(Redirected from The Hulk)
'The Hulk' ('Bruce Banner') is a
fictional character, an
anti-hero appearing in publications from
Marvel Comics. Created by
Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby, the Hulk first appeared in ''The Incredible Hulk'' vol. 1, #1 (May 1962). He has since become one of Marvel Comics' most recognized characters.
After
physicist Dr. Robert Bruce Banner was caught in the blast of a gamma bomb he created, he was transformed into the Hulk, a raging monster. The character, both as Banner and the Hulk, is frequently pursued by the police or the armed forces, often as a result of the destruction he causes. While the coloration of the character's skin varies during the course of its publication history, the Hulk is most often depicted as green. In forty years he has battled virtually every hero and villain in the Marvel Universe.
He has been featured in a number of
animated series, a
feature film directed by
Ang Lee, and a
television series with spin-off
television movies starring
Bill Bixby as Banner and
Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk.
Publication history
Debut and first series
In the Hulk's debut appearance in ''The Incredible Hulk'' #1, by writer
Stan Lee,
penciler Jack Kirby and
inker Paul Reinman, the Hulk was gray rather than his later longtime trademark green. Writer and Marvel editor-in-chief Lee had wanted a color that did not suggest any particular ethnic group.
[1] Colorist
Stan Goldberg, however, insisted to Lee that the coloring technology at the time could not present the color gray clearly or consistently, resulting in different shades of gray, and even green, in the issue. So in issue #2 and after, Goldberg colored the Hulk's skin green.
[2] Reprints and retellings of the Hulk's origin during the next two decades feature him with green skin from the beginning, but starting with vol. 2, #302 (Dec. 1984), the Hulk was again shown as having been gray in
flashbacks to early appearances. This was confirmed in vol. 2, #318 (April 1986), which states that the Hulk was gray at the time of his creation. All subsequent reprints of the first issue have reinstated the original gray coloring.
In early stories, Banner becomes the Hulk at sunset each day, but he later transforms whenever he becomes angry or panicked. Another method was shown in ''
Fantastic Four'' #12 (March 1963), featuring the Hulk's first battle with
The Thing; Banner intentionally uses a gamma ray machine of his own design to transform into the Hulk. Many early Hulk stories involve
General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross trying to capture or destroy the Hulk with his
U.S. Army battalion, the Hulkbusters, at his side. Ross' daughter,
Betty, loves Banner and criticizes her father for pursuing the Hulk. General Ross' right-hand man,
Major Glenn Talbot, also loves Betty and is torn between pursuing the Hulk and trying to gain Betty's love more honorably. Rick Jones serves as the Hulk's friend and sidekick for a time. Later, another teenager,
Jim Wilson, also befriends the Hulk.
The original series was canceled after six issues, with the finale cover-dated (March 1963). Lee had written each story, with Kirby penciling the first five issues and
Steve Ditko penciling and inking the sixth. The character immediately guest-starred in ''Fantastic Four'' #12 (March 1963), and became a founding member of the
Avengers for a brief two issues of that superhero team's eponymous series (Sept. & Nov. 1963), and returning as an antagonist in issues #3 & #5 (Jan. & May 1964). He then guest-starred in ''
The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964).
Around this time, co-creator Jack Kirby received a letter from a college dormitory stating the Hulk had been chosen as its official mascot. Kirby and Lee realized their character had found an audience in college-age readers.
''Tales to Astonish''
thumb
The Hulk starred again in his own feature in the "split book" ''
Tales to Astonish'', beginning with issue #60 (Oct. 1964), following his appearance in the previous issue as the antagonist for
Giant-Man, star of the book's other feature. These new stories were initially scripted by Lee and illustrated by the seldom-seen team of penciler
Steve Ditko and
inker George Roussos. Other artists later in this run included
Jack Kirby from #68-84 (June 1965 - Oct. 1966), either doing full pencils or, more often, layouts for other artists;
Gil Kane (making his Marvel Comics debut, under the pseudonym "Scott Edwards", in #76;
Bill Everett (inking Kirby, #78-84); and
John Buscema (one of his earliest Marvel assignments). "Split books" were common in the 1960s, again due to the aforementioned distribution deal.
This early part of the Hulk's run introduced the
Leader, who would become the Hulk's archnemesis, and the
Abomination, a gamma being stronger than the Hulk. Additionally, in issue #77 (Mar. 1966), the Hulk's identity was rendered public knowledge.
Giant-Man's popularity in the title waned, and he departed the book after issue #69 (July 1965), replaced by
Namor the Sub-Mariner beginning with #70 (Aug. 1965). When the distribution deal with DC ceased, the Hulk took over the book, which was re-titled beginning with issue #102 (Apr. 1968). It ran under that name until March 1999, when Marvel restarted the series with a new issue #1.
