Who Would Win in a She-Hulk vs Hulk Fight? An Investigation.
She-Hulk episode 1 spoilers follow.
"What is the responsibility of those with power?" asks She-Hulk at the very beginning of her new show. While that's an important question, one that Marvel's toyed with ever since Uncle Ben first nagged Spidey with his "Great power..." speech, we're more concerned right now with who holds that power.
She-Hulk's origin story in the MCU shares a lot of parallels with the source material. In both cases, Bruce Banner's blood causes Jennifer Walters to transform into a jolly green version of herself. And again, onscreen, She-Hulk is able to control that transformation in ways that her cousin has always struggled with.
Mark Ruffalo's Bruce tells Jen that it could take her up to 15 years to master this, just like it did for him, but after some brief training, She-Hulk proves him wrong by figuring things out pretty quickly. Far quicker than Bruce ever did.
Throughout their training together, She-Hulk consistently outshone him as they trained using yoga, jumping techniques, and even showed off their strength throwing boulders. Naturally, this makes Hulk green in more ways than one, and after it becomes obvious that Jen's not the novice he expected her to be, Bruce even admits his own jealousy.
When Jen tries to leave and head back to the real world, Bruce's anger issues come to the fore and the pair end up fighting for real.
"For the record, I really didn't want to do this," says Hulk before obnoxiously trying out one of his signature thunderclaps. Jen struggles to match this at first, but within a few moments, she manages to master multiple thunder claps at once which visibly hurt her cousin.
In the end, there's no clear winner, and the pair make up by fixing their broken bar to get drunk again. As you would. But if gamma-powered push comes to shove, who would actually win in a fight between He-Hulk and She-Hulk?
Hulk vs She-Hulk—Who would win in the comics?
As is always the way with these dream comic book slugfests, the answer often depends on which writer is crafting the story at any given moment. Sometimes, powers are scaled back to fit the story, and equally, heroes are often enhanced, which makes it hard to provide any definitive answer in regards to the source material.
Take She-Hulk, for example. In the comics, she once defeated a Thanos copy which had all the same powers and strength as the original one. Then there's that time she hulked-out and killed Vision.
Recently, comic book She-Hulk was given some major enhancements by the Celestials, those giants seen last onscreen in Eternals. Not only is Jen now stronger, she can also emit blasts of gamma radiation which potentially make her even stronger than the Hulk.
Bruce Banner isn't exactly a pushover though. In fact, many fans would assume that his Hulk is actually the strongest because he's the original. Whether that's fair or not, there's plenty of moments in the comics where he does appear to be stronger than Jen.
In the past, Hulk has carried entire planets on his back, ripped reality itself apart with a thunderclap, and even punched time itself–something we would all love to do on Monday mornings, no doubt.
The reason why comic-book Hulk is arguably stronger overall is that his strength is only limited by the rage that fuels it. Theoretically, "The limit does not exist " as Cady once put it. She-Hulk's ability to control that rage for the most part is also what might hold her back in an all-out brawl between the two cousins.
It's worth noting that this only applies to their respective Hulk forms though. De-Hulk the pair and Jen would wipe the floor with Bruce thanks to her extensive combat training as a card-carrying member of the Avengers.
Hulk vs She-Hulk — Who would win in the MCU?
Based off this first episode of She-Hulk, it seems safe to say that Jen would probably win a de-Hulked fight with her cousin in the MCU too. But what happens when they're feeling their green oats? Who would win if they're both mad enough to finish that fight they started in episode one?
He-Hulk has long been considered as one of the strongest there is when it comes to the MCU. Remember that time he knocked out one of those gross Chitauri monsters with just one punch?
However, just like in the comics, these power levels can vary somewhat depending on who's writing the film or show in question. In later movies, Hulk lost a fight against Tony Stark's Hulkbuster, which probably wouldn't happen in the comics, plus Thor and Thanos have both beaten him since too.
That Thanos fight is particularly interesting given that comic-book Jen decimated a comic book version of Thanos. Cross-media comparisons aren't hugely helpful here though, and regardless of those losses, the MCU's Hulk remains one of the strongest characters on screen still. He did manage to wield all six Infinity Stones and survive with just an arm injury, after all.
Recently, with the introduction of Smart Hulk, there's been a shift where Bruce is now in full control of his previously savage, green form. That means he can now utilize that impressive intellect of his during fights in ways he never could before. Jen can also do the same, of course, but she does lack the scientific know-how that could come in handy.
However, She-Hulk has already proved herself more capable than Bruce in other ways. Right from the get-go, she's been able to control her transformations while still retaining her own mind in She-Hulk form. On top of that, Jen's already Bruce's match in training as well, which is pretty impressive considering that he has 15 years of experience on her.
Right now, at this extremely early stage of She-Hulk's career, it seems as though Jen and Bruce are evenly matched overall. But with more training, everyone's favorite 'Attorney At Law' could probably beat Hulk in the MCU, assuming that her rapid progress already is anything to go by.
However, She-Hulk might not get as much practice in purely because she's decided to wield the responsibility of her power in a very different way, focusing on justice in the court over Marvel's usual superhero brawls. That means Hulk could end up with the edge still, even though it looks like She-Hulk is actually stronger than him onscreen.
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