While the likes of Wolverine or Deadpool may have Marvel’s most iconic healing factors, their regenerative abilities are lackluster compared to the godly healing powers of theHulk. Marvel’s Green Goliath has faced thousands of enemies throughout his lifetime, each more devastating than the last. Yet, in the face of exploding nukes, all-consuming suns, and total atomization, the Hulk returns with a reinvigorated need to “Smash.”
Wolverine’s healing factor is just as impressive as it is iconic. That said, we often see Logan flex this part of his power because of how often he’s beaten and broken. The Hulk, however, is far sturdier than his X-Man rival, so much to the point where Wolverine was convinced the Hulk was invincible. But in truth, the Hulk possesses a wildly potent healing factor that completely outclasses anything that Wolverine or Deadpool could come back from. Among his many gruesome injuries,these are some of the worst instances the Hulk has come back from.
1Hulk’s Flesh Was Once Repelled Off His Body
Incredible Hulk #398 (1992) -by Peter David, Dale Keown, & Mark Farmer
In this issue, the Hulk once again faces the Leader asthe historic Hulk nemesisattempts to capture the Asgardian demigod Agamemnon. The Leader and his collection of Hulk-hating villains, known as the Riot Squad, have almost broken through Adamemnon’s last defenses when the Hulk smashes his way close behind. When the characters finally clash,Hulk is quickly outnumbered but persevereswith the raw might of his monstrous strength. As the villains attempt to bring the brute down, they realize their attacks are doing nothing.
While the Leader and his gang struggle to take the Hulk down, the cosmically powered villain Vector activates his psychic ability to manipulate and propel objects. Realizing that basic attacks can’t stop the Green Behemoth,Vector launches the Hulk’s flesh from his body.However, the Hulk musters enough strength to knock Vector back, revealing the hero’s corpse-like, shriveled form. In his sinewy state, the Hulk instantly forces his body to regrow back to perfect form before asking for a new pair of pants.
2After Losing an Arm, the Hulk Regrew It Around Thor’s Head
Immortal Hulk #47 (2021) -by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, & Belardino Brabo
Throughout theImmortal Hulkseries, Marvel reintroduced the horrifically violent and rageful Hulk persona, the Devil Hulk. This version of Bruce Banner’s psychebelieves that the only way to protect Banner is to wipe out all life on Earth.As the Avengers attempt to subdue the Green Beast, the Devil Hulk and Red Harpy easily repel the combined might of the Avengers. To fell the Hulk for good, Thor, one ofHulk’s oldest rivals, crashes Mjolnir against the Hulk’s incoming fist.
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The God of Thunder’s lightning rips through the Hulk’s hand, leaving only a writhing, mangled stump behind. As Thor calls upon his full godly might to slay the Green Goliath, the Hulk shoves his open wound in the god’s face. The Hulk soon reactivates his healing factor as his writhing green arm reforms around Thor’s head. Thor rapidly suffocates inside the Hulk, as the Devil inside the beast cracks a joke,“The old ‘Regrow-The-Arm’ trick. Like it?”Black Panther attempts to save Thor by cutting off the Hulk’s arm again, which immediately grows back while Hulk continues the fight.
3The Hulk’s Arm is Fuses To His Torso After Losing His Guts
Incredible Hulk #430 (1995) -by Peter David, Liam Sharp, & Robbin Riggs
This issue is an especially emotionally charged one. When a young man accidentally shoots a doctor at an abortion clinic, the doctor’s father, the villain Speedfreek, covertlyhires the Hulkto hunt the boy down. The Hulk learns that the boy had been consumed by grief and attempted to take his own life. Seeing the overwhelming guilt coursing through the child’s mind, the Hulk turns against Speedfreek, who reveals his true villainous nature.
