my age, but I remember a time when Hulk vs. Thing was the 'battle to end all battles'. Did the Thing fall in the power scales of the Marvel Universe? If it's not these two behemoths, then who would be in the current 'battle to end all battles' for Marvel?

I apologize in advance if this is supposed to be in another thread, but I'm not so much concerned in who would win as much as I'm curious as to the particulars of where the Marvel universe stands.

[Photon Torme]

Well, It’s a time honored rivalry. They make a point of dusting it off and having them duke it out every now and then. I can’t think of a duo that has had as many fun iconic competitive brawls over the years.

[SplinteringHeart]

If by showing your age you mean you go back to the 60s/70s then yes Hulk v Thing was a big deal, unless you threw in Thor of Hercules to the mix...nowadays there's characters like Hyperion, Sentry, Blue Marvel, Wonder Man that all may be considered...all massive powerhouses...

Dan Slott did recently do a Hulk v Thing, in his run of Fantastic Four..issue #13...was good...

More recently the Thing has become tacitly friends with Hulk (as shown in the Immortal Hulk series) and we've just had a fun little adventure with the two together in "Clobberin' Time" #1...a mini series of Thing team ups...came out about a week or so ago...

[MichaelC]

Hulk has been powered up to the point of being invincible for some time now. It's reached the point where Hulk stories aren't really about him being challenged, but rather the consequences of his utter invincibility. He's basically the comicbook equivalent of a Steven Seagal character now. Whereas Thing is still just Thing. That rivalry being long since left in the garbage heap is just one of many consequences of Hulk's powercreep.

[Doombot]

Hulk has been powered up to the point of being invincible for some time now. It's reached the point where Hulk stories aren't really about him being challenged, but rather the consequences of his utter invincibility. He's basically the comicbook equivalent of a Steven Seagal character now. Whereas Thing is still just Thing. That rivalry being long since left in the garbage heap is just one of many consequences of Hulk's powercreep.

Which is really too bad. I don't think Hulk's ever increasing power level has really done anything that great for the character. It just takes away fun things like, well, Hulk vs Thing. Hulk vs Namor encounters were a major deal back in the 60s/70s too, and even though Namor is still very powerful, Hulk has gone off to become this character essentially no one can do anything to, which is to his detriment, in my opinion anyway. Both Hulk vs Namor and vs Thing were both eventually replaced in popularity by Hulk vs Wolverine, and somehow that match up is still a thing, due to sheer popularity, as Wolverine doesn't even have super strength and Hulk in nigh invincible at this point.

[SplinteringHeart]

Oh yes, Hulk is nigh on all powerful these days...agree this is somewhat detrimental...Clobbering Time was so much fun in contrast...after Immortal I dropped away from Hulk, but looking to see what the upcoming Annual shows, and looking to the new series
and new writing team coming..

[ComicNoobie]

The Hulk vs Thing rivalry was cool back in the day. Especially in the 90's TV. I loved the 90s Marvel cartoons lol. In today's day and age like others have said above the rivalry doesn't exist. Hulk is just on a completely different level and Ben doesn't stand a chance unless there are some shenanigans going on with Hulk. Outside Thor or god level characters Hulk doesn't have rivals anymore. It's not just Thing, what can Abomination do against Hulk these days? You never see Hulk on a team anymore and he's rarely in any big events unless it's the Marvel universe fighting some angry version of him. Modern day Hulk is too powerful for Marvel anymore and feels divorced from everything else. It's why I prefer classic Hulk. I loved his time in the Defenders.

[ChrisIII]

Think Thing won at least once. In the 80s the Thing was powered up a bit (The spiky or "Stegosaurus" Thing) and Hulk was powered down, as his grey form/Joe Fixit (Well, at least 80's Joe, modern Joe is a bit different now) isn't as powerful as the green ones.. also I think that fight was during the day, when Fixit, although he suppressed Banner at the time, was weaker.


Their last fight was also kind of interesting, Savage Hulk was emaciated and Joe Fixit was in Banner's body (But with a beard and sideburns) so they called it off early and went to Coney Island for hot dogs and discussing the afterlife.

[ComicNoobie]

In the 80s the Thing was powered up a bit (The spiky or "Stegosaurus" Thing) and Hulk was powered down, as his grey form/Joe Fixit (Well, at least 80's Joe, modern Joe is a bit different now) isn't as powerful as the green ones..


Their last fight was also kind of interesting, Savage Hulk was emaciated and Joe Fixit was in Banner's body (But with a beard and sideburns) so they called it off early and went to Coney Island for hot dogs and discussing the afterlife.