Late 1980s through late 1990s
Peter David became the writer of the series in 1987 (issue 331), beginning a run that lasted nearly 12 years. David's run altered Banner's pre-Hulk characterization and the nature of Banner and the Hulk's relationship. Originally, Banner was written as a normal but shy man whose negative emotions (the normal, repressed anger that all humans have) found expression through the Hulk; David, however, turned Banner into a victim of
dissociative identity disorder (DID) who had serious mental problems long before he became the Hulk. David expanded on earlier stories by
Roger Stern and
Bill Mantlo that established that Banner had suffered
child abuse, writing that it fostered a great deal of repressed anger within the character, which in turn triggered a latent case of DID, which was first examined in issue #312. In issue #377, Doctor Leonard Samson engages the
Ringmaster's services to hypnotize Bruce Banner and force him, the Savage Hulk (Green Hulk) and Mr. Fixit (Gray Hulk) to confront Banner's past abuse at the hands of his father, Brian Banner. Upon finally facing this abuse, a new, larger and smarter Hulk emerges and completely replaces the "human" Bruce Banner and Hulk personae. This Hulk is a culmination of the three aspects of Banner. He has the vast power of the Savage Hulk, the cunning of the gray Hulk and the intelligence of Bruce Banner.
In 1998, David followed editor
Bobbie Chase's suggestion to kill Betty Ross. In the introduction to the Hulk trade paperback ''Beauty and the Behemoth'', David said that his wife had recently left him, providing inspiration for the storyline. Marvel executives used Ross' death as an opportunity to push the idea of bringing back the Savage Hulk. David disagreed, leading to his and Marvel's parting ways. His last issue of ''Hulk'' was #467, his one-hundred and thirty-seventh.
Relaunch
When David left the Hulk, Marvel hired
Joe Casey as a temporary writer. Marvel then hired
John Byrne for a second volume of the series, re-titled ''Hulk'', with
Ron Garney penciling. Byrne experienced creative differences, leading to his departure before the first year was over.
Erik Larsen and
Jerry Ordway briefly filled scripting duties in his place, and the title of the book soon returned to ''The Incredible Hulk'' with the arrival of
Paul Jenkins.
Jenkins wrote a story arc in which Banner and the three Hulks (Savage Hulk, Gray Hulk, and the Merged Hulk, now considered a separate personality and referred to as the Professor) are able to mentally interact with one another, each personality taking over their shared body. He also created
John Ryker in issue #14, a ruthless military general in charge of the original gamma bomb test responsible for the Hulk's creation and planning to create similar creatures.
Bruce Jones followed as the series' writer, and his run features Banner using
yoga to take control of the Hulk while he is pursued by a secret conspiracy and aided by the mysterious Mr. Blue. Jones focused on a horror theme with the Hulk as a fugitive. He appended his 43-issue ''Incredible Hulk'' run with the ''Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks''
limited series, which Marvel published after putting the ongoing series on hiatus.
Peter David, who had initially signed a contract for a six-issue ''Tempest Fugit''
limited series, returned as writer when it was decided to make the story, now only five parts, part of the ongoing series instead. David contracted to complete a year on the title. ''Tempest Fugit'' revealed that Nightmare has manipulated the Hulk for years, tormenting him in various ways for "inconveniences" that the Hulk had caused him. After a four-part tie-in to the ''
House of M''
crossover and a one-issue
epilogue, David left the series once more, citing the need to do non-Hulk work for his career's sake.
[3]
''Planet Hulk'' and ''World War Hulk''
thumb
In the 2006 storyline "Planet Hulk" by
Greg Pak, after the Hulk destroys much of Las Vegas, a secret group of superheroes called the
Illuminati trap the Hulk and rocketed him into space to live a peaceful existence on a planet uninhabited by intelligent life. After a trajectory malfunction, the Hulk traveled through a
wormhole and crashed on the violent planet Sakaar. Weakened by his journey, the Hulk was captured, then sold as a slave. In a gladiatorial arena, he angered Saakar's emperor by scarring the latter's face. During this time, the Hulk overcame great odds to become a gladiator, a rebel leader and eventually, Sakaar's new king.
The Hulk's kingdom was in the process of making treaties with all the factions on the planet, with lifelong enemies becoming allies to the Hulk's content. The peace does not last long. The shuttle which carried Hulk to Sakaar later malfunctions and explodes, killing millions, including his spouse and queen, Caiera, and their unborn child. The explosion fractured the planet's
tectonic plates leading to their eventual disintegration, killing almost everyone on the planet.
The Hulk and his allies, the ''Warbound'', survive and were able to escape Sakaar. After a brief stop on the Moon to take vengeance over
Black Bolt, they invade Earth, beginning from Manhattan, hunting the Illuminati. Hulk then projects a holograph of himself in New York demanding the evacution of the city and the presence of the Illuminati. Iron man engages Hulk in battle but is defeated and Stark Tower destroyed.
