Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay #3! One of the more controversial (and decidedly cringey) choices made by the MCU was the decision to have Black Widow. While this was a serious plot-point when it was introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Black Widow’s ‘Hulk lullaby’ has since been mocked in a number of Marvel movies (including Thor: Ragnarok and Deadpool 2). And now, Hulk just got an all-new ‘lullaby’, and while it’s still pretty silly, one cannot argue its effectiveness.

In Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay #3 by Thomas Krajewski and Jason Muhr, New York City has been thrown into a state of post-apocalyptic chaos thanks to the spread of an all-new type of ‘zombie virus’. Bruce Banner and Groot are the only Marvel heroes who haven’t been infected, though Groot seems to be ‘patient zero’. Groot contracted an alien illness after a previous Guardians of the Galaxy mission, and Bruce thinks that’s the cause of the outbreak. So, the two travel to Avengers Tower, where Bruce is confident he can create a cure using Groot’s DNA.

Banner had to become Hulk to get to Avengers Tower safely, as the zombified Avengers. Then, once Groot got Hulk to Avengers Tower, he had to find a way to calm him down to bring Banner back - and Groot found just the way: a funny, talking plushie of Rocket Raccoon.

Rocket Raccoon Just Matched Black Widow’s Ability to Calm Hulk Down

Rocket Raccoon Uses Comedy Instead of a Lullaby

While it was in the form of a stuffed toy in this issue, Rocket Raccoon proved capable of reverting Hulk to Banner instantaneously, and he can do so with comedy. Hulk finds Rocket so funny that he immediately calms down while laughing, turning back into Banner as a result. In fact, Rocket actually did this to Hulk himself back in the first issue of Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay, cementing the fact that he’s just as capable of calming Hulk down as Black Widow.

This new way of forcing the Hulk to ‘power-down’ may be silly, but at least it’s better than doing it with a lullaby, which is decidedly lame and more than worthy of ridicule. Sure, it might have been more to do with the fact that Black Widow was delivering the lullaby as opposed to the lullaby itself (given their weird MCU romance), but it’s still cringey. Although, cringey or not, the lullaby was effective - just like Rocket Raccoon’s jokes.

This Isn’t the First (or Second) Time the Avengers Found a Way to Calm Hulk Against His Will

A+X #7 by Zeb Wells and Dale Keown

Black Widow and Rocket Raccoon have seemingly mastered the art of calming Hulk down against his will - one with a lullaby, the other with comedy. However, they aren’t the only Avengers who figured out how to do that, as fans witnessed in A+X #7. In A+X #7, Beast and Iron Man learn that if they show Hulk images of puppies, he’ll calm down right away and become Banner once more. Therefore, so far in Marvel canon, Hulk can be brought down by a lullaby, comedy, and cuteness.

The Hulk might be one of the strongest heroes in the Marvel Universe, but even he is susceptible to the natural calming effects of laughter, cuteness, and soothing words. Sure, they might all be silly, but the results speak for themselves, especially the latest method exhibited by Rocket Raccoon, who just gave Hulk a new (way less lame) version of Black Widow’s MCU lullaby.

Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay #3 by Marvel Comics is available now.