In a bone-breaking clash of the titans, Thanos in a fight. Despite the Green Goliath's immense power, he's never managed to beat Thanos before in Marvel's main continuity. Interestingly, this historic victory comes in a fight where Hulk has nothing on the line except the desire to teach Thanos a lesson.

Hulk and Thanos clash in The Incredible Hulk Annual #1. The story sees Thanos pursuing the new bearer of the Mind Stone, Worldmind. Thanos quickly kills the telepath and seizes the Mind Stone, only for the cosmic artifact to send out a distress call for the only person on Earth strong enough to take it back - the Incredible Hulk. While Hulk has no real interest in protecting the Mind Stone, Thanos ordering him to leave is enough to get him interested in trading blows.

In a fight that shakes the Earth itself, Hulk beats, bludgeons and bites Thanos until the Mad Titan is on his knees, at which point Colleen Wing takes up the Mind Stone and uses its power to render Thanos unconscious (with Hulk delivering a final blow just to keep the Mad Titan down for long enough for Colleen to escape.) It's a decisive win for Hulk - an incredibly rare victory, as well as one that exposes exactly how Hulk can beat Thanos in future fights.

Hulk Finally Beats Thanos in a Fight

The Green Goliath Fights Dirty

The Incredible Hulk Annual is part of Marvel's 'Infinity Watch' crossover, taking place across the publisher's 2024 annuals. In this issue, fans finally meet the final Infinity Stone bearer, Worldmind, only for the new antihero to be near-instantly killed in a smart fake out. Thanos recently forged a new Infinity Stone known as the Death Stone, trapping Death's essence in his latest attempt to control the cosmic abstract. He's been hunting down the other Infinity Stones in order to break the Death Stone to his will, bringing him into conflict with their individual bearers as well as a variety of iconic Marvel heroes.

Following 2018's Infinity Wars event, the Infinity Stones were given sentience and sought out individuals to bond with. These Infinity Stone bearers have yet to meet as a group, though the Infinity Watch crossover is building to exactly that. Marvel has confirmed the event will forge the bearers into a new version of the Infinity Watch team, led by Agent Phil Coulson.

Thankfully, the Mind Stone chooses the right champion to keep it out of Thanos' hands, as Hulk buys the cosmic gem time to bond with new host Colleen Wing, creating a crater in the ground with how hard he strikes Thanos.

Hulk's most humiliating defeat was in the reality of 'Thanos Wins,' where Thanos not only breaks the Hulk and keeps him as a pet, but also feeds the other Avengers to him.

ulk Has a Shameful Win/Loss Ratio Against Thanos

The Mad Titan Has Beaten Hulk Again and Again

Hulk is Marvel's strongest character, with a strength level that has humbled the gods themselves. Despite this, he's never been able to win out against Thanos in Marvel's main continuity. When the two clashed in Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos used the combined power of the Infinity Stones to shrink Hulk, removing any concern for his strength. The two fought within the Hulk's mind in Thanos vs. Hulk and recently in 2024's Thanos series, where the Illuminati unleashed Hulk against Thanos, only for him to be stomped alongside the rest of the team.

However, Hulk's most humiliating defeat was in the reality of 'Thanos Wins,' where Thanos not only breaks the Hulk and keeps him as a pet, but also fed the other Avengers to him. Even on the big screen, Hulk can't catch a break, with Thanos beating him down in Avengers: Infinity War, leaving the Jade Giant too afraid to fight him again. Hulk's only notable victory against Thanos was in the reality of Marvel Zombies, where Hulk crushed his head after consuming Galactus' Power Cosmic.

Avengers: Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely has explained that Hulk didn't get a Thanos rematch as it wouldn't have worked with his ongoing evolution into the merged 'Smart Hulk' form.

However, it's noteworthy that Thanos hasn't faced every version of Hulk in Marvel lore. Bruce Banner's gamma powers allow him to manifest several different versions of the Hulk, and it's the child-like Savage Hulk that Thanos has beaten most often. More recently, Bruce has been manifesting a crueler, more savvy gamma monster, and it's this version who beats Thanos.

In the past, Thanos itted he avoided fighting Hulk, having heard of his immense strength. He only engaged the Green Goliath in battle once he had the Infinity Gauntlet in his possession.

This One Fight Reveals Why Thanos Always Wins

...And Why He Doesn't Have To in the Future

While Thanos has a long history of beating Hulk, he was originally wary of Bruce Banner's gamma form. In Jim Starlin and Ron Lim's Thanos Quest, Thanos its he's avoided fighting Hulk, having heard of his immense strength, and doesn't do so until he has the Infinity Gauntlet. Despite this, Thanos has scored win after win for one simple reason - he's a genius tactician. While his Eternal/Deviant biology makes Thanos powerful, and he's since enhanced himself through various means, his victories over Hulk generally come down to the fact that Hulk is a raging berserker and Thanos is a skilled combatant who uses his opponents' strengths against them.

That relationship is flipped in The Incredible Hulk Annual #1. While Thanos claims he's bested the Hulk before, the Green Goliath replies, "I like your confidence. It's funny. And you've never bested me." Hulk's implication is that Thanos has beaten the 'Savage Hulk,' but not this more cunning version, and that claim is proven out by the fight that follows. Thanos isn't ready for a Hulk that fights smart and dirty - one who is aware of his healing powers and uses them tactically, not just on instinct.

The Hulk fights dirty throughout their battle, first biting Thanos and then attacking him from behind after the Mad Titan snaps his neck and assumes Hulk is down for the count. Having Colleen Wing strike the coup de grâce shows that Hulk feels no compunction to fight fair against Thanos, and it's this that delivers him such a decisive win.

For Marvel fans, it's great to see Hulk finally win a fight against Thanos. At times in the past, it's been apparent that Thanos fights with a form of plot armor that means he can only be defeated by his own hubris, elevating him to whatever power level is needed to triumph over the heroes who go up against him. However, with a smarter Hulk now in the fight, the Jade Giant hasn't just beaten Thanos for the first time, but has discovered how to gain the upper hand in future clashes - by using all of his cunning to out-think the Mad Titan and ultimately outfight him.

The Incredible Hulk Annual #1 is available from Marvel Comics now.