Personality and behavior
The Hulk is the
alter ego of Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, an expert in
nuclear physics. As a result of exposure to
gamma radiation, Banner often becomes a large, superhumanly strong green creature. Although the Hulk is usually classified as a superhero, he and Banner share a
Jekyll and Hyde-like relationship. In his most well-known incarnation, the Hulk has little intelligence or
self-control, and can cause great destruction. As a result, he has been hunted by the military and other superheroes, and as such, Banner considers the Hulk a curse. The transformation is usually triggered by emotional stress, but at times has been initiated by radiation or other factors, and even at will in later incarnations of the character.
The Hulk initially was characterized as a separate entity from Bruce Banner, a symbol of inner
rage and
Freudian repression; a distillation of his anger that gradually developed its own personality and memories separate from Banner's.
Due to
retroactive continuity established by writers
Bill Mantlo and later
Peter David in the
1980s, Banner is said to suffer from
dissociative identity disorder, which stems from the
child abuse he had suffered early in life. The Hulk has many incarnations, each representing a different aspect of Banner's psyche.
Bruce Banner
The core personality, an emotionally-suppressed
genius and
prodigy, rating amongst
Reed Richards and
Tony Stark as one of the greatest minds in the Marvel Universe. In ''Hulk: The Incredible Guide'', Bruce is revealed to possess a mind so brilliant that it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test. Banner can transform into the different versions of the Hulk, whereas his alter-egos seem to be able only to transform into Bruce Banner. These transformations are usually involuntary, as is the selection of which one emerges. He has been referred as the "
superego" aspect of his full character.
Savage Hulk
The "classic" Hulk, the Savage Hulk possesses the mentality of a temperamental and naive simpleton, and typically refers to himself in the third person. He has been referred to as the "
id" or "child" aspect of Banner's full character.
He frequently reiterates an urge "''to be left alone''" from those hounding and attacking him, but has appreciated and been very loyal to his friends. It has been proposed that if the authorities simply let the Savage Hulk escape to the wilderness and isolation he desires, that much less damage would result, as any attack simply angers him, boosting his strength, and leads to reactive retaliation.
Characterized by his extraordinarily bulky, muscular physique, his green skin and his loping,
ape-like gait, the Savage Hulk is instantly recognizable. As a result, this version is famous for destroying portions of urban and rural areas during rampages after he's been attacked, while uttering "''Hulk Smash! Hulk Bash! Hulk Destroy!''" towards his enemies.
Gray Hulk/Joe Fixit
The Gray Hulk, the original Hulk incarnation, later returned and worked for a time as a
Las Vegas enforcer called Joe Fixit. He has average intelligence, although he occasionally displays knowledge and intellectual ability normally associated with Bruce Banner. He is hedonistic, cunning, arrogant, crafty, sadistic and distant with a hidden
conscience. In most of his
Las Vegas appearances, he appears only at night. He has been referred as the "teenager" or "
ego" aspect of Banner's full personality. According to the
Leader in ''The Incredible Hulk'' vol. 2, #333, the Gray Hulk persona is strongest during the night of the new moon and weakest during the full moon; this aversion to sunlight and moonlight vanished when the Gray Hulk's night-induced transformation trigger is later removed. Although he is the smallest of the Hulks, the Gray Hulk towers over the average human. He prefers to dress in tailored suits and his base strength level is the lowest of all the primary Hulk incarnations. However, this strength level can grow as he gets angry, but at a much slower pace than the other Hulk incarnations. Despite his lower strength, Gray Hulk is able to use cunning and strategy in fights to gain the upper hand against foes expecting the Savage Hulk persona.
Merged Hulk/The Professor
The merging of Bruce Banner and the Savage and Gray Hulks in ''Incredible Hulk'' #377 (written by
Peter David). The Merged Hulk is later
ret-conned into The Professor. The Professor, rather than being a merging of the three core personalities, was interpreted as a fourth, separate personality that represented Banner's ideal self. The primary difference between the two is that the Merged Hulk demonstrated aspects of the Banner, Grey Hulk, and Savage Hulk personalities (also possessing Banner's intelligence, Joe Fixit's cunning, and the Savage Hulk's size and strength), while the Professor did not. The Merged Hulk is even prone to uttering "Hulk smash!", which is the Savage Hulk's most common
catchphrase. The Merged Hulk is an associate and leader of the team of superheroes called the
Pantheon. Despite his exaggerated musculature, the Merged Hulk had a relatively normal-looking face, resembling Bruce Banner's, and straight-backed posture that gives him the appearance of being the tallest and least bestial Hulk incarnation. The Professor's personality is defined during
Paul Jenkins' run as a "revelation" that the Merged Hulk is not actually a merging of the three personalities but rather a separate personality altogether. Unlike the Merged Hulk, the Professor is physically distinguished by having a pony tail, which the Merged Hulk did not. Jenkins justified this by ret-conning into the Hulk's continuity a new character named Angela Lipscomb (modeled after Jenkins' own girlfriend) who knew more about Bruce Banner than even
Doc Samson. Lipscomb confronted Doc Samson with her observations of the Professor and Doc Samson validated them, despite events presented in previous issues to the contrary.
