Hulk Vs is a 2009 direct-to-video animated film from Marvel Animation and Lionsgate, featuring the Incredible Hulk in two short film battles, one against Wolverine, the other against Thor. The animation was by Madhouse,^[1][2] and Kaare Andrews provided the DVD and Blu-ray packaging artwork.^[3]

Plot[link]

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Hulk vs. Wolverine[link]

In a prologue, Wolverine states that "I'm the best at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice." Wolverine wakes up dazed and confused in a crater in the mountains, as he asks, "What the hell happened?" he hears a roar in the distance. Just then the Hulk jumps over a cliff and lands in front of him, roaring in his face. Wolverine simply replies "Oh yeah..." The story then rewinds back to the events prior to this. Department H had sent in Wolverine to track down a mysterious beast known by the US Military as the Hulk, who is rampaging across the Canadian wilderness. Surveying the extent of the damage to a destroyed town, Wolverine noticed a toxic scent as well as the smell of gunpowder.

He was then deployed to the wilderness to resume tracking the creature. After a few hours, Wolverine found a physically scrawny man sitting and crying at the edge of a small lake. At first asking him if he had seen the creature, Wolverine then started to violently interrogate him after realizing that he had the same toxic scent as the creature that destroyed the town. Ignoring numerous warnings, Wolverine continued the interrogation until the man, now revealed to have actually been Dr. Bruce Banner, transforms into the Hulk and sends Wolverine flying through the air until he lands on the edge of a cliff. Now up to speed, the story resumes where it started. The two combatants appear to be evenly matched, and fight continuously until they are both shot with numerous tranquilizers from Team X (composed of Deadpool, Omega Red, Lady Deathstrike, and Sabretooth). As Wolverine succumbs to the sedative, Deadpool gloats "Logan, buddy! It's me, Deadpool! I shot you..."

A flashback shows how Wolverine was abducted by Weapon X and his skeleton was bonded with adamantium under the orders of a Professor Thornton. They even tested his combat skills on a bear. Wolverine managed to escape by killing the soldiers and severing Thornton's right hand.

Sabretooth forcibly wakes Wolverine in a Weapon X facility where he is greeted by Professor Thornton (who has replaced his right hand with a clawed prosthetic). It is revealed that they have been tracking the Hulk for weeks. A flashback shows that Bruce Banner had only turned into the Hulk because they attacked him and that while his battle caused massive property damage, the Hulk actively tried to save as many innocent bystanders as he could. Professor Thornton tells him that he is going to erase Banner’s personality and use the Hulk as a weapon... just like Wolverine, as his memory will be erased again. Professor Thornton tells Lady Deathstrike not to kill Wolverine. However, Professor Thornton is slashed in the back by Sabretooth as both of them try to kill Wolverine. Wolverine manages to fight the two Team X members off and free Banner.

Deciding they need more power, Wolverine tells Banner to turn into the Hulk, only to find that the doctor needs stress or anger to turn into the Hulk, and wouldn't ever do it deliberately, even if he could. To make matters worse, Bruce tells him that he may have been drugged to prevent him from changing. Taking his usual strategy, Wolverine stabs him with his claws, trying to make him bleed out the sedative and forcing Banner to transform.

While Banner lies in a puddle of his own blood, Wolverine battles the entire Weapon X team, and is eventually caught by one of Omega Red’s tentacles and violently electrocuted. Banner finally turns into the Hulk and punches Sabretooth so powerfully he sends him flying out of the facility, then takes out the other Team X members with ease, one by one. The Hulk starts to destroy the base, ripping out the main power generators. Wolverine eggs the Hulk on, only for the Hulk to swing a generator at him, causing the base to explode. Wolverine is sent flying and lands right next to Sabretooth. He stands up and watches the base burn until the Hulk jumps out and lands right in front of him. Wolverine is eager to finish what they started, and the two lunge at each other. The screen cuts to black leaving the fight with a cliffhanger ending, leaving the victor ambiguous.

In the post-credits, Deadpool is shown to have survived the destruction of the facility and expressing great relief at being alive, only to be crushed by the Hulk doing one of his "mile jumps". He makes a weak "Ow", however, noting that he is still alive, though in a massive deal of pain. The Hulk is seen jumping away at the end.

Hulk vs. Thor[link]

For ages, Odin has protected his kingdom of Asgard. But every winter, the All-Father must rest and regain his strength for one week. During this time, all of Asgard's foes (including trolls, giants, dark elves, and demons) try to claim the realm for their own, but they are always stopped by Odin's son, the mighty Thor, albeit with the loss of many brave Asgardian warriors.

