Hulk (alter ego of Robert Bruce Banner) is a fictional character (superhero) appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics and various adaptations. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Hulk first appeared in the first issue of The Incredible Hulk vol. 1 #1 in May 1962. The creators intended for Hulk to be the quintessence of human anger and to symbolize American tendencies towards aggression, self-destruction, and anti-intellectualism. The character was inspired by the protagonist of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the monster from Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, as well as the main character of the film, The Amazing Colossal Man.
Hulk is the alter ego of Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a promising young physicist. During an experiment with gamma radiation, Banner was accidentally exposed, resulting in uncontrollable transformations into the Hulk – a large, humanoid creature with superhuman strength and endurance, over which Banner has little control. In the comic, a common theme is the pursuit of the police and the United States Army after Hulk and Banner, who are responsible for causing immense destruction wherever they appear. Throughout the long history of the comic, Hulk’s skin was most often depicted as green, but due to various plot twists, it has also been depicted as gray and red. Thanks to writer Peter David, it was explained that the green monster’s madness is the result of traumatic childhood experiences that Bruce had, where he was a victim of domestic violence, and the transformation itself, which occurs under the influence of emotions, is an expression of long-suppressed anger. The green giant is also a member of the elite group of superheroes known as the Avengers. Hulk is one of the most recognizable characters from Marvel Comics.
In addition to the comic, the character of Hulk has appeared in various adaptations. In the live-action version, he first appeared in a television series, where Bill Bixby played Dr. Banner and Lou Ferrigno played Hulk. He also appeared in several animated series, including The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, The Incredible Hulk in 1982-1983, The Incredible Hulk in 1996-1997, and The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in 2010-2013. There were also two solo feature films: Hulk (The Hulk) in 2003, directed by Ang Lee, with Eric Bana playing Dr. Banner, and The Incredible Hulk in 2008, directed by Louis Leterrier, with Edward Norton playing Banner, which initiated a series of films known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2012, the film The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, was released, in which Mark Ruffalo (voiced by Grzegorz Damięcki in the Polish language version) replaced Edward Norton in the role of Dr. Banner. Although the blockbuster was a huge success, the character of Hulk is not expected to receive another solo film and will only return in the sequel to The Avengers titled Avengers: Age of Ultron.