Mindless Hulk
Nightmare, in an attempt to find new ways to hurt his enemy
Doctor Strange by going through his friends, penetrated Bruce Banner's mind and discovered his influence had an unexpected side effect; a new personality began to develop out of Banner's worst visions of the Hulk (Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #298; Sleepwalker). At this period in Banner's life, he had just gained control over the Hulk's body, but was constantly on alert and terrified that the Hulk, which he saw as nothing but a savage and destructive beast, would break free once more when the world least expected it. Far from being identical with the original Hulk, this version was based on a nightmarish imagination made of all of Banner's worst fears and ideas of his former alter ego. Nightmare continued to manipulate and increase his influence, allowing this dark incarnation to gradually rise to the surface. It finally became its own personality after Banner made his "psychic suicide", allowing it to break free of Banner's domination. Eventually, with the assistance of three creatures created by his subconscious, (Glow, Goblin, and Guardian), this Hulk gained the ability to speak and behave much less savagely. Since then, this personality has not been seen again, and it has been suggested that it is no longer a part of Banner's personality. In ''Web of Spider-Man'' #7, a part of the Hulk, with the assistance of Doctor Strange, entered the Dimension of Nightmare as a similar manifestation as Mindless Hulk, threatening to kill him. Nightmare was forced to seek out
Spider-Man's help, as this Hulk was destroying the whole domain. Spider-Man eventually pushed the Hulk into another realm, but he pulled Nightmare in with him. Nightmare has since been seen still alive, but this Hulk seems to have disappeared.
Guilt Hulk
The Guilt Hulk
The Devil Hulk
The Guilt Hulk, also known as "The Beast", is another of Bruce Banner's personas, though this one created by his regret.
[4][5] The Guilt Hulk originally manifested itself in Banner's mind as his father and tormented him by forcing him to relive memories of his traumatic childhood. Eventually, the Guilt Hulk was defeated by Banner himself.
The Guilt Hulk later returned after Betty's death, now much more powerful because of Banner's emotionally fractured state. After brutally beating the Professor and Joe Fixit, the Guilt Hulk was eventually subdued again by the Savage Hulk.
Due to its monstrous size, the Guilt Hulk was physically very powerful. It also possessed claws and spikes all over its body. The Guilt Hulk also showed the ability to breathe fire on one occasion.
[6]
Devil Hulk
The Devil Hulk is the malevolent personality of Bruce Banner, personifying all of Banner's resentment at the way he is treated by the world.
[7] He is also an enemy of the Hulk, constantly threatening to escape confinement in Banner's mind and destroy the world that has tormented and abused them, simultaneously leaving nothing intact that Banner holds dear. He first appeared when Banner was dying of
ALS, and Banner used a machine to travel into his own mind and make a deal with the three dominant Hulks that they would gain control of his body once the disease became too much for him to bear. The Devil Hulk was revealed at this point, but escaped a short while afterwards when the machinations of
General Ryker shattered the barriers keeping the Devil Hulk imprisoned. He was contained long enough for a cure for Banner's condition to be found, before finally being contained in Banner's subconscious. Devil Hulk appears as a boss in the '' video game. He was later explained as a figment/hallucination created by
Nightmare.
[8]
The Green Scar
The Hulk of the 2006-2007 "
Planet Hulk" and "
World War Hulk" story arcs is a cunning and more powerful version than the previous incarnations.
[9] His rage is at its most focused, due to meditation training by his ally Hiroim.
[10] This incarnation has extremely high durability, as evidenced by his ability to withstand Black Bolt's voice, whereas the Savage Hulk could not.
[11] He has had training in combat arms, including
broadswords,
spears, and battle shields, and is a capable leader and strategist. Another source of the Green Scar's strength in comparison to other versions is his lack of inner conflict, if not alliance, with Bruce Banner. Several instances have been shown where the Green Scar personality and Banner have worked together strategically; most recently to disable Dr Strange. Caiera, the Green Scar's wife, understood Banner as well, and both personalities loved her equally. This is seen as the driving factor in the Banner/Hulk alliance.
