The Hulk and the Juggernaut are two of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe – but which one of them is the strongest?

SUMMARY

 The Juggernaut and the Incredible Hulk have a long history of epic battles across Marvel Comics; however, neither powerhouse consistently emerges as the clear victor.
 Despite the Hulk’s seemingly unlimited strength, the Juggernaut’s source of power makes their matches much closer than some readers would expect.
 The Juggernaut’s mystical powers make him virtually unstoppable, and even the Hulk’s immense strength isn’t always enough to hold him back.

Even though he’s not technically a mutant, Juggernaut was recently called upon to defend the mutant paradise Krakoa from the wrath of the Immortal Hulk. Juggernaut #2 (by Fabian Nicieza and Ron Garney) featured the green Goliath and the unstoppable step-brother of Charles Xavier at each other’s throats once again. Although that issue didn’t include a fight with a clear victor, it’s not the first time these two titans have come to blows.

On the outside, the Hulk seems like a sure bet to effortlessly beat the Juggernaut since his strength increases with his anger. If the Jade Giant can wipe the floor with the Avengers, it stands to reason that he can surely beat a villain who has been bested several times by the X-Men. However, the Juggernaut and the Hulk are a much closer match than they might seem at first glance, and their history of battles proves it.

Updated on May 24th, 2024 by David Harth: Marvel has intrigued readers with many match-ups over the years, but none are so intriguing as the one between the Hulk and the Juggernaut. The Hulk is the strongest one there is; his gamma-irradiated physique gives him infinite strength potential, invulnerability, and a healing factor that is on par with Wolverine. Juggernaut is empowered by the dark god Cyttorak, given titanic strength, invulnerability, and the power not to be stopped once he starts moving. The two have had many battles, but it’s hard to pick a clear-cut winner between them.

Juggernaut’s Power May Not Be All It Seems To Be, But There Is Hope

The Juggernaut’s power comes from Cyttorak, an ancient dark god. Cyttorak has been worshiped by the humans of the ancient Earth as both a god and a demon. Cyttorak has gone by several names over the years – the Lord of the Oblivion, the Master of the Raging Storm, and Cyttorak the Destroyer – and hails from the Crimson Dimension. Doctor Strange fans will remember the name of Cyttorak from the spell the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, which Strange uses to ensnare his enemies. Cyttorak participated in the Wager of the Octessence with Watoom, Valtorr, Balthakk, Farallah, Ikonn, Krakkan, and Raggadorr a thousand years ago.

Each of them created an artifact that would create avatars from the first human who touched them, and Cyttorak made the Crimson Gem, placing it in a temple in Korea and leaving the demon Xorak behind to guard it. These avatars, called Exemplars, would then battle each other to the death, with only one remaining to rule the Earth. However, this never came to pass. A group of monks could summon Cyttorak to Earth, but they only snagged his destructive aspect. Two rival magicians, Gomurr and Tar, were able to seal this aspect into the Crimson Gem, which would play a role in its – and Juggernaut’s – futures.

Cyttorak’s avatar is meant to be as destructive as possible. The first Juggernaut was an unknown Korean man who destroyed his village, but little else is known about him. This event caused everyone to stay away from the temple that Cyttorak had set up. As they began to worship elsewhere, Cyttorak took one of the residents, Jin Taiko, and made him the Juggernaut, commanding him to destroy everyone nearby. Taiko refused and left to find someone who would do it. The next known Juggernaut is Cain Marko, who found the temple of Cyttorak while serving in Korea. Cain fought Jin Taiko, killing him and becoming the Juggernaut. Marko’s time as Juggernaut was typified by the destruction he caused, which is almost certainly because of the destructive aspects of Cyttorak in the Crimson Gem.

Cyttorak Wants Juggernaut to Destroy, Not Protect

It seems like every time that Juggernaut becomes a hero, his power lessens because the aspect of Cyttorak inside the Gem is destructive. Cyttorak wants Juggernaut to destroy things – it’s the entire reason behind the existence of the Crimson Gem. Gomurr and Tar’s magic seems to have kept all the other Exemplars from coming to be, which means that the true reason for the existence of the Juggernaut can never come to be. Cyttorak wants his avatar to cause endless destruction, so his power lessens whenever Marko becomes a hero.

This is the main reason Cain hunted down the Cyttorak-created armors and artifacts in his 2020 series – to find a way to access the power of Cyttorak without being evil. Marko is about to join Cyclops’s newest iteration of the X-Men, so there’s a good chance that – combined with his recent time on Krakoa – has lessened his power. However, this doesn’t mean there’s no hope for Juggernaut’s power level. Colossus became the host of Cyttorak for a while after Juggernaut had become a servant of the Serpent in Fear Itself. Cyttorak was happy about the destruction Juggernaut was causing, but Juggernaut no longer served him.