Loki, god of mischief, has kidnapped Dr. Bruce Banner and brought him to Asgard with the help of Amora, once Thor's lover, now the supervillain known as the Enchantress. Loki makes Banner angry and he changes into the Hulk. The Enchantress then casts a spell over the Hulk which separates Banner from his monstrous alter-ego and grants Loki control over the Hulk's body.

Hulk/Loki arrives at the gates of Asgard and attacks the Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg) and other Asgardians. Thor comes to the gates and is attacked by Hulk/Loki. Thor is familiar with Bruce Banner, but does not know that Loki is controlling the Hulk. Thor tries to communicate with Banner, which results in Loki actually talking through the Hulk.

After a prolonged battle, Hulk/Loki attempts to pick up Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, which is enchanted with a spell that renders it usable only to those it deems worthy. Amora warns Loki that he can not wield Mjolnir, and has to stop before he is no longer in control of the Hulk. Loki, of course, does not listen and continues to attempt to lift the hammer via the Hulk's unimaginable strength. Mjolnir flies to Thor, who uses his powers to separate Loki from the Hulk. It works, but this proves to be a huge mistake. Without Banner's personality or Loki's control, the Hulk is an unstoppable living incarnation of pure rage, and he beats Thor nearly to death.

Hela, the daughter of Loki and ruler of Hell, the underworld, attempts to claim Thor's soul but is stopped by the Enchantress. Amora refers to Thor as "my love" and kisses him, which revives the thunder god. At first Thor appears to intend to go back after the Hulk, but realizes another fight would only have the same result. To stop the Hulk they must reunite him with Bruce Banner. Amora betrays Loki and gives Thor the location of where he is hiding.

Thor arrives at Loki's hideout with the aid of the Enchantress and they discover that Loki has killed Banner, growing tired of Banner's warnings about the Hulk. Because Banner died in Asgard, Hela claimed his soul, therefore, Amora has no way to send the Hulk back to Earth. Thor tells Amora that she must go to Sif, the woman Thor now loves, to aid and defend Odin. She reluctantly agrees and Loki summons all of his evil forces to battle the Hulk. However, not even good and evil forces combined could halt the Hulk's advance, as he was beckoned by the light coming from Odin's chamber.

Thor and Loki arrives in Hell where they meet Hela who at first refuses to bring Bruce Banner back. Saying that once he is dead his spirit is hers. Though Thor and Loki convince her to bring him back, since Bruce's spirit was split from the Hulk she has an "incomplete soul". Since his death, Banner is enjoying an afterlife in which he is living a normal life, free from the Hulk, he is the husband to his true love, Betty Ross, and father to a boy named Bruce Jr. Soon though, this vision ends when Hela brings him to her throne where Thor and Loki awaits. Thor says that Asgard needs his help but Banner does not want to help and wishes to remain dead, in his happy vision. Loki slyly manages to convince Hela to bring the Hulk to Hell, so that she could have the complete being. She complies and teleports the Hulk to Hell, just as he reached Odin's slumbering form.

Hulk attacks upon seeing Banner but Thor interferes. After another battle with Thor, who loses the fight even with Loki's help, Banner gets Hulk's attention, dropping Thor and Loki to charge him. When he comes in contact with Banner, they rejoin and is teleported back to Earth by Hela, who considers him too dangerous to be kept, even in Hell. However, due to the damage the Hulk had caused to her kingdom and given that she has relinquished a soul, she demands one in exchange. Hela takes Loki's for this, but promises his stay won't be permanent, given that she is his daughter. Odin finally awakens and Sif and Thor kiss each other as Amora quietly leaves, deeply saddened. Odin holds a celebration that day for all of the Asgardians who triumphed over evil and also gives his thanks to Bruce Banner who is back on Earth. The final scene is of Banner walking alone down a barren highway.

Cast[link]

• Fred Tatasciore as Hulk
• Bryce Johnson as Bruce Banner
• Steven Blum as Logan / Wolverine
• Matthew Wolf as Thor
• Nolan North as Wade Wilson / Deadpool
• Mark Acheson as Victor Creed / Sabretooth
• Janyse Jaud as Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike, Hela
• Colin Murdock as Arkady Rossovich / Omega Red
• Tom Kane as Professor Thornton
• Graham McTavish as Loki
• Grey DeLisle as Sif
• Kari Wahlgren as Amora / Enchantress
• Jay Brazeau as Volstagg
• Jonathan Holmes as Fandral
• Paul Dobson as Hogun
• Michael Adamthwaite as Balder
• French Tickner as Odin
• Nicole Oliver as Betty Ross
• Qayam Devji as Bruce Jr.

