The Incredible Hulk isn’t known for being a particularly nice guy. While there are versions of Bruce Banner’s alter ego who are more reasonable than others, most people know it’s probably a good idea to get as far away as they can from the Green Goliath when he’s on the warpath. Not only is the Hulk “the strongest there is,” he’s a surprisingly cunning strategist who’s willing to use some very brutal moves (just ask Loki).
One Marvel villain who learned this first hand is the X-Men villain, The Blob. Also known as Fred J. Dukes, Blob appeared briefly in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (where he was soundly beaten by Wolverine in a boxing match) as well as X-Men: Apocalypse (where he lost a cage fight against the Angel), but hasn’t made his MCU debut yet. Which is probably a good thing, considering what the Hulk could do to him if they met…
A mutant, Blob’s power is actually two-fold. He’s an incredibly large, heavyset man covered with superhuman fat. The invulnerable fatty folds of his body can absorb virtually any impact or puncture wound while leaving him unharmed. His body is also superhumanly strong and capable of leaping great distances despite his weight. Blob can even “flex” his fat and trap people in the folds of his skin or slam his stomach into opponents with superhuman force. In addition to his physical attributes, Blob also has the additional ability to render himself completely immovable. Simply by concentrating, he can bond himself to the ground so that even opponents who can lift his heavy body will find that the ground is stuck to his feet (similar to Spider-Man). These abilities made him the perfect person to take down the Incredible Hulk… or so he thought.
While what Hulk did to the Blob was certainly cruel, in Hulk’s defense, he didn’t start the fight – and actually went out of his way to avoid it. In The Incredible Hulk #369, the government sponsored team “Freedom Force” was tasked with apprehending the Hulk, who was currently in his gray, more mean-spirited form (popularly known as “Joe Fixit”). Blob was on this team and nervous about fighting the Hulk since Banner had beaten him before in his stronger green form.
Meanwhile, Banner found shelter during the day with a family whose house had been damaged in a storm. While Banner helped the family fix their home and even bonded with the family’s deaf son, he knew he had to leave once evening came since he automatically transformed to the Hulk at night. Once he got a fair distance away, however, Freedom Force attacked, hoping to subdue Banner before he could change. While team members Pyro and Crimson Commando cornered Banner with flame throwers and knives, Blob slammed his superhuman bulk into Banner and knocked him into some rubble.
Seconds later, however, Banner transformed and the Gray Hulk erupted out of the wreckage, angry and ready to punch someone. He hit the Blob – but his blow only managed to jiggle the mutant who laughed that the Hulk couldn’t hurt or move him. In response, the Hulk chose to just leap away, snidely telling the Blob not to move. Before he could get too far, however, Freedom Force shot the Hulk down and engaged him in combat, using everything from combat tactics to flame creatures - to absolutely no effect. Blob actually managed to grab him and sneered that Hulk was barely stronger than him back when he was green.
Bad move. Furious at being compared to his green counterpart, the Gray Hulk told Blob he was through playing nice. He then grabbed the Blob’s stomach and began pulling the fatty folds back several feet. Thanks to Blob’s ability to anchor himself, he didn’t immediately topple over, but having his stomach yanked and grossly deformed clearly caused him tremendous pain. As the Blob whined that his power didn’t work that way and that the Hulk was hurting him, the Gray Hulk just laughed and said he didn’t care.
Furious, Blob leaped at the Hulk… which was just what Hulk was hoping he would do. Since the Blob was no longer anchored, Hulk simply punched him high into the sky. He then leapt after the hapless mutant and began slapping him in the face, informing him that without the ground to anchor him, his powers were basically useless. Blob ended up bouncing up and down like a rubber ball, inspiring Hulk to grab an iron girder from a construction site and hit Blob like a giant baseball.
At this point, however, human casualties entered into the fight. Hulk’s blow knocked Blob back to the house where Banner had been staying earlier. As the Blob smashed through the house, the roof collapsed and the family’s deaf son was critically injured and buried in the rubble. Hearing his parents’ cries for help, the Hulk suddenly remembered the boy Banner had befriended and leapt back to the destroyed house, horrified by what he had done. Together with a similarly repentant Crimson Commando, the Hulk helped dig out the boy and then literally grabbed an ambulance to take the boy to the hospital.
However justified the Hulk may have felt in using dirty fighting tactics against the Blob, the fact remains that his actions put others in serious danger. Superhuman battles often focus on the thrill of pitting powerful opponents like Hulk and Blob against each other, but don’t always stop to consider the toll they put on innocent bystanders. The Hulk clearly experienced a rare moment of shame when he saw what he’d done to the boy (who coincidentally looked like a young Bruce Banner) and likely regretted his fight with the Blob. Although it’s probably safe to say that the Blob won’t be aching for a rematch with the Grey Goliath anytime soon…