[12]
Powers and abilities
Main articles: Powers and abilities of the Hulk
The Hulk possesses the potential for astounding levels of physical strength, directly depending on his emotional state, particularly his anger, spawning the famous quote: "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets." He is also extremely resistant to physical damage, psychic assaults, temperature extremes, and is completely immune to disease and poisons. He can breathe underwater, survive unprotected in space for extended periods of time, and when injured, heals from most wounds within seconds. His powerful legs allow him to leap across continents. He also has certain mental powers which allow him to "home in" to his place of origin in New Mexico, and to see and interact with astral forms.
As Bruce Banner (and the Merged/Professor Hulk), he is considered one of the greatest minds on Earth. He has developed expertise in the fields of Nuclear Science, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Physiology, and Physics.
Related characters
Main articles: List of Hulk supporting characters
Other versions
Main articles: Alternate versions of Hulk
Parodies
★ In an episode of ''
Arthur A Boy named George imagines himself becoming Green and Huge and tearing his friends hoodie of himself
★ In an episode of ''
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron'' called
The N Men (which itself was a parody of
X-Men), which was a spoof of several Marvel comics like Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk, Jimmy becomes orange, and upon becoming angry, became huge like the Hulk, however he bears a stronger resemblance to
the Thing from Fantastic Four.
★ In ''
The Young Ones'' episode ''Summer Holiday'', Neil (
Nigel Planer) becomes angered after being insulted relentlessly by his housemates, and turns into the Hulk, throwing everyone about in slow motion.
★ The television show ''
Saturday Night Live'' uses the Hulk character in several
sketches. In the
March 17,
1979 episode hosted by
Margot Kidder,
Lois Lane and
Superman hold a dinner. One of the guests is the Incredible Hulk, played by
John Belushi as a rude and offensive boor. In the
November 21,
1992 episode hosted by
Sinbad,
Chris Farley plays the Incredible Hulk in a sketch about
Superman's
funeral. Farley's Hulk protests the suggestion of his giving a eulogy in broken English but then puts on a pair of glasses and delivers an erudite, impassioned farewell. In the
December 17,
1994 hosted by
George Foreman,
Tim Meadows appears as Bruce Banner, who repeatedly has laboratory accidents and then changes into the Hulk, played by Foreman, who proceeds to further trash the laboratory before asking for the sketch to end because of its boring repetition.
★ The character Russell in the
video game ''
Bully'' has the most hulking figure of any character in the game, is the toughest character to take down during normal gameplay, has the mind of a small child, and even constantly refers to himself in the third person. Russell's catchphrase is "Russell smash!"
★ The "
Justice Friends" sketch of ''
Dexter's Laboratory'' follows three parody superheroes. One of them is a Hulk spoof, The Infraggable Krunk, an overgrown muscle-man with arrested mental development that has a purple skin and wears green pants - reference to Hulk's green skin and usual purple pants. Also in episode: 047 or Hunger Strikes, Dexter turns into a giant green monster and rampages through the town's grocery stores in search of greens when ever he cannot find any vegetables. In this episode, he also says Banner's classic line: "You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry", although he says "hungry" instead of "angry".
★ In the television show ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', the character Meatwad once dressed as "The Incredible Plum" for Halloween, painting himself purple, donning a Hulk-like mask, and telling other characters they wouldn't like him when he's angry.
★ In an episode of ''
Scrubs'', Dr. John "J.D." Dorian daydreams of turning into the Hulk inside the hospital.
★ In the episode of ''
The Simpsons'' entitled, "I Am Furious (Yellow)", Homer - after holding in all his anger for an extended period of time - falls victim to an elaborate prank by Bart, ending with him falling into a pool full of green paint, tearing his shirt off, and going on a rampage. Stan Lee also guest stars in this episode, and even attempts to Hulk-out himself (claiming he "really did it once").
★ There have been multiple references to "The Hulk" in the series "
Family Guy" : in one episode, Peter claims he transformed into The Hulk in a fictional evil rendition of
Chuck E Cheese, after failing to get Stewie's birthday party set up there, before Lois snaps at him saying that can't be what happened. In another episode, Lois discovers Peter's hidden ability to play the piano as a professional player when drunk, and Stewie asks Peter to play "that sad little tune at the end of The Incredible Hulk" while hitchhiking away. In another episode, when Lois' younger sister Carol is about to have a baby, Peter and Lois go over to her house to assist her. In the absence of her husband, Peter wears one of her husband's shirts (which are of a much smaller size than his) and asks Carol to say "David Banner, I just slashed your tires” before ripping the shirt apart while mimicking the transformation depicted on the TV show. And finally, in another episode, Peter claims that "
Jesus" will return to Earth and turn into the Hulk.
★ In the deleted scenes of ''
Scary Movie 3'', as aliens descend on Earth, the character of
George Logan randomly transforms into the Hulk and destroys them. Upon seeing this, the President (played by
Leslie Neilson) attempts to Hulk out as well, but only succeeds in
soiling his pants and is then forced to have his
diaper changed in front of the other characters.
