A hero is only as good as his villain and that can be shown in more ways than one. If a hero is a cool, badass character that fans look up to and appreciate, like The Incredible Hulk, fans would expect the villain to be as intimidating and equal to that.
Overall, fans have seen the Hulk engaged in many fights and face many adversaries. However, despite the strongest there is having some truly awesome rivals, he has his fair share of ridiculous and lame ones as well. While not all will make the cut, there are plenty worth talking about.
Updated on September 1st, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: Marvel Cinematic Universe audiences haven’t had the chance to see the Hulk take on many of his iconic comic book adversaries. That’s largely because he’s usually a supporting player in someone else’s story, like Thor’s or his cousin’s. There are so many different villains in the comics that movie fans would definitely enjoy seeing on the screen, but some are cooler than others.
Glenn Talbot
Most of the characters and villains who go after the Hulk, no matter who they are, are somewhat cool. Even the lowest of villains have some kind of weird quirk or ability to them that makes them stick out. After all, it would be stupid for a human to go after the Hulk. Well, unless that human is Glenn Talbot (who is stupid).
A soldier in Thunderbolt Ross's army, Talbot has an extreme dislike for the Hulk, one he uses to try and hunt the beast down. The only problem is that Talbot is human, and a human with no powers going up against a giant green rage monster is just pure idiocy. Even Agents Of Shield realized this and made Talbot Gravitron, an extreme but needed departure from his character.
The Red King
Unlike Talbot, the Red King, the ruler of Saakar, is more vain than he is stupid. Sure, he's still a lame villain but his foolishness derives from his pride and arrogance. When the Hulk crash lands on Sakkar, the Red King challenges Hulk to a fight, which would be cool... if he did anything.
The Red King fought the Hulk a total of two times. Both times, the Hulk tore through his robot mech, made him bleed, and made a fool of the King. The King only managed to not be killed by the Hulk when he almost blew up Sakkar. Overall, he made for a pretty lame villain despite his great potential.
Ravage
Before he was Ravage, this Hulk villain was actually a mentor to Bruce Banner. Dr. Geoffrey Crawford worked with Bruce, and Bruce sought him out for help controlling the Hulk after first undergoing his transformation. Crawford, however, allowed his greed to get the better of him, and used the same technology he developed to help Bruce to give himself the same power of the Hulk. He couldn’t control the power himself though, and Ravage was born.
Ravage’s story isn’t unique amongst Hulk’s adversaries. Many of the people who become enemies of the Hulk do so because they want his same power level.
Agamemnon
The son of Loki and a mortal woman in the comics, Agamemnon is cursed with eternal youth when he disobeys Odin one too many times. He’s also left to learn a lesson on Earth, much like Thor, but true to his parentage, Agamemnon prefers to create mischief, which is why he crosses paths with Hulk quite a bit.
In the modern day, he’s become less of a threat to Bruce Banner’s Hulk, however, and a more frequent enemy of Amadeus Cho’s Hulk and has even come into conflict with X-Factor. Considering most of his abilities are shared with Loki though, most comic book fans would rather just see Loki in action instead.
Zzzax
Now, a humanoid form of electricity actually sounds cool. And truth be told, the villain Zzzax, like the Red King, has the potential to be a great villain. He has the ability to absorb human brain energy, discharge insane currents of electricity, and utilize said electricity for his own strength. And yet... Zzzax never really does much.
While Zzzax hasn't had many appearances in comics for one, for another, anytime he shows up, he soundly gets beaten easily. And when a villain is something like Zzzax, an unstoppable ball of electricity that shouldn't be so easily taken down and yet is. It doesn't look that good for that kind of villain.
Juggernaut
Juggernaut is most often associated with the X-Men since he’s a relative of Charles Xavier’s and spent plenty of time as an antagonist in the 1990s X-Men animated series. He has, however, also been an enemy of the Hulk from time to time.
One of the earliest encounters between the two strong and durable men sees Hulk save Juggernaut, but then intervene because Juggernaut attacks an innocent. It’s certainly fun to watch the two go head-to-head in comic book splash pages, but the fights can go on forever with the two being nearly evenly matched in terms of strength.
Thunderbolt Ross/Red Hulk
On his own, Thaddeus ''Thunderbolt'' Ross is a pretty lame villain. A military general intent on stopping the Hulk at any cost and the father of Banner's sweetheart, Betty, Ross has failed in all his attempts to bring down the Hulk. So heavy were his losses that Ross ended up becoming the thing he hated the most: a Hulk.