In the ensuing fight, Speedfreek dons his full Adamantium armor before launching the Hulk into the countryside. The hero and villain trade near-lethal blows until Speedfreek flays the Hulk’s stomach open.The Green Behemoth’s guts splay from his torso as he desperately attempts to keep them inside.However, as Hulk’s incredible healing factor kicks in, his arm is accidentally assimilated into his body. With his organs now safely intact, the Hulk gruesomely rips out his arm and throws battery acid on Speedfreek’s face, melting it away.
4Bruce Banner & Hulk Both Regrow Their Heads After Decapitation
New Avengers: Ultron Forever #1 (2015) -by Al Ewing, Alan Davis, & Mark Farmer
In a potential distant future, over 500 years from now,Ultron has finally conquered the Earthas the planet’s inhabitants are either killed or enslaved. Back in the present, Doctor Doom has assembled the Avengers on a time-traveling mission to defeat Ultron’s forces from taking control. When Doom, Hulk, and the rest ofthe Avengers clashagainst an Ultron A.I. replicant of Black Widow, the heroes are quickly put in their place by Ultron’s far-future version of the Avengers.
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In the chaotic battle, the AI Black Widow launchesCaptain America‘s shieldthrough the Hulk’s neck, severing his head instantly. As expected, the Green Beast’s healing factor activates, but instead of the Hulk’s head reforming,Bruce Banner’s head emerges from the Hulk’s headless stump instead.With Banner’s sentient head now sticking out of the Hulk’s chest, the heroes slam the Hulk’s severed head back on their shared body. Soon, Banner is left to flail around as the Hulk and his fellow Avengers pay back the damage Ultron unleashed.
5Hulk Reforms His Mangled Body After Being Eaten Alive
Incredible Hulk: The End #1 (2002) -by Peter David, Dale Keown, Joe Weems, & Livesay
In an alternate future where the Earth has been consumed by a nuclear holocaust,Bruce Banner and the Hulkare left as the Earth’s last sentient organic survivors. The duo aimlessly wander around a barren land as Banner struggles to maintain his existence in the Hulk’s mind. However, while they may be the last humans, they aren’t the last life on Earth. During one of Banner’s aimless walks through the nuclear wasteland,he is swarmed by a horde of giant mutated cockroaches.
Banner soon blacks out before regaining his composure some time later. Without any memory of the following horrific event, Bruce latter watches a video feed ofthe Hulk’s downfall. When the swarm of cockroaches descended upon the heroes, the Hulk appeared just in time before being mauled by the insectoid colony.What’s left behind is a shredded, mangled corpse whose insides have been thrown aboutand whose skin has been plucked from the muscles. However, as Banner continues to watch, he is left exhausted when the Hulk reforms as good as new.
6Hulk Reconstitutes Himself Back Together From Chunks
Immortal Hulk #8 (2018) -by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, & Ruy José
Following a gruesomebattle with the Avengers, Bruce Banner and his Hulks were left as little more than a charred corpse. Before the Hulk can return through the Green Door, he is transferred to a covert government facility called Shadow Base. There,the Hulk is dissected using state-of-the-art Adamantium-coated equipmentbefore the individual organs and limbs are stored in separate jars. However, come nightfall, it’s the Devil Hulk’s time to return from his slumber.
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That night, the head of the Hulk’s experimentation facility, Doctor Jeffery Clive, boasts to the eviscerated beast while the Hulk’s now revived head lambasts the doctor’s naivety. Soon, the Hulk’s severed head maniacally laughs, intentionally distracting the doctor from the surrounding scene. Before Doctor Clive has a chance to react,Hulk’s individual body parts burst from their jars and begin reforming into a globby massaround the doctor’s body. As the last remnants of Doctor Clive’s screams turn into mumbles beneath the Hulk’s flesh, the Green Goliath moves on to his next prey.
7Not Even One Million Exploding Suns Can Defeat the Hulk
World War Hulk #5 (2007) -by Greg Pack, John Romita Jr., & Laus Janson
TheWorld War Hulkstoryline introduced one of the most savage variants of the Green Behemoth that Marvel has ever seen. After being led to believe the Avengers killed the Hulk’s wife and family,the emerald gladiator returned to Earth to unleash new levels of world-shattering, apocalyptic strength.Try as they might, the Avengers fail to stop the Hulk and are forced to recruit Banner and the Hulk’s longtime friend, the Sentry.
