Godzilla vs. Hulk (2025)
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Godzilla vs. Hulk is the second issue from Marvel Comics' Godzilla vs. Marvel collaboration. It was published on April 16, 2025.[1]
Description
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GENERAL ROSS has no tolerance for monsters in any form. With his anti-kaiju taskforce THE THUNDERBOLTS he’s taken down or imprisoned the biggest and baddest monsters on the planet: Fin Fang Foom, Mothra, Kumonga, even the Hulk. Now all that’s left is his biggest hunt of all...GODZILLA. But the Thunderbolts’ efforts to bring their last monster to heel may just result in the most destructive battle royale to ever rock the earth. It’s time to figure out who’s really the strongest there is![1]
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Plot
U.S. General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross ends a press conference at Thunderbolt Ranch, whose staff are working to capture Godzilla. Jackson Giles of the Daily Bugle Texas follows Ross into a helicopter, asking him if the Hulk is being confined at the ranch; Ross assures him that the Hulk is dead. Bruce Banner, however, is indeed roaming the halls of Thunderbolt Ranch. He observes Dr. Demonicus's Kaiju Incinerator, which the doctor assures him will be capable of containing Godzilla.
Giles notes that while the Thunderbolts have killed countless monsters, Godzilla continues to allude them. Ross invites him to witness their plan in action: Kumonga, controlled by Demonicus, is assaulting a webbed-up Mothra, a known comrade of Godzilla's. Banner finds the scheme cruel; Demonicus scoffs at his "weakness." He ironically adds that his body has been destroyed by their war against the kaiju, and Banner is lucky not to know what it's like to be a monster. As Demonicus predicted, Godzilla makes landfall in San Antonio, quickly downing an A-10 Thunderbolt piloted by Samuel Sterns. Ross parachutes from the helicopter into a hanger, where he hastily enters a cockpit. Banner does the same. They both launch Mechagodzilla units towards the King of the Monsters, which Demonicus notes were designed by Tony Stark before Godzilla killed him. Godzilla quickly torches Banner's Mechagodzilla with atomic breath, damaging its head, while Ross fires two missiles from his Mechagodzilla's mouth to down Godzilla. Demonicus orders Kumonga to join the fight. Before its webs can restrain Godzilla, however, he tips Ross's Mechagodzilla into the spider, then tears off the arm of Banner's Mechagodzilla and beats him with it.
As Godzilla trains his atomic breath on Ross's Mechagodzilla and Kumonga, the general implores Demonicus to deploy the fail-safe he's alluded to. Removing his mask to reveal his warped face, Demonicus announces his intent to destroy both his kaiju enemies and the Thunderbolts. He reveals that he's been using the Kaiju Incinerator to both break down kaiju bodies and create a new life form to dominate the planet: Hedorah. The Smog Monster quickly knocks Godzilla into Mechagodzilla. Fearing the warring kaiju will crush him, Banner transforms into his long-suppressed alter ego, the Hulk. Demonicus is surprised, wondering who the Thunderbolts buried in the Hulk's grave. As Hedorah melts Ross's Mechagodzilla, Hulk saves the blustering general, gloating that he now owes him his life. He adds that the man they buried was Rick Jones, a death arranged by Banner. Meanwhile, Hedorah targets Godzilla's eyes, again felling him and beginning to burn towards his brain. The Hulk throws a punch at the Smog Monster, only for its skin to set his arm ablaze. As Demonicus taunts him, calling him a monster, the Hulk resolves to help Godzilla, driving a power cable into his chest to revive him and spilling his own blood into the wound. Hedorah smacks the Hulk away from Godzilla, only to find itself confronting a towering, gamma-irradiated Godzilla. Godzilla punches Hedorah backwards, then annihilates it with a green blast of atomic breath. The monster's remains spill into Thunderbolt Ranch, killing Demonicus.
The Hulk, sympathizing with Kumonga, removes its control device, while Godzilla frees Mothra from its webbing. Both Mothra and Kumonga depart peacefully. The Hulk and Godzilla stare each other down, but the Hulk declares he doesn't want to prove he's stronger today; both collapse as their gamma rages fade. Godzilla begins to leave as Banner returns to normal. Ross holds Banner at gunpoint, asking why he shouldn't kill him for framing Jones as the Hulk. Banner indicates Godzilla, now roaring angrily at Ross, and remarks that monsters stick together. He asks him to give up his vendetta against the kaiju. Unbeknownst to either monster, a small piece of Hedorah lingers on Ross's hand.
Appearances
Monsters
Characters
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Weapons, vehicles, and races
Locations
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Gallery
Covers
Main cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli
Unused main cover with different logos
Versus variant cover by Lee Garbett
Monster Homage variant cover by Nick Bradshaw and Neeraj Menon
Classic variant cover by Scott Koblish and Rachelle Rosenberg
Variant cover by Stonehouse
Variant cover by Paco Diaz and Israel Silva
Foil variant cover by Ed McGuinness, Cliff Rathburn, and Laura Martin
Godzilla King of the Monsters Homage variant cover by Leonardo Romero
1:25 Incentive cover by Andrei Bressan and Ceci de la Cruz
Scans
Previews
Trivia
- This issue was released on the same day as IDW Publishing's Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #2.
- This is the first proper meeting of Godzilla and the Hulk in a story, the two having only appeared together in a piece of art from Godzilla #1 and a variant cover for Incredible Hulk (vol. 4) #17.
- Despite this issue's title, the comic does not actually feature Godzilla and Hulk fighting each other, but rather teaming up to defeat Hedorah.
- The Classic and Godzilla King of the Monsters Homage variant covers feature the original Marvel Godzilla incarnation's design. The latter specifically recreates the cover of Godzilla #10, with the Hulk replacing Yetrigar.
- While Dr. Demonicus has enjoyed a prolific history in various Marvel titles over the years since his debut in Godzilla #4, this issue marks his first appearance alongside Godzilla since 1985's Iron Man #196, in which Dr. Demonicus had control over a heavily-mutated Godzilla. An image of Dr. Demonicus with the mutant Godzilla also appeared in a computer-simulated flashback in West Coast Avengers Annual #6 in 1991.
- General Ross states that the Hulk is "deader than Elvis" and "[t]he 1980s are just around the corner." These statements would place the story in 1977, 1978, or 1979, the same years Marvel published its original Godzilla comic.
- The Monster Homage Variant Cover by Nick Bradshaw is based on the cover of Astonishing Tales #24, depicting Godzilla and Jet Jaguar in place of Fin Fang Foom and It! The Living Colossus, respectively. Jet Jaguar does not appear in the comic itself, however.
External links
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla vs. Hulk. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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