Two of the trickiest villains to ever grace the page of a comic book are Marvel Comics’ Loki and DC Comics’ Joker, and both characters played the same trick on the Hulk. The Hulk is one of the strongest Marvel characters and even one of the most brutal fighters in all of comics, so when the chance became available the Joker and Loki respectively didn’t hesitate to use the Hulk for their own nefarious purposes.
In Avengers #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Loki decides it is time that he takes control over the Earth, but with the planet being protected by the likes of Iron Man and Ant-Man not to mention his own brother Thor, Loki was going to need a powerful ally, whether they were knowingly helping him or not. Loki used his magical abilities to trick the Hulk into causing mayhem, and Loki used that as a distraction for his world-conquering plan. When the Hulk came to with the help of the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, they all joined forces against the God of Mischief and in doing so became the Avengers.
Even though Loki came up short in his plot to use the Hulk to defeat his heroic enemies, the Joker decided to use the same method to defeat his long-time foe, Batman. In the Marvel/DC crossover one-shot Batman vs The Incredible Hulk by Len Wein and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Batman, and the Hulk inexplicably exist in the same universe without further explanation, much to the pleasure of the Joker. As Batman is chasing the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker stumbles upon the Hulk and convinces the Avenger he is his friend and Batman is the true villain. Since the Hulk is notoriously kidlike in his thought process, he believes the clown and attacks Batman before the Caped Crusader is able to get through to the Hulk and the two heroes team up to take the Joker down.
Loki tricked the Hulk into fighting the heroes of Marvel’s Earth for him just as the Joker convinced the Hulk to battle Batman in his stead. Both villains use the same method and both receive the same result, one that is initially satisfying but quickly becomes unfavorable. Batman is able to educate the Hulk on the truth of who is good and who is bad in the DC Universe and the Avengers get through to the Hulk during his rampage and make them a permanent part of their team moving forward.
While both Loki and the Joker are unsuccessful in their attempts to use the Hulk to satisfy their own villainous needs, they each get points for choosing their target. The Hulk is relatively easy to fool and an absolute powerhouse. The Joker and Loki are incredibly intelligent but neither of the characters are physically imposing, especially when being compared to the Hulk. Choosing the Hulk to do their dirty work for them is truly evil and very smart. Where the two villains came up short is in underestimating their heroes because in both instances the Avengers and Batman did what they needed to defend themselves against the Hulk, but in the end, showed him empathy and understanding until he saw who the real villains were in both scenarios. Loki and the Joker played the same trick on the Hulk, and they both paid the same price as a result.