In 2024, Thor Revealed the Devious Way He Can Kill the Hulk

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Despite both being heroes and founding members of the Avengers, Hulk and Thor have made a habit of clashing at every possible opportunity. However, 2024 added a dark new chapter to their history of mixing it up, as Thor revealed he can kill the Green Goliath whenever he wants. While Thor may not be quite as physically powerful as the Strongest One There Is, he does have a failsafe move if the Hulk needs to be stopped.

The reveal came in 2024’s Avengers: Twilight, from Chip Zdarsky, Daniel Acuña, Cory Petit and Joe Caramagna. In the story, the Hulk is corrupted by the Red Skull, who uses Ultron’s technology to turn him into a killing machine. After attacking multiple countries with gamma warfare, the Red Skull tries to use Hulk to bring down the Avengers, resulting in his final face-off with the God of Thunder.

After innocents are slaughtered and Bruce Banner begs Thor to stop him, the Odinson finally unleashes his contingency plan. Punching Hulk into the ocean, Thor places Mjolnir on his chest. Because of the ‘worthy’ enchantment, Hulk can’t lift the legendary weapon, and quickly drowns under the water.

Thor Kills Hulk by Drowning Him with Mjolnir

Thor Reveals What It Would Take for Him to Use This Lethal Tactic

Avengers: Twilight is set in a potential future where the public have lost faith in the Avengers. The team disbanded, allowing Red Skull to insinuate himself into the US government, using Tony Stark’s son James to infiltrate the most advanced levels of technology. An aging Captain America decides to return for one final time, gathering a team of Avengers which includes Thor, an older Ms. Marvel, and new hero Hawkeye, as well as eventually winning James to his side. Sadly, Hulk is just too far gone to save or redeem, with Ultron and then Red Skull having had years to break him to their will.

Thankfully, the series did offer fans a comforting epilogue, as Bruce Banner (and Tony Stark, who also didn’t survive the adventure) wakes up in Asgard, having been given a place in the afterlife by Thor. It’s the God of Thunder’s apology for how their battle ended, finally giving Bruce some peace and happiness after years of becoming the exact living weapon he’d always feared.

While this adventure didn’t take place in Marvel’s mainstream timeline, it did reveal that Thor has been holding this move in reserve for years, planning for the day when he might be called on to end the Hulk for good. The older, wearier Thor has essentially retired from Earth following the Avengers disbanding, taking his rightful place as ruler of Asgard. That makes it even more tragic that he’d be called back only to end up killing his former friend. However, as smart as this tactic for killing Hulk is, would it actually work?

Would Drowning the Hulk Actually Work?

Marvel Lore Confirms the Answer Is… Complicated

Hulk’s vulnerability to drowning is a complicated question, mainly because Marvel lore hasn’t been particularly consistent. It’s canon that Hulk needs oxygen, but he can hold his breath for days at a time. However, on occasions where the air has been forced from his lungs, he’s quickly become vulnerable – for example in Roy Thomas and George Perez’s Fantastic Four #166, where the team beat the Hulk by burning up the oxygen in his lungs, then cutting off his further air supply with a force field. Reed Richards tried to replicate this victory in Contest of Champions II, only for Hulk to turn the tables by literally inhaling him.

Surprisingly, this is how Batman beat Hulk when they fought in Len Wein and José Luis García-López’s DC Special Series #27. Knowing he couldn’t beat the Hulk in a physical fight, Batman used knockout gas to take down the Jade Giant, kicking him as hard as possible in the stomach in order to wind the Hulk and force him to breathe in. It’s apparent that while the Hulk can hold his breath essentially indefinitely, once he’s out of oxygen, he needs it as desperately and immediately as any human. This supports the events of Avengers: Twilight, as Hulk is tackled bellowing into the water, with no chance to hold his breath.

However, on rare occasions Hulk has specifically shown an ability to breathe underwater. This famously happened in Peter David and Lee Weeks’ The Incredible Hulk #77. In that issue, Hulk begins to drown but his ‘adaptive evolution’ causes him to grow an entirely new organ – one which produces an emulsion that allows him to breathe underwater. The idea hasn’t been used much outside this story, but it’s still canon, and it makes sense considering the wild shapeshifting Hulk has achieved on other occasions.

Thor’s Attack Works, But It Can’t Be Used Consistently

Hulk Just Has Too Many Ways to Escape If He Wants To

The definitive answer is offered by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett’s Immortal Hulk, which revealed the mystical aspects of gamma radiation. That story confirmed that Hulk’s powers are partly magic, and that gamma radiation turns humans into ‘metaphor people,’ whose powers are an extension of their identity and psychological state. Since Banner wants Thor to kill him in Twilight, it makes sense his extra organ wouldn’t come into play. This also explains why Hulk didn’t use his most grisly way of escaping Mjolnir.

In the recent Hulk #7 by Donny Cates and Martin Coccolo, Thor uses this same Mjolnir trick to pin Hulk to the ground. Unwilling to be trapped, Hulk pushes against the ground so hard that Mjolnir tears a hole through his body – a grievous injury, but one he’s capable of surviving and healing. It’s a beyond extreme way to escape Thor’s hammer, but one that’s ultimately effective. It’s worth noting that, at this point, Bruce Banner was in control of the Hulk’s body, and this technique might not even occur to the actual Green Goliath.

Ultimately, Avengers: Twilight depicts a Hulk who has been out of control for years and wants nothing more than for Thor to free him from Red Skull’s control. It’s likely because Bruce Banner wants to die that Hulk doesn’t hold his breath, grow his emulsion organ, or tear Mjolnir through his body.

Hulk’s bestial rage means that it’s possible these techniques for survival simply wouldn’t occur to him, and even with the organ, he would eventually die if trapped underwater. Nevertheless, while Thor‘s contingency plan to kill Hulk with Mjolnir is a smart tactic no-one else could use, it’s definitely not one he can rely on to easily beat Hulk in the future.

Avengers: Twilight is available now from Marvel Comics.

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