Hulk’s 5 Greatest Team-Ups

Relive some of Bruce Banner’s past partnerships!

Super heroes can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, but every now and then even they need a helping hand.

The same goes for the Hulk, even if the jade giant would never admit it. Granted, nearly every interaction the green behemoth has with other Marvel heroes begins with an earth shaking skirmish. Heck, a lot of those interactions don't even go past the introductory face punches; Bruce Banner's made enemies out of quite a few heroes over the years.

Below, we've assembled a list of five incredible Hulk team-ups – and only a few of them involve bruised egos/bodies.

Just a few months after tearing his way onto the scene, the Hulk found himself assembled along the rest of Marvel's heavy-hitters in a battle against Loki, a manipulative Norse god. Yeah, Iron Man spent a good portion of this issue trying to convince the Hulk of his good intentions, and yes, the Green Goliath would hit the road one issue later in a huff, but for a few pages at the end of this milestone event, the Hulk could call four other heroes his allies.

The Hulk stuck it out a bit longer with his next super team, the Defenders. Banner found an unlikely home alongside Doctor Strange, Namor, and the Silver Surfer as that core quartet fought together to protect the world from strange threats. On their first mission, the team went up against Necrodamus, a sorcerer that sought to ascend to godhood through the use his black magic powers.

Following a missile strike from an attacking jet, the Hulk and Bruce Banner found themselves temporarily separated. The split also came at the behest of the Uni-Power, a cosmic force that bestows the powers and title of Captain Universe upon those it deems necessary, as it merged with the freed Banner persona. The rampaging Hulk wasn't exactly amicable toward Bruce in his Captain Universe form, but the two still managed to stop a nuclear missile from detonating.

As part of an elaborate Skrull plot, an alien posing as the Invisible Woman recruited the Hulk, then in his slightly more reasonable gray form, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man, and Wolverine to avenge the deaths of the allegedly deceased Fantastic Four. The group went on a mission that put them up against the Mole Man and his subterranean monsters and, eventually, against the manipulative impostor in their midst.

Recently, Banner teamed up with his newly hulked-out ex-wife Betty Ross for an espionage-tinged mission against the immortal villain Tyrannus. After years separated by a galaxy, death, and misunderstandings, these two reconciled by including something not included in any other Hulk team-up on this list: some passionate lip locking.