During the "World War Hulk" storyline, Colossus is one of the X-Men members that tries to defend Professor X against the Hulk, who has come looking for Charles as he is one of the members of the secret Illuminati that exiled him from Earth. During their battle, the Hulk reflects on Colossus' bravery, mentioning that Colossus might have made a "decent opponent" to the Hulk's previous incarnations. Locked in a test of strength, Hulk demonstrates his superior power by bending Colossus's arms backwards at the forearms, breaking them. Beast later uses a laser in the lab to heat his arms up near their melting point, while Strong Guy bends them back into place; his arms needed to be re-set in their metal form before he transformed back to his human form to avoid serious injury to them.