★ In the opening credits of ''
Mall Rats'', where everyones character is introduced in comic book form, William Black (Ethan Suplee) comic book has the title "The Bulk".
★ The
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Incredible Hippo" features Peter Potamus becoming a Hulk-like creature after eating a bagel that
Atom Ant had deposited radioactive bars on. It features parodies of Bruce Banner's catchphrase ("You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry."), the scene where The Hulk spins a tank around before throwing it in the 2003 film, and the credits are replaced with a scene where Potamus walks away while the musical piece "The Lonely Man" plays, a take on the usual ending of the live-action series.
★ In an episode of
the Late Night show,
Conan O'Brien gets teased relentlessly by his co host
Andy Richter and goes through the cheesy 70's process of becoming the Hulk. Ironically the only thing that changes is his look and he does not get angry but starts to whine making Andy start to feel bad too.
★
Mad TV had a recurring character called the Gay Hulk, who would turn pink instead of green and in one instance starts spanking holes in a wall in a very gay stereotyped way and when a scientist tells him to stop destroying the lab he explains he is simply "installing window box for flowers".
In other media
Television
The Hulk started out in
television as part of the ''
Marvel Super Heroes''
animated television series in
1966. The 39 (10-minute) episodes were shown along with those featuring
Captain America,
Iron Man,
Thor, and the
Sub-Mariner episodes based on early stories appearing in the ''Hulk'' and ''Tales to Astonish'' series.
Main articles: The Incredible Hulk (TV series)
The most famous TV adaptation is the
live-action ''
The Incredible Hulk''
TV series and its spin-off
TV movies, starring
Bill Bixby as David Banner and
Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk.
After the live-action show ended in
1982, the Hulk returned to cartoon format with 13 episodes of ''
The Incredible Hulk'', which aired in a combined hour with ''
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends''. The series featured more characters from the comics than the live-action series, including
Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and
General Ross. Typical of many superhero cartoons of the era, the show used stock transformation scenes which include Bruce Banner transforming back with his clothing somehow restored intact. The
She-Hulk and the
Leader made an appearance in the show. This series featured
Stan Lee as a narrator. In that show, Bruce Banner and Hulk were voiced by
Michael Bell.
Bruce Banner and the Hulk also appeared in the ''
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'' episode "Spidey Goes Hollywood" voiced by
Peter Cullen. The Spider-Friends encountered Bruce Banner and had Sam Blockbuster give him a job on the Spider-Man movie. When
Mysterio unleashes a robot Hulk in one of the scenes, Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk and fights the robot Hulk and destroys it.
The Hulk appeared as a robot in the danger room of the X mansion in the
X-Men animated series episode
The Juggernaut Returns. The
Juggernaut easily destroys it.81
The Hulk also appeared in episodes of the
Fantastic Four and
Iron Man cartoons that also made up the Marvel Action Hour, although the character design for both Banner and Hulk were markedly different, with
Ron Perlman playing both roles.
In
1996,
Marvel Studios and
Saban Entertainment brought the Hulk back to animated form in the animated series ''
The Incredible Hulk'', with
Neal McDonough voicing Bruce Banner,
Lou Ferrigno providing the voice of the Hulk, and
Michael Donovan voicing the Grey Hulk. The first season's stories are exceptionally dark, but in
1997, the show's name changed to ''The Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk'', and featured
She-Hulk in several episodes with the Gray Hulk. In the episode "Mind Over Anti-Matter", Banner turns into a monstrous Dark Hulk when possessed by an evil entity (both voiced by
Kevin Michael Richardson). The series became much lighter during this season and was cancelled quickly. The show aired briefly on
ABC Family following the release of the live-action movie in
2003.
The Hulk appears in the '' episode entitled "Hard Knocks" with Bruce Banner voiced by
Andrew Kavadas and the Hulk voiced by
Mark Gibbon. Bruce Banner came to see Reed Richards to help him find a cure for the Hulk transformation. The Fantastic Four also had to keep Agent Pratt from using the Hulk as their weapon upon other people. In some scenes, the Hulk battles Thing. In this show, he resembles the Ultimate version of Hulk.
Film
Main articles: Hulk (film)
In
2003,
Ang Lee directed a
film based on the Hulk for
Universal Pictures.
