Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Aliens vs Avengers #1! The Hulk defeating monsters under the control of the Mother of Horrors, to even Loki himself, Hulk is no stranger to battling the fiercest foes, even if they are out of this world. However, it recently became clear that there is one otherworldly enemy that not even the Hulk can defeat: Alien’s Xenomorphs.

In Aliens vs Avengers #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić, four ships filled with Xenomorph specimens are sent to Earth (one of the many planets these ships were sent to) by two sadistic synthetics looking to expand the Xenomorphs’ reach across the cosmos. Within one year, the Xenomorphs on those earthbound ships completely conquered the planet, all except for one mega-city stronghold where the Avengers were coming up with a plan to defeat them - including the new Avengers leader, the Hulk.

During one Avengers mission, Valeria Richards infiltrates a Xenomorph hive to steal an Ovomorph in order to experiment on the Facehugger egg in the hopes of developing a Xenomorph-killing virus. However, Valeria is impregnated by a Facehugger before she makes it out of the hive with the egg, and before long, she is killed by the Chestburster before it quickly matures into a fully-grown Xenomorph. Luckily, the Hulk kills the Xenomorph before it can do any more damage behind the city’s walls, though the Hulk is injured by one of the Xenomorphs’ ‘weapons’: acid blood.

The Xenomorphs’ Acid Blood Can Injure the Hulk

The Hulk Could Never Defeat a Horde of Xenomorphs

While Xenomorphs are expert killers when hunting solo, the real deadliness factor comes from their numbers. Xenomorphs create massive hives when introduced to a new planet, and the fact that they’re so difficult to kill makes the procurement of hosts a fairly easy task. As shown in Aliens vs Avengers, Xenomorphs can conquer an entire world incredibly quickly, and it’s at that point that the aliens would be worthy of the Hulk’s attention.

If the Hulk tried to battle the Xenomorphs at their max strength (ie, after conquering a planet), he would not be able to defeat them. Hulk could smash them to bits easily enough, and if he wasn’t impacted by their acid blood then he could absolutely destroy a planet’s worth of Xenos. However, if he can be injured by a tiny spray from a single Xenomorph, then there’s no way he could withstand an ocean of acid blood that would spill upon battling the Xenomorphs at their full power.

Hulk’s Weakness to Xenomorph Blood May Explain his Aliens vs Avengers Character

In Aliens vs Avengers, Bruce Banner is an old and broken man. He’s been beaten down by the horrors of his world, mentally destroyed by watching practically everyone he’s ever cared about die horribly at the hands of the Xenomorphs. However, it’s definitely strange that the Hulk wouldn’t have rage-killed every Xeno on the planet before now, especially after the deaths of so many of his friends. But, since this issue also shows that the aliens’ acid blood hurts him, it’s possible that he tried, and - as surmised - could not defeat a planet-wide horde of Xenomorphs.

While the Hulk may be able to come back from getting torn down by Xenomorphs (specifically, their acid blood), it’s clear from this crossover event that he can’t overcome them, as Hulk’s new weakness reveals the one enemy even he can’t defeat: Alien’s Xenomorphs.

Aliens vs Avengers #1 by Marvel Comics is available now.