Armed with the explosive potential of one million suns,the Sentry holds nothing backagainst his raging friend. The battle between the two is devastating, as the Sentry unleashes waves of radiant, flaming tornadoes and explosions that nearly consume all of Manhattan. However, the harder Sentry hits, the angrier and stronger the Hulk becomes. As the gamma and solar energies reach their ultimate peak,both heroes are engulfed in a nuclear explosion that decimates the nearby area.While the Hulk is momentarily de-powered, another tragedy soon follows, and the Hulk returns just as strong as he was before.
8The Hulk Continues to Fight While Missing Half His Brain
Immortal Hulk #15 (2019) -by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, & Ruy José
In the previous issue, the Hulk had been hunted down by the semi-cybernetic freelance assassin, Carl “Bushwacker” Burbank. Catching the beast off guard, Bushwacker manages to land a powerful shot through the Hulk’s eye. As the monstrous hero screams in rageful agony,he is left with a gaping hole in his head which effectively removed half of the Hulk’s brain.In the following battle against Doc Samson, the Hulk has clearly lost much of his cognitive abilities but continues to fight.
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All the Hulk can do now is yell “Smash,” while Samson attempts to hold off his friend long enough for the Hulk to regain his senses. Yet, despite this debilitating brain injury, the Hulk hasn’t lost any of his fighting prowess. As Samson tries to quell the Hulk’s wild rage,the raging Avengerviolently drags the doctor through the ground, crushing him beneath the dirt. Fortunately, the Hulk’s brain quickly recovers, andthe Devil Hulk regains lucidity and control over his body’s actions.
9Burrowing Parasites Can’t Infect the Hulk Faster Than He Can Heal
Incredible Hulk #99 (2006) -by Greg Pak, Aaron Lopresti, & Sandu Florea
When the Hulk crash lands on the alien planet of Sakaar, his presence instantly threatens the rule of the planet’s imperial leader. After repeated failed attempts to assassinate the Hulk, the Red King unleashes a horde of parasitic creatures known as Spikes. If a victim were to fall prey to even one of these,the Spike would infest and assimilate the victim into a growing, amalgamated, mass of heaving, parasitic, flesh.
The Spikes soon surround the Hulk, pierce through his throat, and burrow throughout his raging green form.The Hulk screams in painas alien tendrils emerge across his body and through his eyes. However, before he can succumb to the parasite’s influence,the Hulk rips the wriggling parasite from his body,unleashing a spectacle of green and purple blood. What was once the Red King’s most feared weapon is now crushed under the weight of a Hulk “Smash,” as the Green Scar begins his ascent to the throne.
10The Hulk Endured a Direct Nuclear Blast
The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) -by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, & Paul Reinman
There is no better example of the Hulk’s resilient healing factor than the gamma-bomb that began it all. InAl Ewing’s Immortal Hulk, it is reaffirmed that Bruce Banner’s Hulk alters were inside his mind long before Bruce was exposed to the gamma bomb’s radiant blast. In truth, when the nuclear device was activated,the Hulk’s healing factor kicked in for the first time, revealing a new, hulking, gray body designed to protect Banner from the bomb’s extraordinary concussive blast.
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This excess gamma energy was enough to grant the Savage Hulk and the Devil Hulk a shared body, ultimately saving Banner from the lethality of the explosion. From the very beginning of their decades-long journey,the Hulk has been flexing his regenerative powers in the face of weapons designed to obliterate entire cities.Without the Hulk’s presence inside Banner already, and the genetic meddling of Banner’s father, neither Bruce nor Rick Jones would have survived the blast. Only theHulk’s healing factor could save Bruce Banner from an otherwise devastating, world-ending power.
