Can She-Hulk Beat Hulk? She-Hulk's Powers Explained

She-Hulk made her live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in 2022, with Tatiana Maslany (of Orphan Black fame) playing the character.

Although a popular Marvel character in her own right, She-Hulk may need some introduction, especially for MCU fans who knew her only as Bruce Banner’s relative.

So who is She-Hulk? What is her origin? What are her powers? How strong is she? Can she beat Hulk? Let’s find out!

What is She-Hulk’s Origin?

She-Hulk’s real identity is Jennifer Walters. Before she gained her powers, Walters was a New York City criminal defense attorney.

During a visit by Bruce Banner, she was shot by henchmen of crime boss Nicholas Trask, who had a serious beef with Walters’ father, Sheriff William Morris Walters.

Because Walters was critically wounded and needed a blood transfusion, Banner decided to be her blood donor. During the blood transfusion process, the combination of Banner’s gamma-irradiated blood and Walters’ own anger transformed her into She-Hulk for the first time. And just in time – Trask’s men showed up at the hospital to complete the job. Unfortunately for them, the job got greener and bigger.

How is She-Hulk Related to Hulk?

Jennifer Walters and Bruce Banner are first cousins. Jennifer’s mother, Elaine Banner Walters (who died when Jennifer was just a teenager), was the sister of Banner’s dad, Brian Banner.

As cousins, Jennifer and Bruce share the same blood type, hence Bruce’s compatibility as a blood donor for Jennifer.

What are She-Hulk's Powers?

As a result of the gamma-irradiated blood transfusion. She-Hulk acquired powers similar to Hulk. These powers include superstrength, durability, speed/agility, and otherworldly stamina.

How Strong is She-Hulk?

When she transforms, she can go from a 5’10’’ and 150-lb woman into a 6’7” and 700-lb behemoth, while sporting the all-too-familiar green-skinned musculature similar to the Incredible Hulk’s.

Like her cousin, She-Hulk possesses superhuman strength that can increase the angrier she gets. She can also become significantly stronger through the absorption of radiation. By undergoing physical training in her normal human form, she can also boost her She-Hulk strength level.

Thanks to an assist from the Celestial Eson, her already formidable powers later increased, equaling or surpassing that of other powerful superheroes like the Fantastic Four’s The Thing and Captain Marvel.

How Durable is She-Hulk?

She-Hulk has near invulnerability. Her green skin can withstand impacts without sustaining cuts. She is almost fire-proof too and is impervious to freezing temperatures.

Due to her muscular and bone structure, her body can survive falls from great heights, explosions, artillery hits, and energy blasts.

For good measure, she is armed with a healing factor that allows her to recover quickly from any injury, often within minutes, and grants her immunity against diseases and poisons.

She-Hulk’s Speed, Agility and Stamina

She uses her superhuman strength to leap to heights of more than 1,500 feet and land on the ground without hurting herself.

On foot, she can run speeds reaching 40 mph. For some context, that’s easily twice the speed of Usain Bolt’s best run. Sure, she ain’t Quicksilver-fast,, but she can sustain that speed for hours without getting tired.

What are She-Hulk’s Skills and Abilities?

She-Hulk went through martial arts training under Captain America, Gamora, and Drax. Even in human form, she is a capable hand-to-hand fighter.

Even without the use of her powers, Jennifer Walters remains a competent criminal defense lawyer.

Can She-Hulk Change At Will?

Yes, She-Hulk can change at will from human form to Hulk form, and vice versa. And unlike her cousin, she can transform without experiencing excruciating pain.

While in She-Hulk form, she also retains all of her intelligence and mental faculties. However, eventually discovered that her She-Hulk personality was more uninhibited, flirtatious, and aggressive compared to her Jennifer Walters personality.

Can She-Hulk Break the Fourth Wall?

Yes, She-Hulk frequently breaks the fourth wall, and for the record, she did it way before Deadpool made it his trademark.

To be fair, she’s not the only Marvel character who can do this, but she definitely is one of its earliest practitioners.

So, Can She-Hulk Beat Hulk?

Yes, She-Hulk can beat Hulk, at least the classic Incredible Hulk version (in the comics, there are so many versions of Hulk, each as outrageously powerful as the other).

We can already hear the laughter, but hear this one out. We’re not saying She-Hulk is stronger than Hulk. We are just saying that with her combination of strength and smarts, she just might be able to pull a victory.

We all know that Hulk gets stronger the angrier he gets, but according to comics lore, he is far from unbeatable. The list of Marvel characters who have bested Hulk in a fight includes The Thing, Storm, Iron Man. Thor, and a retired Wolverine (a kill for the ages). Granted, these folks won because they outwitted the Hulk instead of simply overpowering him.

Still, She-Hulk does have some tricks up her sleeve beyond her martial arts skills, wits, and legal expertise. She actually can go into a berserker rampage. In Brian Michael Bendis’s Avengers Disassembled run, she launched into one thanks to some Scarlet Witch magic. She then destroyed an Idaho town and tore Vision in half.

But yes, that doesn’t guarantee that she’ll bully her cousin into oblivion. In fact, in the few fights they’ve had in the comics, Hulk emerged victorious almost every time.

So back to the question: Can She-Hulk beat Hulk? Maybe not always, and she may need an assist (from a writer perhaps), but she definitely can.

MCUs’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, starring Tatiana Maslany as the title character, is available on Disney+.