In the previous two decades, Marvel has built one of the most expensive superhero universes, attracting millions of followers from all over the world. They have everything from comic books to billion-dollar films, and their fandom is still one of the largest in history.
Are you a fan of Marvel Comics? Are you able to name more Avengers than your country’s presidents? Then you have undoubtedly questioned who the most powerful Avenger is. When it comes to fan speculations about their favorite Avenger, Reddit and other discussion boards are always buzzing, but how would you respond if I asked you today, “Can Hulk beat Thor or Wolverine?”
Well, to give some more insight into who would win in that fight, Marvel released an animated double feature in 2009 that has mostly gone unnoticed unless you are a die-hard Marvel fan, but here’s why you should definitely go back and watch these for drama, action, and more of your favorite superheroes. The Hulk is pitted against the enormous hammer-wielding lightning God, Thor, in one film, and the X-Man, Wolverine, in the other. So grab your popcorn and get ready for 80 minutes of utter carnage courtesy of the Hulk, and witness how Wolverine and Thor fare in these encounters.
Hulk vs Wolverine
The first movie we are taking a look at is Hulk vs Wolverine. This is the shorter feature of the two and has a run time of 35 minutes. The Incredible Hulk #181 (1974) was Wolverine’s first appearance in Marvel and it inspired Hulk Vs Wolverine. You can bet that when these two engage in a fight, it’ll be a bloodbath. And that’s exactly what you’ll get with this party of misery.
Department H summons Wolverine to stop the Hulk from destroying a nearby settlement after the enraged monster crosses into Canada. Of course, the fearless Wolverine accepts the assignment and goes on the quest for him. Department H is a section of the Canadian government that deals with superpowered issues in the comics.
It is primarily known for its resident superhero team, Alpha Flight, which Wolverine was an agent of before joining the X-Men. Wolverine is voiced by Steven Blum in this movie, making it the sixth time he has voiced Wolverine in a feature film.
Fred Tatasciore, who voiced Hulk and Steven Blum recorded their lines together. They were so invested in their roles that crew members feared that a fight would break out in the recording studio itself and separated them. The reason is simply the many action sequences that pit the two against each other.
Wolverine finds Bruce Banner in a desolate forest area and prods him for questioning which turns him into the Hulk. This initial appearance pays reference to Bruce Banner’s final scenes in Hulk (2003), in which he is seen at a lake location and later, while pushed around, says, “You’re making me mad, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry…” and then his eye color changes.
As expected, a full-fledged struggle erupts, with numerous face-crushing strikes being traded. Hulk takes Wolverine down on the ground and pounds his face into pulp. This is a rather typical occurrence in these two films as we see the Hulk going on his signature rampages in both. This enrages Wolverine, who attacks with his adamantium claws while he regenerates.
Wolverine has the advantage of being able to cut into the Hulk’s thick skin and create pain. As the brutal battle ensues, Weapon X, a team of assassins, arrives. If you’re keeping track, they’re the bad people. Omega Red, Deadpool, Sabre Tooth, and Death Strike make up Weapon X and they capture the two superheroes and take them away.
They end up in professor Thornton’s lab where we see a flashback of Wolverine’s origin story and we learn that Thornton’s evil plan is to turn both Wolverine and Thor into weapons that he can control. We also see the two of them contained in tubes with wires all over them and that immediately serves as a homage to Wolverine’s origin story.
A corridor of tubes with floating babies appears here with “X-23” written on one of the tubes. X-23 was a Wolverine clone, the 23rd and first successful attempt at replicating Wolverine. Craig Kyle and Christopher L. Yost, who worked on X-Men: Evolution (2000) as well as this feature, designed the character.
As expected, we see Wolverine attempt his second escape from the facility and also save Hulk in the process. With the four villains, the battle is absolutely fantastic and one definitely has to praise the animation in these fight sequences which make up about 98% of the movie.
The movie is further made interesting by putting in characteristic features of these four, especially Deadpool who is well-known in the comics for breaking the fourth wall, where he is aware that he is in a comic book and frequently makes comments about it. When he urges his buddies to “strike a posture” for the camera in the feature, he demonstrates this characteristic ability.
The four villains then engage in a battle to the death as Sabre Tooth kills Professor Thornton, making sure that he would not intervene. Interestingly, Tom Kane, who plays Professor Thornton is most known for his roles as Professor Utonium in The Powerpuff Girls (1998), Professor Robert Kaufman in Scooby-Doo, and the Cyber Chase (2001), and, most notably, Professor Xavier in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006).
While Wolverine does hold up his own against the four of them, he realizes that he needs more power to win the battle and thus urges Bruce Banner to change into Hulk. However, this does come with its own drawbacks since we already know how tough it is even for Bruce himself to gain control over the Hulk once it is released.
The battle is spectacular as Hulk smashes through everything and everyone. There is a lot of smashing and ripping as is expected of the incredible Hulk and we see him rip out both of Death Strike’s arms along with smashing both Sabre Tooth and Dead Pool and also completely overpowering Omega Red. The filmmakers said that Hulk was so powerful that he ended up killing Sabre Tooth with the last blow.
