10 Marvel Heroes You Won't Believe Defeated Hulk

10. Zeus

Zeus Hulk
Marvel Comics

It's generally known that Marvel's primary pantheon comes from the Norse Aesir. Odin, Thor, Loki and the other Scandinavian gods of yore maintain a large presence in the Marvel Universe and have been the subject of some of its most exciting tales, so it may surprise certain readers to learn that the Greek pantheon actually exists there too.

Hercules (who is not called Heracles here, for... some reason) is the most famous Greek hero within Marvel Comics, but when there's Hercules must also come Zeus, and it just so happens that the granddaddy of Greek gods has made the odd appearance here or there.

Like the actual Zeus of old, he's also kind of an ass.

After going through a bit of a rough time - as Hulk tends to do - Bruce Banner travels to Mount Olympus to seek the help of Zeus in curing Red She-Hulk, who is also Betty Ross. Zeus doesn't take kindly to Hulk's request, and proceeds to deliver the mother of all smackdowns on the strongest Avenger, adding further insult to injury by then leaving him to be slowly eaten at by some vultures for all eternity.

While it might not be surprising to learn that an actual God bested the Hulk, it's just such an unexpected encounter - for more than one reason.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.