Reel Weird: 5 Strange Facts About The Hulk's Body In Movies & TV
The Incredible Hulk is an iconic Marvel Comics character and, at one point, was the most popular of them all. Over the decades, he has been a titan in film and television, as audiences loved to see him smash and destroy anyone and everything that challenged him. But as cool as he looked, we often overlook how weird he is.
The Hulk is a character born of Gamma radiation and one of the strongest beings ever. As a result, his body has proven itself capable of weird things that must be seen to be believed, and we have a list of some of the weirdest.
The Hulk’s Muscles Can Grow and Expand In Hulk (2003)
Perhaps the strangest iteration of the Hulk came in Ang Lee’s Hulk (2003), where everything about his strength and power became uncomfortably literal. The angrier he got, the bigger he got until he was pushing 9 feet with ease.
This also meant he could allocate his strength to individual muscles in gross ways. When fighting a pack of gamma dogs, one bit his shoulder, and the Hulk flexed and grew his trap to break its throat. Unfortunately, this now means that we know he has the power to change any part of his muscle when needed, and how that could make him a gross monster at any point.
The Hulk Can Harness the Power of the Infinity Stones In Marvel Zombies (2025)
What If…? (2021-2024) introduced the Marvel Zombies and the severe losses the MCU took to keep the outbreak at bay. But Marvel Zombies (2025) saw one of the biggest sacrifices with the Infinity Hulk, a version of Hulk who contained a storm created by the Infinity Gauntlet colliding with Wakanda’s vibranium ore.
This version of Hulk was near-indestructible and could harness all of the Infinity Stones, making him the most powerful being of his reality. Even an army of zombies could’ve stopped him, but it proved just how much power and damage his body could take, and we still haven’t seen the true limits.
Ultimate Avengers (2006) Showed the Hulk Lifting Mjolnir
Before Avengers (2012) hit theaters, there was a little animated film called Ultimate Avengers: The Movie (2006) that saw the Ultimate Universe Avengers team up in a direct-to-video format. The movie mainly had Nick Fury assemble the Avengers to fight aliens, but after they used the Hulk to help stop the threat, he became the next enemy.
As the Avengers tried and failed to stop him, we saw that he was capable of lifting Mjolnir through sheer strength alone. It was a struggle, but it left Thor paralyzed with fear as the Hulk threw it at him, knocking him out.
The Incredible Hulk (2008) Explores Bruce Banner’s Mind as He Transforms
Bruce Banner’s transformation into the Hulk is something that’s never explained aside from what we can see. What we see is often a man in pain as his body morphs and stretches in painful ways, making him struggle until the Hulk is free. But The Incredible Hulk (2008) finally explained ot us what exactly is happening.
As Banner talks to Betty Ross, he compares it to when they did experiments that made them hallucinate. He said it was like he had a liter of acid poured into his mind, but amplified. Perhaps it’s to explain his mind, to find a way to dial back the pain (albeit slightly), or to show how the Banner alter transitions into the Hulk, but we now know that his mind essentially drugs him mid-transformation.
The Hulk Can Negate Antidotes to His Condition In The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Bruce Banner spent most of his time as the Hulk looking for a cure to his ailment. Not seeing it as a part of himself, he thought science could deliver a cure. But that’s where his internal power was not realized, and it all came to pass in The Incredible Hulk.
After Samuel Sterns seemingly cured Banner of his Hulk persona, he only warned that it might abate the symptoms and was not an outright cure. However, what makes Banner so unique is that the Hulk is a persona rather than a transformation alone. Therefore, so long as Banner exists, the Hulk will, and his body can never reject it. This was proven when he threw himself off a helicopter to stop the Abomination, crashing into Harlem as the Hulk.
