ByDavid Opie, writer at CREATORS.CO
 
Staff Writer: @DavidOpie. The day someone green-lights a Marvel Zombies Ghibli film directed by Xavier Dolan is the day I will be happy.
David Opie
The madder  gets, the stronger he gets — but could the Green Goliath ever become angry enough to take down an actual god? Comic book fans have argued for years over who would win in a grudge match between  and the Hulk, but most of their comic book brawls end in a draw, because comic book writers are too scared to whip up an Asgardian storm among fans.
Thor: Ragnarok [Credit: Marvel Studios]
Check out Hulk and Thor battle it out in the first Thor: Ragnarok trailer:
 
Step forward Stan Lee, the creator of both characters and all-round overseer of the Marvel Universe at large. During a Q&A with KJ Ricci, a Leukaemia survivor who interviewed his idol at Rhode Islands Comic Con, Lee finally revealed a definitive winner, 54 years after Goldilocks and the Hulk first appeared in Marvel Comics.
Brace yourselves.
“I would have to say Thor because as strong as Hulk is, he’s still mortal. Thor is one of the Norse gods.”
Stan does make a fair point. Thor is an actual god, after all, which is why it was surprising to see Chris Hemsworth struggle to match the Hulk's strength in the MCU. Then again though, the Green Goliath also took down Loki, so does this logic apply? Taking a closer look at this ongoing grudge match in the comics should shed some light on the matter.

Journey Into Mystery #112 (1965)

Journey Into Mystery [Credit: Marvel Comics]
Journey Into Mystery [Credit: Marvel Comics]
In one of their earliest fights, Thor recounts a time when the Hulk turned 'evil' following his ejection from the Avengers roster.
For some reason, the Asgardian warrior decided it would make sense to ask his father, Odin, to remove his hammer from the battle in order to make things fairer. Surprisingly, this didn't result in Goldilocks's face being smashed over and over, but it probably couldn't have hurt to retain Mjolnir's powers of flight and control over lightning.
While the Asgardian held his own thanks to centuries of fighting experience, Thor and the Hulk were eventually separated, so no clear victor emerged.
Winner: Undecided

Incredible Hulk #440 (1996)

Incredible Hulk [Credit: Marvel Comics]
Incredible Hulk [Credit: Marvel Comics]
Decades later, the Hulk's ongoing rivalry with Thor resurfaced when the US Army grew concerned that Bruce Banner could be slowly turning into the Maestro, an evil version of the Hulk who took over the world in a particularly dark future timeline. How did they know about this? Comics.
As the Hulk was hiding out in the Antarctic, the only innocent bystanders who could be potentially hurt were penguins and they're surprisingly resilient creatures, so the resulting fight between Thor and the Hulk became a no-holds barred affair.
Despite putting their all into the fight, Goldilocks and the Green Goliath were too evenly matched once again... That is, until the US military decided to end things by firing a nuke directly at the Hulk's face. While the Jolly Green Giant survived like the giant emerald cockroach he is, once again, there was no clear winner.
Winner: Undecided

Fear Itself (2011)

Fear Itself [Credit: Marvel Comics]
Fear Itself [Credit: Marvel Comics]
Ever thought that the Hulk needed a weapon to balance things out? Neither did we, but that didn't stop the God of Fear from taking control of the Hulk and bestowing him with a hammer of his own. The newly crowned Nul, Breaker of Worlds became an agent of chaos during Marvel's Fear Itself crossover, forcing Thor to step up and take on his rival and ally once again.
Even though the odds were clearly against him, Goldilocks actually managed to knock the Hulk into outer space, who then reverted back to his puny human form when he landed halfway across the Earth. Thor fainted with exhaustion right after, but don't hold that against him.
The only issue with this fight is that Thor previously struggled to take on the Hulk solo, yet here he manages to defeat a powered-up, weaponized Green Goliath alongside other super-strong allies, leading some to question the validity of this particular storyline.
Winner: Thor... kinda.

