Hulk vs Deadpool Revealed the Full, R-Rated Impact of Hulk’s Maximum Strength Punch

The Hulk’s physical strength is utterly unparalleled, especially compared to every other hero or villain on Earth, though it wasn’t until the Hulk nearly killed Deadpool that he got the chance to prove it. Throughout his Marvel Comics history, the Hulk has gone up against the most powerful characters in his established universe, and all that time, he very rarely flexes his true strength by going all-out on his opponent – and Deadpool’s R-rated injury confirms why.

In Deadpool Vol. 4 #38-39 by Daniel Way and Bong Dazo, Deadpool tricks the Hulk into attacking him in order to provoke the Green Goliath into doing the one thing that no one – Deadpool included – has been able to do: kill Deadpool. Wade Wilson wants to be eternally united with Mistress Death, but his god-tier healing factor keeps that from happening. So, Deadpool orchestrates a scenario where Hulk will be forced to kill him for the greater good, and the Strongest Avenger very nearly succeeds.

Deadpool tells Hulk that the detonators to a series of nuclear bombs were remotely linked to his body, meaning every minute he was alive, countless people were in danger. This was a lie, of course, but the Hulk believed him, which led to Hulk slapping Deadpool through a building so hard that it killed him. But, Deadpool came back moments later, so Hulk had to do a little better than that – and he did. At the end of their conflict, the Hulk punches Deadpool with all his might, which essentially vaporizes Deadpool’s body upon impact.

Hulk vs Deadpool Proves the Hulk is Almost Always Holding Back

Deadpool is far from the only Marvel Comics hero (or antihero) the Hulk has faced throughout his publication history. In fact, Wolverine made his debut fighting the Hulk, and all the founding Avengers had a crack at him in the first two Avengers comics alone – and that’s not even going into the time the Hulk fought practically every hero there was during World War Hulk. However, Hulk’s fight with Deadpool stands out from all the rest, because this is the only time the Hulk wasn’t holding back his true strength.

With a few exceptions, the Hulk is clearly holding back his full power whenever he’s fighting a fellow hero/antihero. Indeed, the Hulk literally obliterated Deadpool with a single punch that was so hard and so fast that Deadpool’s body didn’t even move, it just exploded. That means the Hulk can easily crush the likes of Wolverine, Iron Man, and Captain America, yet he never does. He usually beats them, or at least proves he’s stronger than them, but he holds back his true strength – and his fight with Deadpool makes it clear why.

Deadpool Inadvertently Proves the Hulk is Just as Dangerous as Everyone Fears

While the Hulk has time and again proven his heroism, there’s still an underlying fear that exists in practically everyone in the Marvel Universe that the Hulk is a danger to all humanity, and Deadpool inadvertently proves that’s true. During their fight, Deadpool gets Hulk so angry that he destroys a nearby school, and almost kills everyone inside – including children. The Hulk even gets angry at Deadpool after calming down a bit, admitting that he lost control and nearly did the unthinkable. Who’s to say that won’t happen again?

The Hulk can usually keep himself in check, but this fight confirms he’s just as dangerous as everyone fears. However, the main takeaway from this isn’t what the Hulk almost did, but what he did do, and that was proving the R-rated impact of his maximum strength by reducing Deadpool to a bloody mess with just one punch.