Release date: June 13, 2008
The story: Scientist Bruce Banner is living incognito as a factory employee in Rio De Janeiro. An intense blast of gamma radiation five years earlier caused him to transform into the super-strong green creature known as the Hulk whenever his pulse rises above 200. He’s trying to research a cure, but the government finds him and sends a SWAT team to bring him back. Banner flees to the States, where he reunites with his fellow scientist and former lover Betty Ross. Together, they discover a potential cure from a Dr. Samuel Sterns, but Banner insists all the research be destroyed to prevent the government from getting it. The head of the SWAT team forces Sterns to inject him with Banner’s blood, which—coupled with a Super-Soldier Serum the government provided him—turns him into a massive creature called Abomination. Banner turns into the Hulk to defeat him. It’s a pretty badass fight.
Who appears:
Hulk
Betty Ross
Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross
Dr. Samuel Sterns
Abomination
Noteworthy events: By film’s end, Banner has learned to control his transformations. The post-credits stinger reveals that Tony Stark wants Banner as part of the Avengers Initiative.