Hulk



The Hulk is the name of a fictional comic book character as well as a series of comic book titles published by Marvel Comics based on that character. The Hulk is the monstrous alter ego of a physician named Robert Bruce Banner and was introduced in the first issue of his own short-lived comic book series titled Incredible Hulk, cover-dated May, 1962. The initial series lasted only six issues, but was picked up again in 1968 when the anthology series Tales to Astonish changed its title to The Incredible Hulk with issue #102. The Hulk comic franchise has been rebooted several times and spun-out into a successful multimedia franchise. There was an animated program in the 1960s, which was part of the "Marvel Super-Heroes" umbrella of animated shorts. The popular live-action series, The Incredible Hulk ran on CBS for five seasons and starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferigno. Another cartoon series aired in the 1980s followed by a third animated project, which ran for two seasons from 1996 to 1997. There have also been two live-action feature films and several direct-to-video animated projects. The first feature film was directed by Ang Lee and starred Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. The film was rebooted in 2008 and was directed by Louis Leterrier. It starred Ed Norton as the tormented Banner. This version of the Hulk was also featured in the 2012 movie The Avengers, this time played by actor Mark Ruffalo.

The Hulk is the alter ego of Robert Bruce Banner - a scientist working for the U.S. Army, who is exposed to a lethal amount of gamma radiation, which transforms him into a giant grey-skinned behemoth that men call the Hulk. Initially, Banner only transformed into the Hulk when the sun went down, but in short order, the monster's grey skin was turned into the classic green skin that everyone is familiar with. The means by which the transformation occurred changed as well. Whenever Bruce Banner experienced feelings of anger or great anxiety, he would change uncontrollably into the Hulk. The Hulk's intelligence level has altered many times over the years. He started out in the series with average intelligence, but soon de-evolved into the classic-era "Hulk Smash" Hulk. There have also been permutations that have shown the Hulk boasting Banner's intelligence and others where he was a completely primeval savage with no human intellect at all.