Additional voices by Brian Drummond and Scott McNeil.

Production[link]

Hulk vs. Wolverine[link]

Hulk vs. Wolverine is a 37 minute short.^[4] Frank Paur was the producer/director and Jeff Matsuda was the art director, Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost wrote the story. Writer/producer Craig Kyle has stated that the film is a prequel to the Wolverine and the X-Men animated TV series, with the characters having a less violent rematch in episode 7 of the series (though there's a continuity error, as Banner does not recognize Logan).^[5]

Hulk vs. Thor[link]

Frank Paur was the producer and Sam Liu was the director. This 45 minute long short film has a Ragnarok theme,^[4] in which the Incredible Hulk battles "every known entity in the Thor franchise" (collectively known as the Gods of Asgard) when Loki teleports him there while Odin is in his Odinsleep.^[6]

Reception[link]

Hulk vs. Wolverine[link]

Reception for Hulk vs. Wolverine has generally been favorable. Cindy White of IGN said "The benefits of a direct-to-DVD project like this is that the creators didn't have to shy away from the kind of gore that would be unacceptable for a Saturday-morning audience" commenting on how Wolverine uses his claws on a living entity and not just on robots as in other animated features.^[7] El Bicho of Blog Critics stated: "“Hulk vs. Wolverine” is a very good cartoon with a lot of action. Sobrino used “awesome” and “cool” to describe it and noted “every kid loves violence.” It also portrays Wolverine’s origin story well. The only downside is that everyone involved with Weapon X seems to have magical healing powers that allow them to put themselves back together when limbs are lost. When a slice of Deadpool’s arm slides by like a piece of meat, Sobrino said it 'should have been rated R.'"^[8]

Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk described it as fast paced, but criticized the Weapon X backstory as "a bit out of place" and said it "also takes away from the Hulk versus Wolverine storyline."^[9]

Kerry Birmingham of DVD Verdict stated "The most immediately successful of the two is Wolverine, enlivened by a punchier script than its Norse cousin. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, screenwriters for both episodes, are veteran comic book writers and well-versed in the world of the X-Men, and as such seem to have injected Wolverine with a bit more energy."^[10]

Hulk vs. Thor[link]

Reception for Hulk vs. Thor has been mixed. Some people liked the slightly more complicated story and the lush animation, but felt the battle between Thor and Hulk to be too one-sided making Thor come across too weak or the story boring due to the Hulk being too unstoppable with it being essentially half an hour of the Hulk tearing through Asgard. Other criticism focused on there being too many characters thrown in with no back story or explanation on who they were. Cindy White of IGN stated "Rather than the wild, forest landscapes of Canada, this one deals with the stately architecture of Asgard, and there are a lot more characters. Being less familiar with Thor as a series, some of the shout-outs to the comics were lost on me, for the most part, but I'm sure Thor fans will appreciate them.^[7] El Bicho of Blog Critics stated: "“Hulk vs. Thor” is enjoyable, but it’s noticeably different in pace and tone from “vs. Wolverine. They did spend more time with the character of Banner.^[11]

Todd Douglass Jr. of Dvd Talk found Thor overall a bit more favorable: "In Hulk vs. Thor the plot is a little more calculated and it feels balanced by comparison." and actually like the battles "One of the joys of Hulk vs. Thor was watching the monster tear his way across Odin's world. Nothing can stand in his way and there are many outstanding moments and fight scenes peppered throughout the film."^[9]

Kerry Birmingham of DVD verdict stated "Kyle and Yost have less of an affinity for Thor, and it shows; their Thor script, despite its violence, lacks the glee of the Wolverine installment. In approaching Thor's Hulk as a raging counterpart to Wolverine's more reactive, child-like Hulk, the creators commendably draw a distinction between their interpretations of the character, but the Asgard throw down is simply less fun than its more gonzo counterpart."^[10]

See also[link]

• Wolverine and the X-Men
• Marvel Animation
• Thor
• Wolverine
• Hulk
• X-Men

References[link]

External links[link]

• Hulk Vs at AllRovi
• Hulk Vs at the Internet Movie Database
• Incredible Hulk News HulkRage.com Fansite, Toys, Statues, Comics, DVD's