Hulk is infamous for being an unstoppable force of nature, with strength that is rivaled only by a select few, so the implications that X-Men’s Kitty Pryde packs a wallop equal to the Jade Giant certainly turns heads. This unlikely powerhouse joins the ranks of the more traditional dream matchups for Hulk, such as Juggernaut, the Thing, and Superman. Pryde is a hero who is best known for turning herself and whatever she touches intangible, but it turns out there is a flip side to this power. Instead of selectively phasing through materials, she can stand her ground and make it so that little, including brute force, can move her.
This ability was established in the Ultimate Universe, a creative re-imagining of many iconic characters that allowed Marvel to explore different paths for its heroes and break traditional boundaries. Among the changes, Kitty Pryde is Spider-Man’s ideal crime-fighting girlfriend, but she is eventually forced to navigate a world where he dies, in addition to being part of an X-Men team finding its way after Professor X and Magneto die. In this reality, Katherine Anne “Kitty” Pryde wholly devoted herself to refining her leadership qualities and her powers, unlocking the ability to become super dense. Since density is a measure of an object's mass per unit volume (i.e., how compact something is), her super-dense fists hit with the force of Hulk’s blows.
In Ultimate X-Men/Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual by writers Aron E. Coleite and Joe Pokaski and art by Dan Panosian, a Kitty Pryde from 20 years into the future out-clobbers the Ultimate Thing, delivering a punch that knocks his rocks off—literally. The showdown arises because Pryde is part of a time-traveling X-Men unit that kidnaps the present-day Mister Fantastic, knowing he is key to a future version of Sue Storm’s mission to eradicate all mutants. Since the Ultimate Thing’s most powerful final form was underneath his rocky exterior all along, sending him flying with a single blow demonstrates Pryde’s strength when she goes super-dense.
This is where the fun comparisons begin, since this version of the Thing ended the threat of a zombie Hulk with one punch in Ultimate Fantastic Four #23 by Mark Millar and Greg Land. If the Thing can take out the Jade Giant in one punch but still gets sent flying by a blow from Kitty Pryde, it appears that her super-density is a massive power upgrade, an upgrade that places her among Marvel’s heavy hitters. Though she hasn’t exhibited an ability to go super-dense in the mainstream universe, it makes sense that this would be a natural balance to the powers she has used thus far.
It is a favorite pastime for fans to form strong opinions on who the strongest character in comics is, imagining epic showdowns where Juggernaut proves more powerful than Hulk or where Hulk comes out on top. With writers cleverly finding ways to add new characters to these discussions, such debates are kept lively and fresh, even if Superman, Juggernaut and Hulk represent tried-and-true standards of strength. The X-Men have an unlikely contender that can go toe to toe with Hulk, now that Kitty Pryde (who becomes incredibly dense) can join the ranks of Marvel’s most immovable forces.