Incredible Hulk Annual Vol 1 (2001)

Incredible Hulk [Credit: Marvel Comics]
Incredible Hulk [Credit: Marvel Comics]
If there's one thing we've learned from years and years of fights between the Hulk and Thor, it's that the two are evenly matched, to a frustrating extent. Trust Asgardian royalty to resort to foul play then...
In a sneak attack that rivals Loki's takedown of the MCU's Asgard, Thor knocked the Green Goliath out completely with a cheeky lightning bolt to the back of his head. Seems strange that some stormy weather could knock out the Hulk when a nuke couldn't, but who are we to judge?
Hulk soon had his revenge though — As Thor carried sleeping beauty off to god knows where, the Green Goliath woke up and beat the Asgardian into unconsciousness, making his win short-lived indeed.
Winner: Thor... for a very, very short time.
See what happens when the Hulk plays nice and helps make cookies in the video below:
 
See also:
Whether you think that Thor should be ultimate victor here or not, it's hard to argue with the man who created both of these iconic characters way back in the early '60s. I for one am just happy that I finally have an answer to this age-old question, as it's been tough going this long with so many sleepless nights. Let's just hope the fight between the God of Thunder and Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok honors Stan Lee's wishes too. Excelsior!
POLL

Who do you think would win in a fight between the Hulk and Thor?

Source via Comicbook.com. Poll Image Credit: Marvel Studios
COMMENTS POWERED BY CREATORS
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13 Conversations
  • Stan Lee created Thor to be stronger then anyone that he created at Marvel Comics. He already brought the Hulk along a few months before, now, with Stan Lee's encore, he creates Thor to be is "Superman" of Marvel. So I believe Stan Lee than anyone else....
  • David McClain Jr.
    Everyone is saying "oh Thor is supposed to be marvels superman!" Or "sentry is supposed to be marvels superman!" WTF ABOUT HYPERION?!
  • Gus Dominguez
    People seem to forget about The Sentry when this question comes up. He literally ripped a god in half (Ares "God Of war") without trying. He fought "World Breaker Hulk" to a tie when NO ONE could even contain him for even a bit. The Sentry beats Thor and Hulk.
    • Stuart James
      @Gus Dominguez Sentry is basically marvels 'superman'. He was created with the intention of being indomitable.
    • Steers Austin
      @Gus Dominguez Classic Thor would have a challenge but current Thor would slap the dogshit out of Sentry.
  • Jimmy Hendricks
    Well fighting requires more then just Brute Power from time to time and that is why Thanos is greater than all.
  • Tyler Gehring
    I feel this question comes down to how far do we take hulks power, Thor has very clear limits by comparison to Hulk who's strength grows into infinity as long as his healing factor hasn't been capped out which results in him not being able to sustain his anger therefore his Hulk form. So do we assume Hulk to be beaten by Thor before the Hulk is able to gain enough strength over time to just completely outclass Thor is the question, so the only real factors that needs to be examined is exactly how much of a beating can Hulk take before he returns to normal, and also how quickly he can gain strength from his rage of battling Thor.
  • Devon Dalton
    The only way I can think that Thor would actually win against Hulk is either Thor using his lightning powers, he outsmarted Hulk (but sometimes Hulk thinks about stuff in some cases lol) or he got Hulk in space and Hulk couldn't breath... Because Thor's dad dies i believe so gods CAN actually die.... and in the avengers movie we see Hulk get in a fight with Thor ofc where Nick had to intervene or the ship would of gone down but Thor didn't really have Hulk in any position that he couldn't easily get out of.... Hulk also fought Loki which was like a 10 second fight but I'm not saying Loki's Thor.... all i am saying is that IF Hulk was able to actually hurt a god couldn't he be able to kill one?(I have already mentioned that gods die I may be wrong though).... And we all know the angrier Hulk gets the stronger he gets so what IF Thor had no way of using lightning or getting Hulk in space? Would Thor actually subdue Hulk before he gets stronger then Thor? I mean Hulks a serious tank! Every time you shoot/nuke/stab/hit/whatever he gets angrier and in turn stronger... I'm not saying Hulk would win against Thor but It'd be a very interesting match to see...
  • Mike Wesley
    Is the movie called Avengers Assemble in other countries? The clip above is from The Avengers.
  • Steers Austin
    Correct me if I'm wrong since I'm merely a casual reader, but the fear itself storyline looks like reincarnated, post-ragnarok Thor, when he became the Allfather. So by that logic, of course he could beat them.
    • @Steers Austin You are wrong. Post Ragnarok Thor gave up the last of the Odinforce to fix Mjolnir with the help of Dr. Strange in 2009. Fear Itself is from 2011, so it was regular Thor that beat the enhanced Hulk and Thing.
  • Marc Wolfe
    Original DEFENDERS #10 was left off this list of epic battles between these two? That's just wrong, way wrong.
  • Gaetan Dubois
    Thor is a god..So is his dad ( But He died ) ..So gods can die !!!!