Eric Bana played Bruce Banner, and the Hulk was created with
CGI. Here, Banner's father, David Banner (played by
Nick Nolte), is partly responsible for the Hulk's origin as before Banner was born, he experiments with his DNA for enhancing his immune system and strength and passes his mutated genes on to his son. When Banner grows up, believing his real parents died (this is only half-true, as only his mother dies and his father is incarcerated for twenty years), he saves a co-worker (they work in the bio-nuclear physics at Berkley University) from being killed by
gamma radiation and nano-machines and takes the impact of the rays and intakes the nano-machines himself, mysteriously surviving the onslaught. It is not clear to exactly what happens in Bruce, although it can be believed that his enhanced DNA prevented him from dying from both the gamma radiation and the now activated nano-meds (which usually killed the test subjects instead of reconstructing their damaged cells), but his inner persona (and, as we understand later on in the movie, his true father's objective), was finally freed from the combined elements. The nano-meds were a success in Bruce's body, but triggered by repressed painful memories. It causes his cells to replicate proportionally to his anger. When he mutates down back to bruce, we notice that he looses a lot of water (exceeding cells dying) and later on has a very large appetite for protein.
The Hulk causes a lot of destruction, killing Glenn Talbot, killing his father's mutated dogs in battle, makes a path of danger from the Desert Base to
San Francisco, and finally battles his insane father, who had morphed into an amorphous cloud of energy.
General Ross decides to end the battle by having one of his soldiers drop a gamma bomb at the site of the battle, ending the confrontation. It ostensibly kills and disintegrates Banner, whom we nonetheless later see living incognito as a secret doctor in
South America.
The Hulk appears in the 2006
direct-to-DVD animated feature ''
Ultimate Avengers'', based on the comic book ''
The Ultimates''. He also appeared in ''
Ultimate Avengers 2''. In both films, Bruce Banner was voiced by
Michael Massee and the Hulk was voiced by
Fred Tatasciore.
A second Hulk movie is in pre-production and scheduled for release on June 13, 2008. Titled ''
The Incredible Hulk'', it will be directed by
Louis Leterrier. At the 2006
Comic-con International Hulk panel, Letterier revealed that the
Abomination, played by
Tim Roth, will be the villain.
Edward Norton has been cast as
Bruce Banner and
Liv Tyler as
Betty Ross.
[13]
In August 2007, Marvel announced it would release a direct-to-DVD animated feature, ''
Hulk Smash'', in October 2008.
[14]
Syndicated Comic Strip
The Hulk also appeared in his own syndicated newspaper strip, which debuted in October 1978 and ran until 1981. Credited to Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, this strip modeled its version of the character after the television series airing at the time; with Banner's first name being given as "David", a speechless Hulk, and a "wandering man" format.
Video games
The Incredible Hulk appears in video games for many different systems, including the
Commodore 64,
ZX Spectrum,
Sega Genesis,
SNES,
Sega Master System,
Game Gear,
PlayStation,
Sega Saturn PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
GameCube,
Game Boy Advance, and
personal computer.
The first released Hulk game was called
Questprobe ''featuring The Hulk''
[1] for the PC,Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. It was followed by
The Incredible Hulk, ,
Hulk (which was loosely based on the 2003 film rather than the comic books), The Incredible Hulk for the Gameboy Advance, and finally .
Neal McDonough, who voiced Bruce Banner in the 1996
animated series, reprises the role in ''. In this game, the Hulk is so uncontrolled that he kills both the Desert Base soldiers and civilians in his path. Conversely, the Hulk also keeps the
supervillain the
Abomination from destroying a
dam and the soldiers guarding it have safely evacuated.
In addition to his own games, the Hulk appears as a playable character in several games by
Capcom. The first was a SNES game for the home consoles called . After this the Hulk appeared in several arcade fighting games, starting with ''
Marvel Super Heroes'' in 1995, followed by
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and concluding with . In all of the Capcom games, Hulk's persona is that of his merger with Bruce Banner.
The Hulk has a cameo in the ''
Fantastic Four'' video game for the PS and Sega Saturn as a boss.
The Hulk is in a
cutscene in the '' game for the
PS2,
Xbox, and
GameCube.
The Hulk makes an appearance in '' as Bruce Banner (voiced by
Robin Atkin Downes in the Xbox versions, and Arin Hanson in the PS3 and Wii versions). He was seen working on
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gamma bomb project on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Omega Base. He also ironically claims that "He's no superhero" after your team tells him to stay put. Muscular green arms and legs are seen (with the torso and head under rubble) during a cutscene detailing Dr. Doom's defeat of many of Earth's heroes, perhaps implying that the Hulk was one of the heroes who failed to stop Doom. The Hulk recently became available as a playable character in the Xbox 360 version with Grey Hulk and his Planet Hulk Gladiator armor as alternate costumes of the Hulk. He can be downloaded as part of the "Heroes Pack" over Xbox Live, along with
Hawkeye,
Cyclops and
Nightcrawler.
Themed products
Hulk-themed products include action figures, clothes, jewelry, video games, cards, pins, posters, cars, games, lunchboxes, toys, a
pinball machine [2], all types of collectibles and even the
Incredible Hulk roller coaster at
Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in
Orlando, Florida.
