Hulk & Ghost Rider’s Best Team-Ups

A new Ghost Rider has emerged in the Marvel Universe, as undead as he is merciless when he sets his sights on prey worthy of damnation. One iconic hero has already found himself on a collision course with this new Spirit of Vengeance—but it definitely won’t be his first rodeo with a Ghost Rider. 

The Hulk has a lengthy history with various Spirits of Vengeance around the Marvel Universe. However, in true Hulk and Ghost Rider fashion, these two heroes tend to settle their differences with a harrowing showdown before they learn how to work together against a common enemy.

Here are all the most memorable encounters between Hulk and Ghost Rider, whether they find themselves at odds during a fiery confrontation or working together as one of the Marvel Universe’s most surprisingly effective team-ups.

THE FIRST MEETING: GHOST RIDER (1973) #11

Ghost Rider and Hulk met for the very first time in the American Southwest, while Johnny Blaze was in the middle of a high-octane motorcycle race known as Desolation Run. The villainous Inferno manipulated Hulk into interrupting the race, hoping that the Green Goliath would destroy Ghost Rider in the process. 

Even with the powers of Ghost Rider at his disposal, Blaze found himself completely caught off-guard by the sheer fury of the Hulk—but fortunately for him, help arrived from an unlikely source. The other bikers participating in Desolation Run raced to Ghost Rider’s aid, disorienting and containing the Hulk by doing high-speed laps around him.

Ghost Rider seized this opportunity to overpower the Hulk with his hellfire. The gamma-radiated behemoth eventually passed out when he became overheated. Though not the friendliest first encounter, the incident made Blaze realize he could use his powers to help others and set him on the path to become a super hero.

NEW FANTASTIC FOUR: FANTASTIC FOUR #347–349

After the Skrulls incapacitated the Fantastic Four in FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #347, the shapeshifting aliens realized they needed super hero help to acquire a device for their interplanetary plot. Disguising herself as the Invisible Woman, the Skrull infiltrator De’Lila convinced Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, and Ghost Rider that the rest of the Fantastic Four had died and that she needed their help to track down their killers. Regrouping at the team’s headquarters in Four Freedoms Plaza, this unlikely quartet of heroes agreed to work together, forming the New Fantastic Four.

For this particular team-up, the Spirit of Vengeance that joined the New Fantastic Four wasn’t Johnny Blaze, but instead his half-brother and newly minted Ghost Rider Danny Ketch. Taking on the name Joe Fixit, Hulk was going through a few changes of his own at the time, appearing with gray skin and a more controlled, intelligent personality. Together, this group eventually discovered the Skrulls’ ruse and stopped their schemes, coming to the assistance of the real Fantastic Four.

SECRET DEFENDERS: DOCTOR STRANGE, SORCERER SUPREME #50

After Dormammu kidnaped Clea and imprisoned her in his citadel within the Dark Dimension, Doctor Strange realized he was outmatched. So, he turned to a group of heroes best suited for the daring mission, including a pair of friendly faces from their time together on the Defenders: Hulk and Silver Surfer. Completing the group was Danny Ketch, who was still growing into his role as Ghost Rider and finding his place in the wider super hero community.

Taking place in DOCTOR STRANGE, SORCERER SUPREME (1988) #50, this small strike team became the Secret Defenders in a nod to Doctor Strange’s previous team with the Hulk and Silver Surfer. Upon arriving in the Dark Dimension, the group immediately confronted an army of Dormammu’s Mindless Ones and other magical horrors, which they battled in their effort to reach the Citadel. Though the team didn’t share any future adventures in their capacity as the Secret Defenders, it solidified Hulk’s growing partnership with Ghost Rider.

WORLD WAR HULK: GHOST RIDER #12–13

After enduring a grueling exile on the planet Sakaar and an explosive attempt on his life, Hulk returned to Earth more enraged than he had ever been in WORLD WAR HULK (2007). Landing in Manhattan, the Hulk and his fierce associates, the Warbound, targeted the Illuminati, the clandestine group of super hero leaders that sent him off-world. With Hulk and the Warbound crushing anyone who stood in their way, Ghost Rider decided to intervene.

Ghost Rider battled Hulk across Manhattan in GHOST RIDER (2006) #12, finding him even stronger than he remembered due to the excess gamma radiation he absorbed on Sakaar. Ghost Rider tapped into his full potential to drive Hulk back, before realizing Hulk’s cause was just and the Illuminati were the true guilty party in this incident. Ghost Rider left the Hulk to continue his vendetta, and both heroes emerged from this confrontation with a better understanding of each other.

THE CIRCLE OF FOUR: VENOM #13–14

When the demonic Blackheart tried to unleash Hell on Earth in VENOM (2011) #13, it took the power of two Ghost Riders, a Hulk, a Wolverine, Doctor Strange, and Daimon Hellstrom to stop him. As Johnny Blaze took point in preventing Hell from entering Earth through a magical portal, Alejandra Blaze, X-23, Red Hulk, and Agent Venom fought against a group of demons known as the Antitheses, which represented the opposite of this Circle of Four. The resulting battle was pure super-powered chaos, giving each hero time to shine against their twisted enemies.

The stakes grew even more dire when Blackheart tricked Alejandra into removing Johnny’s magical talisman, which left Earth vulnerable to attack. This forced Red Hulk, Agent Venom, and Ghost Rider to merge together, using the Venom symbiote and Spirit of Vengeance to form a single, composite hero. 

Caught off-guard by the drastic move, Blackheart and his forces were defeated. The merged heroes separated after the day was saved, but they were brought closer together by the experience than any of them would’ve liked.

CHALLENGE OF THE GHOST RIDERS: AVENGERS #22–25

In the hellish crossover DAMNATION (2018), Johnny Blaze became the King of Hell after he seized the throne from the demonic Mephisto. Shortly thereafter, Robbie Reyes was summoned to Hell to participate in a race between all the Ghost Riders, with the Spirit of Vengeance possessing Robbie as the wager. Since Robbie was part of the Avengers at the time, this led Earth’s Mightiest Heroes—including She-Hulk—to join Robbie in Hell.

Beginning in AVENGERS (2018) #22, this challenge eventually led the heroes to face Cosmic Ghost Rider, an alternate reality Frank Castle possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance. At this point in their shared history, Robbie and Jennifer Walters commiserated over the uncontrollable fury raging within themselves: Robbie with his Spirit of Vengeance and Jen with her gamma-irradiated alter ego, which behaved more savagely than ever before.

NEW ERA: INCREDIBLE HULK #8

The Hulk has been hunted relentlessly ever since his first transformation, but INCREDIBLE HULK (2023) has put an especially scary twist on this premise when an entity known as the Eldest started to telepathically command monsters around the Marvel Universe to track the Hulk down. Meanwhile, Hulk found himself with a runaway teenager named Charlie, with whom he encountered a group of migrants near the Texas-Mexico border.

This group lived under the protection of an undead version of Ghost Rider, who attacked Hulk when he thought the Jade Giant posed a threat to the people he swore to protect. This came at the worst possible time for Banner, who was battling for control as the insidious War Hulk tried to assert dominance over their shared body. 

In the end, Ghost Rider helped Banner defeat War Hulk. The two parted ways amicably after defeating another wave of monsters summoned by the Eldest together.

Catch Hulk and Ghost Rider’s latest team-up in INCREDIBLE HULK #8, now on sale!

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