The Hulk is a long-standing hero of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but few of villains in his rogue's gallery have appeared in the franchise. The Hulk first debuted in the MCU in the second movie of the franchise, 2008's The Incredible Hulk, in which Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is on the run from General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt), and must eventually battle the monstrous creature known as the Abomination (Tim Roth). Mark Ruffalo would subsequently assume the role of Banner from 2012's The Avengers onward, with the Hulk being one of the team's literal heavy hitters.
Due to film rights issues between Marvel Studios and Universal Pictures, no new Hulk solo movie has been made since The Incredible Hulk. While that has not stopped the Hulk from smashing in the MCU, it has also left the majority of his rogue's gallery on the bench. Though the Abomination has returned and the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) will appear in Captain America: Brave New World., the Hulk's rogue's gallery is one that the MCU should more fully tap into. Here are six other Hulk villains who would be perfect to battle the Hulk in the MCU.
6 Absorbing Man
One of the Hulk's most well-known villains, Carl Creel a.k.a. Absorbing Man wields the power to absorb the physical and chemical properties of any material or person he touches. This effectively enables him to transform his body into just about any form. A version of Absorbing Man would be seen in Ang Lee's 2003 movie Hulk, with Bruce's father David Banner (Nick Nolte) becoming the villain instead, and facilitating some of the movie's most visually stunning action scenes. Absorbing Man is too great a Hulk villain to be a one and done, and he can hopefully be introduced into the MCU opposite the Hulk at some point.
5 The Rhino
Aleksei Sytsevich a.k.a. the Rhino is principally known as a Spider-Man villain, but he has also had his share of battles with the Incredible Hulk. With superhuman strength, near impervious skin, and the horned suit of his namesake in the animal kingdom, the Rhino is a bulldozer of a villain. The Rhino would make his big-screen debut played by a mech-suit-wearing Paul Giamatti in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with Kraven the Hunter introducing Alessandro Nivola's Rhino as a more comics-accurate version, so a brawl with the Hulk in the MCU seems unlikely in the near future, but would certainly be fun to see.
4 Maestro
The concept of duality has always been central to the Hulk as a character, Bruce even referring to him as "the other guy" in The Avengers. Maestro is the kind of antagonist who pushes that idea even further by being an evil doppelganger of Bruce Banner from Earth-9200 who wields his rage-driven strength as a villain rather than a hero. The Hulk facing Maestro in the MCU could push the Hulk's innate duality as a central theme of their conflict in a way that has never been done in any previous cinematic appearance by the Hulk.
3 Zzzax
Even for as strong as the Hulk is, the electrical villain known as Zzzax represents a major challenge for him. Not only does Zzzax wield the electrical powers that his name implies, he can also one-up Absorbing Man with his ability to absorb the energy of a person's brain. Zzzax combines brains and brawn in a very volatile way that makes him fully capable of holding his own against the Hulk. Bringing Zzzax into the MCU opposite the Hulk would bring with him a villain who can challenge both the strength of the Hulk and the intellect of Bruce Banner, even if they were to unite as Smart Hulk.
2 Red Hulk
A more recent addition to the Hulk's rogue's gallery, Red Hulk is paradoxically one of the Hulk's longest standing enemies, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who undergoes a similar Gamma-based transformation into Red Hulk. General Ross has been a frequent antagonist in Bruce Banner's cinematic appearances, with Sam Elliot, William Hurt, and Harrison Ford respectively portraying him. While General Ross has yet to morph into the Red Hulk on-screen, that might finally change with Ford's portrayal of Ross in Captain America: New World Order. With the movie being the de facto Incredible Hulk 2, Ross becoming Red Hulk could hopefully lead to he and the Hulk finally duking it out.
1 Tyrannus
Not all the Hulk's villains derive from the present day, with the sinister Tyrannus being a sorcerer originating from the Roman Empire. Right off the bat, that presents a wide range of different scenarios he could be plugged into. While not one of the Hulk's most widely known villains in the mainstream, Tyrannus nonetheless could be a twisted kind of Doctor Strange opposite the Hulk. With the Hulk calling Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) himself an ally, that could even lead to a team-up with the two to defeat Tyrannus if he were to be the Hulk's next villain in the MCU.
