Since they first met in Fantastic Four #12, the Incredible Hulk and the Fantastic Four’s strongman The Thing have had several epic clashes. While Ben Grimm is typically the underdog in these battles, thanks to the Hulk’s capacity for limitless strength and rage, he refuses to quit, making the fights some of Marvel’s most brutal bouts. Audiences have been waiting for a live-action Thing vs Hulk match – which may happen once the Fantastic Four make their way into the MCU.
As with most great Marvel characters, however, the strength of these two characters lies not in their muscles but in their personalities and the way they play off of each other. As a result, one of their greatest (but largely overlooked) fights took place when both were technically at their weakest – and yet still able to hit where it hurt the most.
The unexpected match happened in The Incredible Hulk #365, at a point in Bruce Banner’s life when he transformed into a gray version of the Hulk who was more intelligent but operated at a lower power level. Although this Hulk could get stronger when he got angrier, the power increase came on much slower, making many believe this Hulk was a “weaker” Hulk. This tended to be a huge mistake, however, for while this Hulk may have not been as strong as his green counterpart, he fought much nastier.
This became apparent to the Thing when he first met up with the Gray Hulk several issues earlier. Ironically, the Thing had gone through a mutation of his own and had become a larger, sharper version of himself that the Hulk claimed reminded him of a pineapple. This new form gave the Thing even greater strength, however, and he seemed to finally have an edge over the Hulk. Indeed, in their first round, the Thing easily overpowered the Hulk, who had been goaded into the fight by Doctor Doom. However, the Hulk quickly regrouped and forced the Thing to exhaust himself by running after the Hulk as the Gray Goliath leaped out of his way. Once the Thing had depleted most of his strength, the Hulk beat him so badly he sent Ben Grimm to the hospital. The Thing would recover, however, and in another weird twist suffered another mutating accident that reverted him back to his human form, seemingly permanently.
Meanwhile the Hulk had been injected with a deadly poison similar to an artificial version of the AIDS virus. Although his immune system attempted to fight it off, the poison kept returning and forced the Hulk to suffer multiple heart attacks. Realizing he needed help, the Hulk crashed a talk given by Reed Richards, the leader of the Fantastic Four, hoping the scientist could find a cure.
But while the Thing may have been a normal human, his then-girlfriend Sharon Ventura had mutated into a female version of the Thing. The Hulk found the situation hilarious since he believed that Ben Grimm had somehow gone through a sex change. Amusement turned to annoyance, however, when Sharon knocked the Hulk through a building, prompting the Hulk to claim the Thing now “punches like a girl.” The two engaged in an epic brawl until Ben Grimm, unwilling to sit out the fight, leapt onto the Hulk’s back and was nearly killed.
Ultimately the Hulk suffered another heart attack that sent him to the hospital. Informing him that while his immune system could probably keep the poison at bay, Bruce Banner’s body couldn’t hold out for more than a few seconds until the poison killed him, the Hulk realized he was living on borrowed time. Seeking to settle old accounts, he went to a bar where Ben Grimm was having a drink and joined him.
Asking Ben why the two of them had been beating up each other for so many years, the Hulk received an angry reply from Ben who claimed the Fantastic Four had only tried to stop the Hulk from wrecking everything during his rampages. In response, the Hulk countered that during one of their early meetings, the damage had been caused by a different supervillain (ironically called “The Wrecker”) and that the Thing had simply attacked him with no provocation.
Ben shot back that the Hulk always hated the Thing since, although many people saw Ben Grimm as a monster, the Thing still had friends and respect – things the Hulk could never seem to hold onto. Unwilling to admit that the Thing was right, the Hulk claimed that the Thing always attacked him because Ben always wished he wasn’t a monster and hated the fact that the Hulk was not only stronger than he was but genuinely happy being the Hulk. With all their hidden resentments laid out in the open, the Hulk turned to leave – only for Ben to briefly apologize for wrongfully attacking him all those years ago. In response, the Hulk claimed that while he had beaten up the Thing many times, he was still “going easy” on him. While not a complete reconciliation, the exchange left both men with a better understanding of their long feud and of each other.
Of course, the Hulk would eventually survive the deadly poison in his system and Ben Grimm would inevitably mutate back into the Thing. The two even had several additional match-ups over the years, with the Thing finally able to knock out the Hulk (who was actually much stronger than he had been before) with one punch.
Nevertheless, the two also shared some more low-key moments in between fights – sharing drinks, chatting in the Fantastic Four headquarters, and even working out some of their lingering aggression by playing foosball. Given their decades-long feud, it’s unlikely the Hulk or the Thing will ever consider the other one a friend, but they still pay each other some mutual respect.