‘What If…?’ Season 2: Purple Hulk vs. Green Hulk: Who Won?

‘What If…?’ Season 2 Episode 8 saw Avengers (partially) assembling in 1602. It was an episode full of wonder as we saw the medieval versions of some of our favorite MCU characters. But, along with Royal Yellowjackets and Rogers Hood, we’ve also seen Purple Hulk and Green Hulk at each other’s throats. We know that just about any variant of the Hulk has the potential for reaching incredible strengths, so today, we decided to analyze both versions of the Hulk to see how they fared against each other in combat.

Purple Hulk appeared in two episodes of ‘What If…?’ Season 2

Purple Hulk was first introduced during Episode 3 ‘What If…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas.’ Happy was transformed into a “Freak” when he accidentally injected a serum made out of Hulk’s blood into his leg. At first, his leg transformed and took on a monstrous purplish hue, and the rest of his body followed the more damage he sustained.

Purple Hulk demonstrated the physical abilities of Hulk, increased strength, durability, speed, lack of self-control, and absolute savagery. Ultimately, Purple Hulk was strong enough to defeat Justin Hammer in Hulkbuster armor, but we never got to see him going toe-to-toe with the real deal since Banner refused to take part in that fight.

As far as Happy Hogan in 1602 goes, we don’t know exactly how he became Hulk in that timeline, but we do know that he almost transformed several times prior to his big showdown.

During the battle in the inn against Rogers Hood and his band of outlaws, Hogan was several times on the brink of transformation but he managed to collect himself. The last straw was during the final battle when Steve Rogers accidentally cut the feather on his fancy hat. This sent Hogan into a murderous rage, and the Purple Hulk was out.

Rogers was not strong enough to deal with Happy in this freakish form, and that’s why Green Hulk, aka regular Hulk, took his place. The fight ensued.

Both Hulks were recently matched

The Hulk attacked Purple Hulk first, and the two crashed as the absolutely most destructive forces in the room. They were pretty even when it came to strength, durability, and skills. With every punch that the Green Hulk threw his way, Purple Hulk managed to not only recover but also successfully counter him. Unsurprisingly, there was no resolution to the fight, and both Hulk lost and won at the same time. The fight was drawn because it was interrupted by Scarlet Witch, Peggy, and Stark, who activated the device that was supposed to locate the Forerunner and cast him back to his proper place in time.

But if the fight continued, who would win? That’s difficult to answer since ‘What…If?’ versions of characters tend to be different than the mainline versions. Take for example Thor from 1602, the only reason why he had electric powers was through the Sword All-Father gifted to him from Wakanda. Loki also didn’t demonstrate his usual set of powers; Captain Carter seems to be much stronger and more durable than her 616 version as well.

Going by that, we can only assume that Bruce Banner would be able to ultimately defeat Purple Hulk, since the OG Jade Giant always has the upper hand when compared to the versions that were created using his blood. Most versions of Hulk have some kind of debilitating weakness that makes them balanced, while the OG Hulk doesn’t exactly have a weakness and is quite possibly the most powerful mortal in Marvel comics. He is also among the rare versions of Hulk that are truly capable of achieving unlimited strength and durability, so the Green Hulk is probably stronger and more powerful than the Purple Hulk.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!