Deadpool vs Hulk: Who Is Stronger?

It’s been a while, but we’re finally back with our “Who Would Win” section. Today, we are staying within the frameworks of the Marvel Universe, comparing everyone’s favourite Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool, with the Green Goliath, Hulk. Hulk is one of the strongest characters in Marvel’s universe, while Deadpool is… well… he’s Deadpool. We all know what that means. So, could Mr. Pool defeat the Hulk? Or would the Green Goliath just crush him? Keep reading to find out!

Despite all of Deadpool’s amazing powers and incredible (and we truly mean that in every imaginable sense of the word) feats, he is really no match for the Hulk. The Hulk is so much stronger than Deadpoll doesn’t even have an angle from which he could approach this fight while hoping to win.

Marvel has, along with DC Comics, contributed to the development of American comics, specializing in the superhero genre. Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby are just some of the pivotal writers who’ve helped shape the style and universes of Marvel Comics.

Throughout the years, Marvel has created several pivotal superhero characters and has launched successful franchises such as the Avengers, X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy, all of which have been adapted into movies, TV shows and video games.

Some of the most famous Marvel Comics heroes are Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Wolverine, Professor X, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey; but, the franchise also includes famous supervillains such as Thanos, Apocalypse, Galactus, Loki, Magneto, the Mandarin, Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, Venom and others.

Now that we’ve given you a short introduction, let us discuss the topic of this article in more detail.

Deadpool and his powers?

Deadpool is the alter ego of one Wade Winston Wilson, a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, debuting in The New Mutants #98 (1991). Due to his quirky nature and the general weirdness of his stories, he has become one of the most popular comic book characters today.

Initially, Deadpool was depicted as a supervillain when he made his first appearance in The New Mutants and later in issues of X-Force, but later evolved into his more recognizable antiheroic persona.

Deadpool is actually a disfigured mercenary with the superhuman ability of an accelerated healing factor and physical prowess. The character is known as the “Merc with a Mouth” because of his tendency to talk and joke constantly, including breaking the fourth wall for humorous effect and running gags.

Interestingly enough, he was modelled after DC Comics’ supervillain Deathstroke, who completely inspired the Deadpool persona, including his name (real name and alias), his origins and his costume. The main difference is that Deathstroke is a serious supervillain and mercenary, while Deadpool is more on the comical side. His adventures include numerous hilarious storylines, with one even depicting him killing off the whole Marvel Universe, including himself.

He has appeared in several derivative materials, including TV shows, video games and movies, where he was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds played the character in the X-Men film series, appearing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Deadpool (2016), and its sequel Deadpool 2 (2018).

Hulk and his powers?

The Hulk is a fictional superhero appearing in stories published by Marvel Comics. Hulk is the alter ego of physicist Bruce Banner, who is a regular human, without any superhuman abilities. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the characters debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) and is today regarded as one of Marvel’s strongest characters.

Dr. Robert Bruce Banner is a genius physicist, but a physically weak, socially withdrawn, and emotionally reserved human. During the experimental detonation of a gamma bomb, Banner saves teenager Rick Jones who has driven onto the testing field; Banner pushes Jones into a trench to save him, but is hit with the blast, absorbing massive amounts of gamma radiation. He awakens later seemingly unharmed by the incident, but that night transforms into a lumbering grey (yes, he was initially grey before having been recoloured) form. A pursuing soldier named the creature a “hulk”. 

Originally, it was believed that Banner’s transformations into the Hulk were caused by sunset and undone at sunrise, but later, it was discovered to be caused by anger. Banner was, interestingly enough, cured in The Incredible Hulk #4, but chose to restore Hulk’s powers with Banner’s intelligence. He later became one of the founding members of the Avengers.

The Hulk is a green-skinned, hulking and muscular humanoid possessing a vast degree of physical strength. The two exist as separate dissociative personalities in the same body, and (generally) resent each other. The Hulk’s level of strength is normally conveyed as proportionate to his level of anger. Commonly portrayed as a raging savage, the Hulk has been represented with other personalities based on Banner’s fractured psyche, from a mindless, destructive force, to a brilliant warrior, or genius scientist in his own right.

The Hulk is one of Marvel’s most popular characters and has appeared in a lot of derivative materials, including animated films and TV shows, video games and live-action movies. In the live-action movies, he was portrayed by Eric Bana, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffallo, with the latter two portraying the characters within the MCU.

Deadpool vs Hulk – Comparing their powers

As we usually do, we are going to compare the powers these two characters have before we give our final verdict. We think that it is truly important to understand what these characters are capable of before we give a concluding remark on the question.

The very nature of Deadpool’s character is often a question of debate, but fo the sake of this article – we are going to consider him a mutant. As for his mutant powers, the most important one is definitely his healing factor, which makes him practically immortal, even without Thanos’ immortality curse (see the linked article). This factor gives him complete resistance to foreign chemicals, disease and telepathic immunity, as well as resistance to being posses. He likewise has superhuman strength, durability, and agility and is an excellent marksman, along with being very, very fast. This covers his basic powers and abilities.

What about the Hulk? Being exceptionally strong, the Hulk is known for becoming stronger the angrier he gets. It is even speculated that there are no known limits to Hulk’s powers and he has truly demonstrated his enormous strength on several occasions. Banner’s subconscious influence limits his powers to a certain degree, but without him – his strength is practically limitless and is one of the strongest beings in the universe.

Along with that, the Hulk also has exceptional durability, regeneration, and endurance. He is practically invulnerable and although he can be killed, the degree of these powers varies between interpretations. It is known that he has endured solar temperatures, nuclear explosions, and planet-shattering impacts. He also has an exceptional healing factor that certainly makes him someone you wouldn’t want to face in combat.

It’s really a no-brainer, right? Well yes, but let us still see how the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z (2010) compares the two characters:

As it is quite obvious, a simple comparison of their powers suggest that Hulk is much stronger than Deadpool, but we are going to see whether that’s true in the final section of this article.

Deadpool vs Hulk: Who would win and why?

After everything we’ve found out, we can easily conclude that Deadpool doesn’t really stand a chance against the Hulk, and it is actually a very simple deduction.

As far as physical strength is concerned, Deadpoll is nowhere near Hulk’s level and if the Green Goliath managed to grab him, there’s really nothing Deadpool could do. Even the weapons he usually carries wouldn’t really help him, as his blades and guns can’t really harm Hulk; even if he did carry some heavier weapons, he wouldn’t stand much chance, as Wolverine, whose claws can – and that has been proven – injure Hulk, wasn’t able to do much against the Green Goliath.

One thing that does play out in Deadpool’s favour is his healing factor, i.e., his immortality. Namely, Deadpool cannot die and we have already explained why that is. In that aspect, the Hulk could never permanently kill Deadpool, but he would always be able to defeat him in combat, regardless of the circumstances.

The one instance in which Deadpool did defeat Hulk – in the (in)famous Killology – he did it by avoiding the Hulk, i.e., by sneaking behind Bruce Banner’s back and beheading him. Even Deadpool knows he cannot kill Hulk.

And that’s it for today. We hope you had fun reading this and that we helped solve this dilemma for you. See you next time and don’t forget to follow us!