Colossus was able to get the Crimson Gem and become the new host of the power of Cyttorak. When Colossus became host to a part of the Phoenix, he asked Cyttorak to let him go, but the dark god said no. Colossus was constantly getting into destructive battles, something that Cyttorak wanted. Juggernaut had spent so much time hiding out that he never destroyed as much as Cyttorak needed. As a hero, Juggernaut always controls himself in battle, causing him to access less of Cyttorak’s power.

What’s interesting about the upcoming From The Ashes era of the X-Men is that humans hate mutants more than ever, so Juggernaut will fight more than ever. Cyttorak wants Juggernaut to cause as much destruction as possible, and he’s been known to hold himself back. However, if he can embrace his destructive side while helping Cyclops and the X-Men protect mutantkind, he may be able to access power like never before. This could possibly make him more than a match for the Hulk.

Juggernaut Got Trashed By Nimrod At The Most Recent Hellfire Gala

This year’s Hellfire Gala was a very memorable experience but in the worst possible way for the Krakoans. The Orchis Initiative, the anti-mutant group that has been the main enemy of the mutant nation since it was founded, finally attacked just as this year’s new X-Men team was being announced. Juggernaut was one of the newly announced members of this team. Because of his human status, Charles Xavier had originally turned down Juggernaut’s request for Krakoan citizenship. With time, Juggernaut was eventually allowed to live on the island, joining Nightcrawler and Legion’s Legionaries and working with Forget-Me-Not. Joining the Krakoan X-Men wouldn’t be the first time Juggernaut had been an X-Man, but he would’ve been the first human to join the team in the Krakoa Era.

Alas, it wasn’t to be. The new X-Men team was slaughtered when Nimrod dropped from orbit on top of them. Juggernaut survived this attack and immediately went after the Sentinel. However, Nimrod took Juggernaut to the woodshed, beating him in a near-flawless fashion. This was quite a shocking moment for longtime X-Men fans. On the one hand, Nimrod is the most powerful Sentinel ever created. Nimrod units have gone toe-to-toe with the most powerful X-Men and lived to tell the tale, but Nimrods also have an advantage in that they have mutant inhibitor fields, which allow them to nerf mutant power. So, a Nimrod unit smacking around someone like Colossus makes sense. Colossus is a physical powerhouse, but Nimrod can mess with his powers. The same can’t be said for Juggernaut.

The Magic Powering Juggernaut May Have Faded Over Time

Juggernaut’s power is mystical in nature, and while the Orchis Initiative has been experimenting with mystical weapons and agents, magic and robotics don’t usually mix. At no point has it been established that Nimrod can inhibit mystical power, especially that given by a god like Cyttorak. So, the only explanation is that somehow, Orchis made the newest Nimrod with a level of power heretofore unseen in Marvel mechanical constructs. According to the most common strength ranking system used in Marvel side content, Juggernaut has always been a Level 100, meaning he can lift over a hundred tons. Juggernaut has also defeated the Hulk on more than one occasion, so putting his strength level at well over a hundred tons wouldn’t be a stretch. Somehow, Nimrod was more powerful than that and could knock out Juggernaut in a few hits.

The only other explanation is that Juggernaut’s power has gotten far weaker than before, which also doesn’t make much sense. The last Juggernaut miniseries, by Fabian Nicieza, Ron Garney, Matt Milla, and Joe Sabino, seemingly had Juggernaut gain more power than ever. The series even included an issue where Juggernaut battled the Immortal Hulk, one of the Hulk’s most powerful forms. Juggernaut should be at the height of his powers, but his battle against Nimrod doesn’t line up with that expectation.

It’s made all the worse by the fact that X-Men (Vol. 6) #27, by Gerry Duggan, Phil Noto, and Clayton Cowles, has Juggernaut beaten again by Nimrod, although this time off-panel. Adding insult to injury, Orchis plans to steal Juggernaut’s power after executing him. Of course, the easiest explanation is that Gerry Duggan, who also wrote the Hellfire Gala comic, just needed a way to take a powerful character like Juggernaut off the table and didn’t care about what power scalers think. However, this does set a precedent for creators to make Juggernaut much weaker than he was before in future comics.

The Hulk Is At An Apex Right Now, While Juggernaut’s Power Is In Decline

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The Hulk has always been ridiculously powerful, but the last few years have brought him to a scary new apex of might never before seen in Marvel Comics. The Immortal Hulk introduced readers to an incredibly powerful incarnation of the Jade Giant that could survive even dismemberment. The Immortal Hulk even revealed the Hulk’s final form, a titanic spacefaring monster that many called the “Entropy Hulk,” a creature so powerful it could destroy worlds with a single punch.

Hulk (Vol. 5) introduced readers to Starship Hulk, a new and powerful form of Hulk who traveled the Multiverse and defeated Thor, who had been upgraded with gamma power. The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 4) is all about the Hulk battling a Lovecraftian monster awakened by the Eldest, a monster with ties to the One Below All, The Immortal Hulk‘s central antagonist. These series prove that The Hulk has been at an apex of power for a while now.