The Coney Island hot dog bit sounds fun! I gotta check that out. What comic issue is that in?

[ChrisIII]

41 of Immortal Hulk.

[Darkshadow]

Thing has progressed from, I think 8 ton strength to now 100 ton strength. Hulk has progressed to strength personified. If strength was a primal, universal force, Hulk is that personification. He has basically become infinitely strong, and the embodiment of the concept of strength. Thing has made unrecognized leaps in power, but elemental pieces of the Marvel universe have been attributed to Hulk's gamma ray source in ways that have made him the pinnacle of that particular attribute. The rivalry, as it sits, is over.

- signed, a Thing fan.

[Intothevoid]

As some others mentioned a few decades ago we didn't have that many powerhouses. We had Hulk, Thor, Hercules, WonderMan, Namor, Gladiator... maybe a couple of more but really that's a drop in a bucket compared to nowadays where you have dozens of different Hyperions, Sentry, Blue Marvel and many others.

Also a lot of the Marvel characters have progressed in power over the years, even Thing. Though Hulk has probably progressed the most, especially after WWH there were quite a few books that depicted Hulk as being able to take on entire teams of heroes that would have guys like Thing, Thor, Woderman, etc... on those teams.

While i am not an older Marvel reader, i do remember reading the old comics and how Hulk vs Thing or Hulk vs Thor would be advertised as a battle to end all battles. We unfortunately dont get much of those these days, battles just happen and they go away fairly uneventfully. We did have however under Donny Cates recently, since he wrote both Hulk and Thor at the same time, a mini-event where Hulk vs Thor was advertised pretty much as a battle to end all battles. It was a pretty big fight that spanned 4-5 issues taking turns between each of their respective books.

And yea if you look at how the battles have progressed since the 60/70/80's they are definitely no longer the same thing. In the Hulk vs Thor fight they were breaking a planet, destroying a Hulkbuster Celestial, breaking the World tree and the rainbow bridge, all kinds of hyperbolic statements were being thrown around like the power of 100 000 exploding Suns, etc... Times change, as they say.

[stingray]

Loved these fights. Best one was in FF #112.

[JudicatorPrime]

I never considered Thing vs. Hulk much of a battle royale, even before OHOTMU when we finally were given "data" showing that the Thing was far, far weaker and less durable than the Hulk. (Hulk's x-factor didn't help matters.) Writers can pen what they want, but there's only so much you can do with these David vs. Goliath battles to keep them intriguing. Given the Hulk's current power status, I see this as even less of a main event.

Having said that, there's an easy fix. Rock. Paper. Scissors.

Give the Thing an ability that makes the Hulk far less OP. Ben got his power from cosmic rays. Gamma rays ARE cosmic rays. Why not simply establish that the longer that Ben tussles with the jade giant, the weaker the Hulk becomes and/or the stronger Ben Grimm becomes due to Ben's rock form somehow being able to actively "ground" gamma ray/cosmic ray energy? The Hulk can be the Hulk against almost anyone else, but against Ben, Hulk is the scissors and Ben is the rock.

Maybe then these battles will matter. But until then, nope, no one will care. We all know that the Hulk should easily smoke Ben as things are now.

[Cap808]

I never considered Thing vs. Hulk much of a battle royale, even before OHOTMU when we finally were given "data" showing that the Thing was far, far weaker and less durable than the Hulk. (Hulk's x-factor didn't help matters.) Writers can pen what they want, but there's only so much you can do with these David vs. Goliath battles to keep them intriguing. Given the Hulk's current power status, I see this as even less of a main event.

Having said that, there's an easy fix. Rock. Paper. Scissors.

Give the Thing an ability that makes the Hulk far less OP. Ben got his power from cosmic rays. Gamma rays ARE cosmic rays. Why not simply establish that the longer that Ben tussles with the jade giant, the weaker the Hulk becomes and/or the stronger Ben Grimm becomes due to Ben's rock form somehow being able to actively "ground" gamma ray/cosmic ray energy? The Hulk can be the Hulk against almost anyone else, but against Ben, Hulk is the scissors and Ben is the rock.

Maybe then these battles will matter. But until then, nope, no one will care. We all know that the Hulk should easily smoke Ben as things are now.

Wow. I love this. The longer they fight, the stronger Ben gets. If Ben is then draining the Hulk of his energy, does that make the Hulk that much weaker? Mind. Blown.