The Hulk does not stop there however and keeps attacking. Who is left you may ask? Well, knowing the Hulk, anything or anyone standing in the way must be smashed and that applies to Wolverine as well, regardless of the fact that he was trying to save him. Wolverine keeps dodging his attacks and the Hulk ends up completely destroying the facility instead, which Wolverine is definitely not upset about and instead, eggs him on to do so.
However, after escaping, Wolverine realizes that he will have to defeat the Hulk and bring back Bruce Banner to avoid further damages and they clash once again. This is where the film ends but in true Marvel fashion, there is a post-credits scene that you should sit tight for.
In the post-credits scene, we see Dead Pool making his way out from under the debris and exclaiming that he is alive only for Hulk to stomp him down and jump away. From this, we can presume that Hulk won the battle against Wolverine and continued on in his rampage.
The animation is incredible, the fight scenes can get a little repetitive but the brutality will keep you hooked along with the cool flashbacks that give an insight into Wolverine’s origin story. This film is also is a vague precursor to the episode “Wolverine vs Hulk” from Wolverine and the X-Men (2008).
Hulk vs Thor
Now moving on to the second and longer feature film, Hulk vs Thor. Stan Lee, the creator of the Hulk in Marvel Comics, followed it up with the creation of Thorin in August 1962.
This one has more story and Thor mythology attached to it. The movie opens by telling viewers what ‘Odinsleep’ is and what happens to the realm of Asguard when Odin sleeps for a week. Many evil beings including trolls, giants, and mages attack Asgard while Thor and his mighty hammer along with the heavenly army of Asgard fight to keep it safe until Odin wakes up. The film starts with a shot of a rainbow bridge connecting Asgard and Earth.
This is a nod to the opening scene of the 1966 film Mighty Thor. We also have a good number of figures from the Thor mythology making cameos. The battle pits Loki, Thor’s wicked stepbrother, and Amora The Enchantress who is now heartbroken over Thor, against him. We see that Amora has kidnapped the Hulk from his world in the hopes of separating Banner from the beast so Loki may control him and defeat Thor.
I realize that some might think that this is impossible, but they use their immortal powers and Amora’s enchantress magic to tear the hulk out of Banner, releasing an invincible beast in the process. It is also important to note here that Loki kills Dr. Banner after the separation process which becomes an important plot point later.
The attack is planned to be a surprise and last-minute attack when the Asgardian’s guards are down and thus Loki puts his evil plan into action on the last day of Odinsleep when Thor thinks that the battle is already won. With Loki controlling the Hulk, the creature goes on a rampage, killing soldiers and Asgardians until Thor himself confronts it.
The amazing thing about the Hulk is that when he starts kicking ass, he literally mops the floor with everyone. This isn’t your mild Ferrigno Hulk; this is your Hulk pounding the crap out of Asgard, who sweeps his opponents away like flies with a single stroke of his hand. Thor, who has already defeated everyone before him, comes forward to put the Hulk in his place. However, he discovers that the uncontrolled Hulk is no wimp even when facing the God of Thunder, and he is pounded in the face.
I doubt you’ll ever see Hulk inflict such a thrashing as you see here and the obvious reason behind that is probably that you simply cannot enact these scenes in the live-action Avengers movies, but Thor not only gets beaten up, he is smashed in the face so many times that he’s forced to the ground. Here too, even though Loki is now stronger than Thor, he is unable to pick up Mjölnir, Thor’s hammer.
This is due to an enchantment that declares that only those who are worthy are allowed to wield the hammer. During this fight, Loki’s connection to the Hulk gets severed and he goes on his own rampage. We’d have easily lost an Avenger if Amora didn’t have a heart and helped save the day. Amora revives Thor and they decide to protect Asgard together along with Lady Sif, the warrior Goddess, and Thor’s wife. In The Super Hero Squad Show (2009), Grey Griffin, who plays Sif in “Hulk vs. Thor,” also played the Enchantress.
Thor and Loki have an encounter where they fight it out but as we have seen before, poor Loki never fares well against his dazzling older brother and he gives up his quest. They realize that they cannot send Hulk back to Midgard, which is Earth because Bruce Banner is dead, making Hulk only half a soul and thus, they even go to hell to seek out Hela, the Goddess of Death for assistance, but as we all know, the evil people never win.
Hela gives back Dr. Banner’s soul and he is the only one who manages to tame the Hulk and then reunite with it, locking the creature inside him once again. Throughout the two stories, the Hulk is referred to as the ‘creature’.
This is a nod to the Hulk’s moniker “creature,” which was popularized by the film The Incredible Hulk (1977). “The creature’s power is incredible!” Loki shouts at one point, referring to the classic title, The Incredible Hulk.
The movie is definitely a good Hulk narrative, but it is an even greater Thor story, as we learn about Thor’s world, history, and a slew of Thor characters. There’s a lot of violent action going on here, but remember that The Hulk is a monster that grows stronger as his wrath grows, and thus, without Banner to control it in any manner, Hulk was bound to go on a destructive rampage.
