The Hulk has had a bumpier road to the top than most MCU fans realize. Bruce Banner was introduced in his own book in the early days of Marvel’s Silver Age superhero boom, surviving the gamma bomb burst to become the Jade Giant. He kept his title for six issues before it was cancelled and he was shunted off to anthology book Tales to Astonish, which he eventually became the star of. He grew to iconic status, which was solidified by his TV show. Since then, he’s become one of the most popular characters in superhero stories, starring in movies, video games, and cartoons.
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Comics are a business that is all about copying what’s popular, finding new ways to rip off the most popular characters in a way that would appeal to readers. Hulk has been ripped off many times over the years, both at Marvel and beyond, with some of these copycats reaching levels that no one thought they would. These are the five best Hulk copycats, ranked by their power level compared to the Green Goliath himself
5) Brawn
Amadeus Cho showed up in the Hulk comics around the time of “Planet Hulk”. He was one of the smartest people on Earth and he loved the Jade Giant. He learned about the Illuminati and how they launched the Green Goliath to Sakaar. He brought together a group of Hulk allies and would end up working with his hero in the future. Eventually, he was able to help Banner cure himself of the Hulk, with the gamma power going to Cho. He became the Totally Awesome Hulk, using his intellect and strength to battle evil. Eventually, Bruce would return as the Hulk (after being killed by Hawkeye) and Cho would change his name to Brawn and join the Champions. He started to lose his powers to an extent, becoming weaker and weaker, but still able to fight alongside the other Hulks. His power level has fallen precipitously, but he’s still an awesome Hulk copycat, created by one of the best Hulk writers of the 21st century, Greg Pak.
4) Abomination
One of the reasons I’ve always though that the early Hulk stories failed is because they were too much like the old Marvel monster comics and not enough like the superheroes that were making the House of Ideas so popular. It wouldn’t be until later, when more traditional supervillains were introduced, that the character would start to rise again. Hulk has some devastatingly powerful villains, with the Abomination being one of his most dangerous. Abomination was basically the Hulk as a communist spy, except he got to keep his intellect and didn’t get stronger as he got angrier. He was, however, stronger than the Hulk on a base level, usually estimated to be about twice as strong. He proved to be a great opponent for the Jade Giant, his great strength and craftiness allowing him to mess with the sometimes feeble mind of the monstrous hero. He’s never going to be a big name villain, but he will always be a cool Hulk copycat.
3) Red Hulk
General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was involved with the Hulk since the beginning. He was the military boss of the gamma bomb project, working with Banner. Their relationship was combative, not least because Bruce was dating his daughter Betty, and Ross swore to hunt down the Hulk after the monster first appeared, at first thinking Banner had been killed before learning the truth. The two clashed for years, with Ross always losing, but all of that changed when he got involved with the Intelligencia. He was given his own gamma powers and became the Red Hulk. Red Hulk announced his presence by killing Abomination and then went on to beat all of the heaviest hitters of the superhero community before finally battling the Hulk. Ross has the same powers as Banner, the only difference being that he can absorb energy, especially gamma energy, to become stronger instead of getting angrier. He’s one guy that no one wants to fight; he has all of Ross’s military training with the power of the most formidable human on the planet.
2) She-Hulk
She-Hulk is superior to the Hulk in many ways. Jennifer Walters gained her gamma powers from her cousin Bruce and became the savage She-Hulk. The origin of her creation was simple – the Hulk was popular on TV, female characters were popular, and Marvel wanted to create her before the TV show could, so they would own her. At first, she was more of a rage monster but that would change as the years went on, as she joined both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. She learned to control her rage and was able to stay She-Hulk full-time, still able to do her job as an attorney. Her adventures are some of the most fun out there and she’s become one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Universe. As far as power level goes, she’s usually said to be on par with the Jade Giant. She has the same high level of super strength, invulnerability, and healing factor, along with the power to get stronger as she got angrier. She’s a different kind of Hulk and it’s more than paid off.
1) Doomsday
Doomsday has had a very interesting redemption, one that no one ever thought he’d get. He was created to be the monster that killed Superman and he was basically the Hulk if he was created in the more extreme ’90s. He was an unstoppable rage monster with spiky bone protrusions and was able to beat the Man of Steel so badly he died. It was revealed that he was a superweapon created by the Kryptonians, one that was hyper adaptive and wouldn’t stay dead; once you killed him one way, you could never get him that way again. He’s appeared numerous times over the years, mostly as a plot element because he rarely speaks. He returned a few years ago, escaping Hell and showing up in Metropolis just as a new Time-Trapper made himself known. It was revealed that this Time-Trapper was a future version of the monster, who had evolved to a point of godlike power. He wanted Superman to kill him so he could become god in order to save creation from Darkseid and ended up sacrificing his life so Superman could defeat the Final God. Personally, I would say that anyone who is as strong as Superman is stronger than the Hulk, but that’s actually controversial thing to say online (get behind me, Hulk power scalers!). I would say he’s on par, with his Time Trapper form definitely being more powerful.
Who’s your favorite Hulk copycat? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
7 Most Powerful Versions of Hulk Villains, Ranked by Powers
