Godzilla vs. Hulk

Godzilla vs. Hulk

Originally released in 2025

Written by Gerry Duggan

Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli



Godzilla and Hulk are similar in a lot of ways.  Both were created due to humanity testing atomic weapons, both have wildly different personalities depending on the adaptation or writer that results in them switching between hero and villain depending on the story, and both of them can be tragic figures despite their near constant rage and animalistic behaviour. This story pits them against each other, taking place in an era of the Hulk's story that I'm not familiar with - the late 1970s.



This is part of a series of one-shots where Godzilla faces off against different Marvel teams or characters, leading up to a five part miniseries called "Godzilla Destroys The Marvel Universe".  Depending on how long it takes for that to come out on Marvel Unlimited, I might give that a shot (that and Squirrel Girl might be the main or only "___ Kills/Destroys/Beats Up the Marvel Universe" stories that I'd be interested in), but in the meantime, I decided to read through this story for today.



The Thunderbolts, reimagined as a scientific think tank under General Ross that consists of Bruce Banner, Leonard Samson, and Doctor Demonicus, among others, are tasked with capturing and killing Godzilla before he can do more harm than he already has. The Hulk is believed to be dead, and Bruce has managed to keep his Hulk side locked away for years through meditation.



It becomes clear early on that this is a very different continuity from normal Marvel comics and even the other one-shots; Tony Stark is mentioned to have died, but not before upgrading Mecha Godzilla to take on Godzilla himself. (Or maybe there was a period in the late 70s where Tony either faked his death or was believed to be dead; I'm not familiar with that era of Marvel in general)



Naturally, Bruce can't keep the stress away for long, and the Hulk bursts out, ready to fight Godzilla, Ross, and anyone else.  Just as naturally, Dr. Demonicus betrays the team, leading to a sentence that seems like something that I never thought I'd read.



Hulk is in his classic "Hulk smash!" mode here, and he's a ton of fun to read about as a result. I can practically hear Fred Tatasciore's voice shouting out lines like "Hulk hate puny Banner!" This crossover seems like it would be fun to write, too, as it takes advantage of the crossover elements.



Towards the end of the comic, there's a reveal about how the Hulk's death was faked. I'm not sure if it's accurate to the era, or about the full context behind it if this is what happened in canon, but taken out of context like this, it makes Banner seem like a bigger monster than Hulk ever was. I'm guessing there's more to the story than what was described, though.



That reveal aside, this was a lot of fun, and I'd like it if Marvel Unlimited put more crossovers like this on there. I get why they don't (licensing is a tricky thing; there were comics that included Conan the Barbarian at one point, including a run of Avengers comics called Savage Avengers, but they were removed from Marvel Unlimited a few years back), but these are entertaining stories that generally seem to work even if you're only familiar with one of the properties that are involved.

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