Juggernaut vs. Hulk: Who Would Win & Why?

The Juggernaut and the Hulk are probably two of the most unstoppable forces in Marvel comics when it comes to pure physical strength. However, their powers come from widely different sources and manifest in completely different ways. So, if these two Marvel powerhouses ever got into a fight, who would win, and why?

The Hulk would win most fights against Juggernaut. However, it wouldn’t be a blowout. The Hulk is slightly physically stronger than the Juggernaut – albeit neither can actually be physically hurt. Banner is also smarter than Marko and has won most of their comic fights.

The thing about Juggernaut is that his powers come from a magical source, and only magic can really hurt him. Seeing that the Hulk can’t use magic, it would come down to a fistfight, who’s stronger, and who can outthink his opponent – hence, even if Hulk can’t beat Juggernaut, Banner can beat Cain Marko. Let’s dive a bit deeper to see why and how the Hulk would win.

Strength

The first category we should discuss is strength. Of course, this is both of the character’s main superpower, so it’s only fitting that we compare it first. The Hulk gained his powers after being exposed to severe gamma radiation. 

As he gets angry, Dr. Bruce Banner turns into the green behemoth we all know as the Hulk. The angrier he gets, the stronger he is. In fact, it has been stated numerous times (Hulk Vol. 5 #6, Tales to Astonish #73, Incredible Hulk #238, etc.) throughout Marvel comics that the Hulk’s strength is literally unlimited – there is no one physically stronger than the Hulk.

On the other hand, you got Juggernaut, aka Cain Marko, who was a US soldier deployed in Korea. There, he stumbled upon a cave with a secret hidden Temple of Cyttorak, a powerful, mystical, demonic entity. 

There, Marko found the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, which turned him into a “human juggernaut,” a huge, superhuman being of vast power. Juggernaut’s strength lies in Cyttorak. The entity grants him unlimited kinetic energy that grows exponentially. When Juggernaut gets going, there is no force in the world that can stop him due to the powers bestowed upon him by Cyttorak.

Versions of Juggernaut changed over the years, but his incredible strength never faded. Sometimes, he and Hulk are portrayed as equals, both having unlimited strength, but at most times, the Hulk is portrayed as the stronger individual. Even the Juggernaut stated it in Juggernaut #2.

Cain Marko is incredibly strong, but the Hulk is the “strongest of them all.” He gets the point here, hands down.

Point: Hulk (1:0) Juggernaut

Durability

The Hulk is immortal. That’s stated countless times in the comics. Even in the MCU, Bruce Banner says he had tried everything to take his own life, including shooting himself in the mouth, but “the other guy just spits it out.”

That being said, his durability is almost limitless. You can’t hurt the Hulk with any kind of physical damage. And, depending on the version, it’s very difficult to hurt him with mental attacks as well. Even if he gets knocked out (as he has on several occasions), there’s nothing that can actually kill the guy. That being said, the Hulk has some weaknesses.

For instance, he can fade and go unconscious from gases or get smacked and knocked out cold in the moments while he’s still transitioning from Banner to Hulk. His stamina is unlimited, and you can’t kill him, but your best bet to beat him is to force the Hulk to return to Dr. Banner’s form.

On the other hand, you have the Juggernaut, whose durability is also unlimited, at least in terms of physical damage. There is virtually no amount of brute force that can be applied to hurt Cain Marko. He can, however, get hurt with powerful mental attacks, as well as magic, due to his own powers having magical origins.

Both of them are virtually immortal and self-sustenant and have s powerful healing factor preventing death despite any kind of injury. It would be silly to determine who’s more durable, so I’ll give both of them points in this category.

Point(s): Hulk (2:1) Juggernaut

Intelligence

This one is a no-brainer (pun intended). However, it’s not because the Juggernaut is the dum-dum people think he is, but because Dr. Bruce Banner is one of the most intelligent people on the planet. Banner is a super-genius, and hardly anybody can take him down in that category. 

Sure, we’re talking about Banner here, not the Hulk, but when push comes to shove, he showed incredible skills and brilliance, allowing him not just to overpower his opponents but to outsmart them as well.

Now, many fans think that the Juggernaut is just this dumb force of nature who can’t put two sentences together – but that’s far from the truth. Cain Marko isn’t a super-genius like Banner, but he is an average human being.

In some fields of expertise, one might call him masterful, such as military tactics, strategy, combat skills, etc. So, yeah, obviously, Banner is smarter, but I just wanted to set the record straight for Jugs.

Point: Hulk (3:1) Juggernaut

Weaknesses

Every superhero has a weakness. And, despite both the Hulk and Juggernaut being virtually invulnerable, there are weaknesses one can exploit to defeat them.

For the Hulk, it’s Banner. The safest bet you can have to defeat the Hulk is to trick him into calming down and reverting back to Dr. Banner form. It’s been done in numerous ways throughout the years, including gas to make the Hulk lose consciousness, magic, etc. Although his skin is almost impenetrable, we’ve seen adamantium and vibranium pierce it.

On the other hand, Juggernaut’s main weakness is magic. He is almost invulnerable physically but can be affected by powerful mental attacks, spells, and mystical energy. For instance, Thor can use Mjolnir to nullify Juggernaut’s defensive force field and deliver blows that indeed hurt Cain Marko.

If Marko loses the Gem or the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak or behaves in a way that the entity Cyttorak doesn’t condone, his powers stop working, essentially turning Cain into a human being.

Finally, Juggernaut’s biggest strength can also be his weakness. You see, his kinetic energy is unlimited, making it almost impossible for Cain Marko to stop. One can use that against him, as Hulk did in World War Hulk: X-Men #3.

In the end, both the Hulk and Juggernaut have weaknesses that can be somewhat exploited. However, both of them are essentially invulnerable to any permanent damage or injury. Hence both deserve points in this category.

Point(s): Hulk (4:2) Juggernaut

Comic Battles

Finally, we don’t really have to bang our heads too hard about this battle – all you need to do is look at the comics because the two Marvel powerhouses fought on numerous occasions. And, almost every time, the Hulk is the one carrying out the win.

In The Incredible Hulk #172, Hulk managed to slap off Jugg’s helmet. However, the fight was stopped before it got rowdier. Then, in World War Hulk: X-Men #3, the Hulk became the first one to manage to stop the unstoppable Juggernaut in his tracks.

There were many more instances where the Big Green had won (most notably in The Incredible Hulk #457), and many where the fight ended in a draw. Juggernaut had won only two times – once in The Incredible Hulk #402 when he was facing a physically weaker Professor Hulk, and in Juggernaut #2, where he was severely losing before Damage Control intervened and helped.

According to some research, they have fought 11 times in the comics. Hulk won four times, Juggernaut won two, and the rest were deemed as draws.

Either way, the Hulk deserves the point in this category.

Point: Hulk (5:2) Juggernaut

Juggernaut Vs. Hulk: Who Wins?

The Hulk wins the fight between the two behemoths. Although their physical strength is quite similar, he still has a slight advantage over Juggernaut. He had won more comic book battles, too, and one could argue he is more durable as well – or equal, at least.

Even if you take all that away, Dr. Banner trumps Cain Marko intelligence-wise, so there’s another win for the Big Green. There’s a reason why the Hulk is considered the “strongest one there is,” and despite Juggernaut’s mystical powers, he could not take the Hulk down.