We also realize the true courage and power Dr. Banner has to be able to deal with the beast that lives inside him. It is an absolutely wonderful showcase of action that we could never see in the live-action versions due to its sheer brutality and can only be shown in the animated format as we have lately seen other franchise’s resort to, such as The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (Another great animated movie with lots of action).
It is interesting to note that this film, along with Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2010), and Thor: Tales of Asgard (2011), takes place in the Marvel Universe’s Earth-8096 incarnation.
The movie ends with Bruce Banner returning to Midgard and Odin waking up. Bruce Banner is shown going down a roadway towards the end, while piano music plays faintly in the background. This is a reference to Bruce Banner walking down a road while listening to a piano sonata (The Lonely Man) from The Incredible Hulk (1977).
Both are extremely entertaining and fans of the MCU will definitely enjoy these, especially if they are into the comic books as well. Hulk vs Thor has a more detailed story making both of them different but equally enjoyable. The cool thing is if you’re looking for a quick watch with your lunch, these have the perfect runtimes!
The inspiration behind the movies
What exactly inspired these two short animated features filled to the brim with violence and action? We know that marvel fans love a good fight and what could be better than a fight amongst their favorite superheroes themselves?
They got the concept when they were considering doing Ultimate X-Men against Ultimate Avengers. According to Frank Paur, whose previous work includes Gargoyles and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. However, they quickly recognized that wasn’t going to work out and as a result, they began flinging ideas around.
Then they approached Marvel and suggested, “Why don’t we just make Hulk vs. Wolverine?” They started talking some more and realized that no one has done Thor as they could on this, which was an unadulterated comic book. They began tossing around ideas with this in mind and that’s essentially how Hulk vs Thor and Hulk vs Wolverine came to be.
Despite being part of the same package, the two videos were created by different people and had different approaches. Wolverine has a darker color palette and a more secluded atmosphere, whereas Thor has a brighter colour palette and a broader, more epic-like feel. Between the more anatomically realistic Ultimate Avengers and the more exaggerated The Spectacular Spider-Man, this animation falls somewhere in the middle. MADHOUSE Ltd was in charge of the animation.
For Hulk vs Thor, a fight between gods and monsters, the film is a component of writer Christopher Yost’s animated universe. Wolverine and the X-Men, Hulk vs. Hulk, Hulk vs. Thor, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and Thor: Tales of Asgard are all part of the world. Hulk vs Wolverine follows Thor: Tales of Asgard chronologically, whereas Hulk vs Thor is the final component of the universe, potentially alongside Wolverine and the X-Men.
The Wolverine and the X-Men episode “Wolverine vs. Hulk” is a sequel to this feature film. In an interview, co-writers, and producers Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost confirmed that the episode is a sequel to the video, putting the two into the same universe canon. Despite the fact that Yost stated that the video was written with the episode in mind, the episode had already been written.
The makers revealed in the First Look bonus feature that Thor: Tales of Asgard is a precursor to Hulk vs Thor, detailing how Thor and Loki grew up before they drifted apart. Thus, it looks like the inspiration was a Ragnarok theme that intended on telling not only the story of an untamed Hulk but also one of Thor and Loki and their rivalry which has existed for ages.
The idea behind Hulk vs Wolverine was apparently a lot simpler. Part of what made writing Hulk vs Wolverine so enjoyable, according to Christopher Yost, was the fact that the tale had a very basic mandate. The only thing that had to happen in the movie was for Hulk and Wolverine to appear in it. Thus, that is exactly what we see, a fight of epic proportion between two absolute beasts with other characters such as Deadpool, Sabre Tooth, and Death Strike sprinkled in.
Because they previously collaborated on Wolverine and the X-Men, Craig Kyle chose Nolan North for Deadpool’s appearance and his fourth wall breaks. If the second season of Wolverine hadn’t been canceled, North would have reprised his role as Deadpool.
What happens next?
After watching these two feature films, you might be left wanting more and wondering, what happens next? Well, we do have to keep in mind that these films were released in the year 2009 and thus it has been over a decade since their release. While these movies do fit into various Marvel and X-Men timelines in their own right, there is no news of this series being extended and hasn’t been there in the last 10 years.
Craig Kyle had earlier expressed interest in expanding the “Vs.” franchise to include other teams or personalities. He had also teased pitting the X-Men against the Fantastic Four as one of his ideas. Kyle had also shown an interest in directing a Deadpool film. However, after The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment, Lions Gate and Madhouse stopped producing direct-to-video films. This means that for now and possibly for the future as well, these are the only two films of their kind that we are getting.
I would highly recommend all Marvel fans to go ahead and tune into these movies since they are firstly, superbly animated and you get a different sort of vibe from both of them so you don’t feel like you are watching the same thing again and again because I get it, watching Hulk smash things can definitely get repetitive. The run times are also great and these can be fun little treats while you’re on a break or are having a meal. The stories fit into the larger Marvel and XMen universe and there is a lot of information about Asgard and also Wolverine’s backstory that I am sure fans will appreciate. With that being said, do put this on your must-watch list!