Exposing himself to Gamma energy, Ross became the Red Hulk, a firey and power-draining version of the original. Despite his human form being weak, as the Red Hulk, Ross managed to pull himself out of the depths and be a force to be reckoned with.
Wendigo
It's always fascinating to see mythology be translated into the world of comics. In myth, the Wendigo is a violent creature who came to pass after a person consumed human flesh. In comics, the Wendigo was about the same, a supernatural hulking creature bred from consuming human flesh.
Making his first appearance in Hulk comics, and, at the same time, bringing about the debut of the Wolverine in his classic costume, the Wendigo, although cool, was easy to beat and bring down thanks to the two heroes. Still, the beast has made plenty of appearances in comics since and has become quite the force to be faced.
U-Foes
Rip-offs are sometimes for the better or worse. The likes of the U-Foes happen to be in the better category. A group of scientists who tried to recreate the experiment that gave birth to the friendship of the Fantastic Four, the U-Foes each got a unique set of powers, from turning to vapors and utilizing cosmic rays.
Most of the time, the U-Foes, like most villains, are easily beaten. Yet, in recent comics, they did manage to take on and beat a weakened Hulk; not to mention the villains ended up branching out and taking on the Avengers time again. Not bad for a knock-off Fantastic Four.
Brian Banner
Brian Banner has the distinction of being a villain for both Bruce Banner and the Hulk. That’s because he’s Bruce Banner’s abusive father, and many of the traumatic moments of Bruce’s childhood are completely blocked out so that he doesn’t have to deal with his fears concerning his father.
When the soul of his father, however, was resurrected by another villain, both Bruce and the Hulk had to deal with a powered up version of him. That happened multiple times in the comics, and each time, Brian’s power increased, usually correlating with just how much Bruce feared him. Of course, if Brian didn’t exist, Bruce never would have become the Hulk either. Brian own studies concerning gamma radiation would be what eventually inspired Bruce to study it as well.
Absorbing Man
Once again, villains almost always lose in the world of comics. It's just in their nature. But while many end up not going anywhere, some do end up changing, like Carl Creel, The Absorbing Man. Quite able to absorb anything and use it through his skin, Carl ended up battling the Hulk many times.
Then, recently, Creel ended up turning over a new leaf. While he never really turned into a hero and is still a criminal and does battle the Hulk, fans slowly started to see a softer side to him. Teaming up with the Inhuman king, Black Bolt, to siding with Gamma Flight to take on the Immortal Hulk, Carl's been through a lot and deserves to return to the MCU.
Wolverine
Wolverine is a favorite for a lot of Marvel fans. He’s a little surly, great with teen heroes, and not so great with team leaders. He’s usually a hero. When he first appeared in comics, however, he was a villain in The Incredible Hulk’s story.
Wolverine was initially sent on a mission to eliminate Hulk, and he took advantage of Hulk being preoccupied in a battle with Wendigo to attempt to do just that. While the Hulk is definitely stronger than Wolverine, the two going head-to-head makes for a no holds barred match as Wolverine is a better strategist and takes a more feral approach to a brawl. Over time, they’ve become allies, but alternate universes still see the two as sometimes enemies, including the popular Old Man Logan comics.
Abomination
It wouldn't be a Hulk list without one of his most iconic villains: Abomination.
A dark mirror image of the Hulk, former soldier Emil Blonsky becomes the monstrous Abomination in an attempt to stop the Hulk. On countless occasions, Abomination has taken on the Hulk in a one-on-one match. While he's lost time again, there have been times when he did give the Hulk a run for his money as a great villain. There's a reason he keeps coming back.
The Leader
For someone like the Hulk, a villain with higher intelligence is far greater than someone with equal strength. Samuel Sterns was once a normal, even simple man who was exposed to a high level of Gamma Radiation (like everyone else). The radiation gave him increased intelligence and made him into the villainous Leader.
A foe who has time again outsmarted and worked around the likes of the Hulk, The Leader's almost always five steps ahead of Bruce Banner and manages to bring the Hulk down again despite the immense strength he has.
Maestro
While the Abomination can be seen as a dark reflection of the Hulk, the Maestro is the embodiment of that idea. A future version of the character who comes from one of the comics' best Hulk story arcs, the Maestro is the last hero who survived an apocalypse and set about becoming a dystopian ruler.
Stronger than his older self, the Maestro has proved himself to be the strongest and most brutal Hulk villains out there. Serving as a dark "What If?" for the Hulk, the Maestro is without a doubt one the coolest out there.