Bibliography
★ ''The Incredible Hulk'' #1–6 (
Marvel Comics, May 1962–March 1963)
★ ''
Tales to Astonish'' #59–101 (
Marvel Comics, September 1964–March 1968)
★ ''The Incredible Hulk'' #102–474 (
Marvel Comics, April 1968–March 1999)
★ ''The Incredible Hulk Annual'' #1–20 (
Marvel Comics, 1968–1994)
★ ''The Incredible Hulk'' #-1 (
Marvel Comics, July 1997, ISSN 0274-5275)
★ ''Hulk'' #1–11 (
Marvel Comics, April 1999–February 2000)
★ ''The Incredible Hulk'' #12–76, #77–present (
Marvel Comics, March 2000–September 2004, January 2005–present)
★ ''
Hulk Weekly'' #1–69,
Marvel UK title published between 1979–1981. Features new material produced by the likes of
Paul Neary and
Steve Dillon.
'Collections'
★ ''Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Vol. 1'' Written by
Peter David; Pencils & Cover by
Todd McFarlane; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #331-339 Vol. 1.
★ ''Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Vol. 2'' Written by
Peter David; Penciled by
Todd McFarlane,
Erik Larsen &
Jeff Purves; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #340-348 Vol. 1.
★ ''Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Vol. 3'' Written by
Peter David &
Steve Englehart; Penciled by
Jeff Purves,
Alex Saviuk &
Keith Pollard; Collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #349-354 Vol. 1, ''Web of Spider-Man'' #44 and ''Fantastic Four'' #320.
★ ''Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Vol. 4'' Written by
Peter David; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #355-363 Vol. 1 and Marvel Comics Presents #26 and #45
★ ''Incredible Hulk: Dogs of War'' Written by
Paul Jenkins; Penciled by
Ron Garney and
Mike McKone; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #12-20 Vol. 2.
★ ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 1: Return of the Monster'' Written by
Bruce Jones; Penciled by
John Romita, Jr.; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #34-39 Vol. 2.
★ ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 2: Boiling Point'' Written by
Bruce Jones; Penciled by
John Romita, Jr.; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #40-43 Vol. 2.
★ ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 3: Transfer Of Power'' Written by
Bruce Jones; Penciled by
Stuart Immonen; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #44-49 Vol. 2.
★ ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 4: Abominable'' Written by
Bruce Jones; Penciled by
Mike Deodato, Jr.; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #50-54 Vol. 2.
★ ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 5: Hide In Plain Sight'' Written by
Bruce Jones; Penciled by
Leandro Fernández; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #55-59 Vol. 2.
★ ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 6: Split Decisions'' Written by
Bruce Jones; Penciled by
Mike Deodato Jr.; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #60-65 Vol. 2.
★ ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 7: Dead Like Me'' Written
Bruce Jones &
Garth Ennis; Pencils by
Doug Braithwaite &
John McCrea; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #65-69 Vol. 2, and ''Hulk Smash'' #1 and #2.
★ ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 8: Big Things'' Written
Bruce Jones; Pencils by
Mike Deodato, Jr.; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #70-76 Vol. 2.
★ ''Hulk: Tempest Fugit'' Written by
Peter David; Penciled by
Lee Weeks &
Jae Lee; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #77-82 Vol. 2.
★ ''House Of M: Hulk'' Written by
Peter David; Penciled by
Jorge Lucas &
Adam Kubert; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #83-87 Vol. 2.
★ ''Hulk: Planet Hulk Prelude'' Written by
Daniel Way; Penciled by
Keu Cha &
Juan Santacruz; collects ''Incredible Hulk'' #88-91 Vol. 2.
Footnotes
1. ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1617 (June 2006)
2. ''Starlog'' #213 (July 2003)
3. My leaving "Hulk" Peter David
4. ''Incredible Hulk'' Vol. 2 #377''
5. ''Incredible Hulk Vol. 3 #13
6. ''The Incredible Hulk'' vol. 2, #377
7. ''The Incredible Hulk'' vol. 3, #13
8. ''The Incredible Hulk'' vol. 3, #81 (July 2005)
9. ''Incredible Hulk'' vol. 3, #105 (June 2007); ''World War Hulk'' series
10. ''World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker'' (July 2007)
11. ''World War Hulk'' #1; ''Iron Man'' vol. 4, #19 (Aug. 2007)
12. ''Gamma Files''(July 2007)
13. Comic-Con 2006: The Incredible Hulk Panel Chris Carle
14. (August 7, 2007). Marvel Entertainment's Upcoming Slate. ''SuperHeroHype.com''. Retrieved on August 8, 2007.
References
★
Marvel.com: Hulk
★
Comic Book and Strip Service: Incredible Hulk, by Stan Lee
★
The 1982 Incredible Hulk Cartoon @ Toon Zone
★
Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards
★
Hulk Library
★
Engine of Destruction
★
Doug's Incredible Hulk Comic Page
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