The Juggernaut miniseries from 2020 seemingly made Juggernaut more powerful than ever. During the run, Juggernaut took the power of Cyttorak to new heights by forging the most powerful Juggernaut armor with Cyttorak-powered artifacts. This should’ve established Juggernaut as one of Marvel’s ultimate powerhouses, but this sadly wasn’t the case. While Nimrod is certainly powerful, the way Cain Marko has been portrayed recently paints him as a much less powerful Juggernaut, one that Marvel’s current Hulk would have no problem defeating in a rematch.

The Hulk is One of Marvel’s Strongest Characters

When a cosmic entity possessed the Juggernaut, Cain Marko became a gigantic, reality-smashing threat that only the X-Men knew how to handle.

When looking at the Hulk’s power, it’s apparent that his strength is nearly unlimited. Bruce Banner becomes more powerful as his anger increases, making him potentially unstoppable. This became abundantly clear during World War Hulk, wherein the powerful monster unleashed his righteous rage upon the Marvel Universe. The raging Jade Giant demolished almost anything or anyone who dared to stand in his way, carving a path of destruction in his wake.

In some ways, the Hulk is more of a threat than the Juggernaut due to his resistance to physical and psychic attacks. The X-Men villain is frequently defeated by psychic attacks. By contrast, the Hulk stood against Professor X’s mental abilities during World War Hulk. This is most likely because Hulk’s brain has so many separate alters that no one persona can dominate them all. This makes the Hulk nearly impossible to control. However, while the Hulk has nearly unlimited power, he still doesn’t have truly unstoppable cosmic power.

The Juggernaut is Virtually Unstoppable

The Juggernaut’s sheer strength is hard to measure. Much like the Hulk, it’s almost impossible to calculate since nothing seems too heavy for him to lift, and his punches can cause earthquakes and tectonic plate shifts. However, as previously mentioned, the Juggernaut is vulnerable to psychic attacks, particularly when stripped of his protective helmet.

One of the elements that makes the Juggernaut truly dangerous is that he isn’t a mutant. Cain Marko is a human chosen to be the avatar of Cyttorak, and he determines how strong his avatar can be. Cyttorak can grant his avatar all the power at his disposal, increasing Juggernaut’s already impressive strength and power to near-cosmic levels. At full power, Juggernaut nearly killed Thor in 1999’s Thor #17 (by Dan Jurgens, John Romita, Jr., Klaus Janson, Gregory Wright, Matt Hicks, and Wes Abbott).

The Juggernaut is physically indestructible and massively powerful, but his greatest power is his unstoppability. Once Cain Marko starts moving, nothing can stop him. Heroes like Spider-Man have only managed to slow down the Juggernaut, and once the villain charges, even the incredible Hulk’s immense strength can’t hold him back.

When enhanced by the mystical field granted to avatars of Cyttorak, Juggernaut is virtually impervious to harm. While that field can be removed by Cyttorak, no damage can befall the Juggernaut when he is bestowed with the full power of Cyttorak’s avatar. This makes the Hulk’s strength a non-factor in a battle against Juggernaut.

Juggernaut Faced the Jade Giant in World War Hulk

During World War Hulk, the Emerald Avenger launched an attack against Professor X. While many powerful X-Men crumbled under the Hulk’s might, the Juggernaut endured it all, never falling to the Green Goliath during the event. However, Cain Marko’s strength wasn’t enough to match his opponent, so he fully gave himself to Cyttorak, becoming his pure avatar.

Once that happened, the fight became more balanced. The World-Breaker Hulk and Juggernaut traded earth-shattering blows in an epic display of raw power. However, the Hulk could still win by employing a clever strategy. World-Breaker Hulk let the Juggernaut build momentum, only to move out of his path and avoid contact. However, this victory offered no clear conclusion as to which combatant was the most powerful.

Juggernaut Nearly Killed the Hulk

In Incredible Hulk #402 (by Peter David, Jan Duursema, Mark Farmer, Steve Buccellato, and Joe Rosen), the Juggernaut almost beat the Hulk to death. The issue featured the two powerhouses trading blows again and again. In a shocking turn of events, the Juggernaut eventually beat the Hulk into unconsciousness with his bare fists.

If not for the intervention of the Red Skull, it stands to reason that Juggernaut could have succeeded in killing his opponent. The Hulk is transformed into a raging weapon, working with Juggernaut to take down the Avengers. However, the Jade Giant eventually regained control and quickly defeated Juggernaut. However, Cain Marko wasn’t so much beaten as taken by surprise with a sucker punch.

The two brawlers have fought beyond these encounters, but these fights establish a few hard facts: the Hulk can be overpowered by the Juggernaut; the Hulk cannot consistently stop the Juggernaut; and most importantly, the Hulk’s strength, even at maximum, cannot harm the Juggernaut at his maximum power. Given all of these factors, it would seem that nothing can truly stop the Juggernaut, not even the incredible Hulk.