Incredible Hulk

a US television series (1978–81) on CBS about a man who sometimes turns into a very powerful creature like a man but with green skin. The character originally appeared in comic books and there is a film/movie Hulk (2003). The Incredible Hulk is Dr David Banner, a scientist who did an experiment that went wrong and who now becomes the creature whenever he gets angry.

➡ note at comics and comic strips.

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▪ fictional character

      American comic-book character, a towering, muscle-bound archetypal antihero, recognizable by his green skin (later, sometimes, gray) and his fearsome brutality.

      Marvel Comics' origin story of the Hulk shows nuclear physicist Bruce Banner impulsively rushing to save a teenage boy who had wandered into the blast area of an experimental “gamma bomb”; in the process Banner absorbs a massive dose of radiation. As a result of his heroic act, Banner is transformed at night into an enormous, rage-filled, brutish monster whom he cannot control. Hunted by the military, Banner becomes a fugitive, isolated from others by his dangerous alter-ego (he later develops more than one) and unable to trust even himself.

      Legendary writer-illustrator team Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Hulk in 1962 as a hybrid of two popular comic-book genres—monsters and superheroes. In the decades following, a long line of creators interpreted the Banner-Hulk dichotomy in numerous ways. Over time, three main personas emerged: Banner, a brilliant but haunted man damaged by childhood abuse; the iconic green-skinned Hulk, a savage lout; and a gray-skinned Hulk, a shrewd and amoral strongman. At times, all three were integrated, and at times they lived separate physical existences. The classic literary theme of the repressed id was central to most versions of the story.

      The Hulk became one of Marvel's most recognizable characters, featured in several animated television series in the 1960s, '80s, and '90s. Perhaps the most memorable version was the live-action drama broadcast from 1978 to 1982. In it, the character was played by two men, bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk and actor Bill Bixby as Banner. Oscar award-winning director Ang Lee (Lee, Ang) created the character's first feature film, Hulk, in 2003. Another version, The Incredible Hulk, directed by Louis Letterier, appeared in 2008.

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