Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Hellverine #4! Wolverine made his first appearance as a Hulk villain), and one thing has always been consistent about their battles: Wolverine’s claws can’t kill the Hulk. Sure, they did the trick in Old Man Logan, but that was a different reality. In Marvel’s prime reality of Earth-616, Wolverine’s claws aren’t strong enough to kill the Hulk. At least, until now.

In Hellverine #4 by Benjamin Percy and Raffaele Ienco, Ghost Rider-like anti-hero, Hellverine. Mephisto (the source of Hellverine’s powers) is using Akihiro’s past traumas to breach the veil between Earth and Hell where those traumas took place.

For instance, in Genosha, Akihiro was drowned by his father, Wolverine, in a puddle. So, Mephisto used that trauma to bring a demon to Genosha, which is effectively Akihiro’s ghost from his previous death, which is haunting the residents of Genosha by murdering them in increasingly horrific ways - all of which involve water. This ‘new Wolverine’ can kill people from afar by boiling the water in their bellies after they’ve just had a glass, and he can also kill them up close with his water-claws. This ‘new Wolverine’ is so powerful, in fact, that he could even kill the Hulk.

Marvel’s New ‘Wolverine Water Demon’ is Strong Enough to Kill the Hulk

The Hulk is Susceptible to the Demon Wolverine's Water Attacks

Back during X-Men’s Krakoan Era, Forge made an exact-to-reality simulation in which he trapped the Children of the Vault, who were hellbent on killing every hero or villain on the planet and taking over the world - and they were strong enough to do it, too. Trapping these super-super-humans in a false reality was the only way to beat them, and in that reality, the Children of the Vault killed everyone and asserted global dominance. And one of their victims was the Hulk.

While fans don’t see the Hulk go down themselves, X-Men does make it clear that one of the Children of the Vault who had the power to manipulate water was the one who took down the ‘Tank’ heroes, like the Thing and Juggernaut. That implies the Hulk was brought down by the same villain, which further implies that the Hulk could also be taken down by Marvel’s new ‘Wolverine Water Demon’. How? Well, the water demon could trap the Hulk’s head in a bubble of water, force water into his lungs, and then boil him alive from the inside-out.

There’s Only 1 Way the Hulk Could Survive an Attack from Marvel’s New Wolverine

The Hulk had Immortality for a Time, but That Power Might Be Gone for Good

The only way the Hulk could ‘survive’ an attack like the one described is by allowing himself to die, only to come back to life through the Green Door. In The Immortal Hulk, it’s revealed that the Hulk simply goes to the Below-Place after dying, and can simply through the interdimensional Green Door to come back to life. However, the Green Door was permanently closed at the end of Immortal Hulk, so the One Below All would have to be directly involved in the Hulk’s resurrection from that point forward.

It’s possible the One Below All would bring Hulk back to life if the Hulk was killed by Marvel’s ‘new Wolverine’ - especially since the Hulk is currently fighting the One Below All’s ancient enemy, the Mother of Horrors, (so he might owe him one) - but that’s not a guarantee, especially after the events of The Immortal Hulk. In other words, Marvel’s new Wolverine finally has ‘claws’ that can kill the Hulk.

Hellverine #4 by Marvel Comics is available now.