In Marvel and DC’s history, these two are certainly the most deadly heavy hitters… But In a Death Battle who Prevails?

The Incredible Hulk is one of Marvel’s most powerful characters, but could he hold his own against Doomsday, DC’s most deadly brute? Each character has accomplished near-impossible exploits, and each has even battled Superman (but only one defeated him). Both are formidable opponents, but who will emerge victoriously?

The Hulk initially appeared in Stan Lee’s 1962 series The Incredible Hulk, in which scientist Bruce Banner was drenched with huge doses of gamma radiation. When he is sufficiently enraged, he turns into the Hulk, a musclebound monster lacking Banner’s intellect but ultimately noble (although his actions often come with a copious amount of collateral damage). 

Doomsday, on the other hand, didn’t make his appearance until 1993. The origin of Doomsday is different and full of death: a scientist constructed a lifeform and abandoned it on prehistoric Krypton, where it was swiftly murdered by the wildlife. The scientist cloned the remnants and repeated the process until Doomsday was powerful enough to kill the scientist, seize his ship, and rampage across many planets until he reached Earth, kicking off the famed Death of Superman tale.

Doomsday isn’t something to be taken lightly. For hundreds of thousands of years, he’s survived on numerous worlds, destroying and demolishing everything in his path. Outside of hate, rage, and a drive to battle – and win – he has few feelings or desires. He can fight for at least a week without tiring, and his toughness is legendary: the Justice League only scratched his skin once. But Doomsday is best known for doing something no other supervillain has done in over 50 years: canonically murdering Superman. Doomsday died in the horrific battle, but his remnants were recovered and replicated, as usual, making him furthermore resistant to Kryptonians.

The Hulk is no slouch when it comes to strength. In the comics, the Hulk’s intelligence has gradually improved to the point where he can distinguish between friends and foes and follow tactical orders. Even without them, the Hulk is a formidable opponent. He can lift tanks, buildings, and, most notably, 150 billion tons of a fallen mountain during Secret Wars. The Hulk, like Doomsday, can endure practically any blow and, unlike Doomsday, has incredible regenerating abilities. But the most dangerous feature of the Hulk is not the Hulk himself, but his actual self, Bruce Banner. Banner is one of Marvel’s greatest scientists, and he could very definitely devise a weapon to nullify Doomsday’s abilities, or at the very least send him into space. Doomsday is only intelligent enough to find a foe and fights them to death, whereas Banner is the Hulk’s most dangerous weapon.

This hypothetical fight may be unjust if Banner’s intelligence is factored in, but even if he isn’t, Hulk would still have the upper hand. The gamma-irradiated Hulk has faced numerous entities similar to Doomsday – gigantic creatures with no other goal than to kill – and has always triumphed. Although The Incredible Hulk isn’t a genetically built killing machine like Doomsday, he is smart enough to defeat him.