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Insert "HE thought" in front of "was best for the characters". And then turn that all the way to 11, so that what he thinks is best for the characters is the ONLY thing that is acceptable.

Something that's annoyed me, recently--

Various fans and reviewers have stated that the Hulk worked well in the context of the AVENGERS movie, but "can't hold up a movie on his own".

The Hulk is easily in my top five all-time favorite comic characters. But, a lot of people I've talked to can't seem to get into him, because he seems one-note to them, or because they say they don't want to read about "a big, green retard" running around.

Personally, I think the Hulk is one of the most flexible characters in comics, and lends himself to just about any sort of story--hard sci-fi, horror, personal drama, humor, etc. You can place the Hulk in just about any situation, which is something that can't be said about, say, Spider-Man.

Stories can focus on the inner torment of Banner and the Hulk themselves, or they can focus on a larger supporting cast, and how they deal with the Hulk. There's a lot of potential, there.

The TV show made good use of this, and covered a surprisingly wide range (despite occasionally feeling formulaic). And, of course, the overarching theme of the series was that everyone has a Hulk (be it anger, alcoholism, gambling, etc.), which allowed for some interesting character studies. Some episodes focused solely on Banner and his plight. Others simply had Banner stumbling into problems other than his own, and trying to help people deal with them.

I think the show also struck a perfect balance between making the Hulk scary and child-like/sympathetic.

So, it annoys me when people say the Hulk's not a (*ahem*) strong enough character to support a movie of his own. Sorry, people, but all it would take is good filmmaking! Don't blame the character!

Agreed, Greg. I've really enjoyed your posts on this thread. Your support and affection for the character are clearly evident.

I'm a fan of the Hulk from the Defenders era. It's not just nostalgia, either. I genuinely like that childlike place from which his anger comes, and his simple desire to be either left alone or loved. It's not cool to respond to things in the real world on such a simplistic level, of course, but that's what the Hulk did, and it made him universally relatable at one time. I have little truck with the mindlessly savage or "kickin' ass and takin' names" versions of the character. Yeah, he's angry, but so what? Every other character in modern comics is angry in exactly the same way. I think we're just supposed to be awed by the resulting destruction or something... Sorry, but if I don't care about the character, I don't care how big a hole in the ground he just punched.

The television show alone proves that the Hulk can work in a number of on-screen storylines. The idea that "he can't hold up a movie on his own" was largely disproven years before the charge was ever made. The fact that neither of his two solo trips to the screen to date have been critical darlings means nothing more than those two attempts weren't the best attempts that could have been made.

I'm hoping for something good from a Mark Ruffalo movie should they decide to go ahead with one. And I want Maria Thayer or Olivia Thirlby to play "Cat-Girl" and Evan Rachel Wood as "Sword Girl."

But now I'm just dreaming... :-)

Yeah, I think a big part of the appeal of the character is that there's an inherent sadness and reader sympathy for him.

And, of course, there's the cathartic aspect of his smashing and rage that helps readers blow off their own steam.

Many of the best moments in the character's history have been melancholy and tragic ones, though. Here are a few favorites from various media:

* The afforementioned HULK # 204. After Banner restores the timeline--and his curse--, he walks away from Betty and the others, saying, "(the Hulk) and I are still soulmates for the duration, but at least that I can live with!".

* In THE INCREDIBLE HULK # 147, the Hulk wanders into a town where the people totally accept him, and do not treat him as a monster. This is revealed to be a mere hallucination generated by the Hulk's deep longing for acceptance.

* In THE INCREDIBLE HULK # 188, the Hulk befriends a blind girl, who is eventualy cured. When she looks upon the Hulk's face for the first time, she sees him as a kindly giant who is beautiful and deserves to be loved.

The Hulk leaves, in tears, stating that although the girl saw him as a man, he's only a monster.

* In the TV pilot, the dying Elaina Marks confesses her love for Banner to the Hulk, something that Banner later shows he has no memory of. Gets me every time.

* In the 1982 cartoon episode, "Bruce Banner Unmasked", Banner stands amid the ruins of Alicia Masters' sculpture of Betty Ross (a gift from Banner, intended for Betty, that was smashed by the Hulk during a rampage). Alicia volunteers to make another, but Banner sadly declines, seeing this as a sign that he can't get close to Betty so long as his raging alter ego exists.

This is all soooo much better than the Hulk eating people, or Banner being crazy.

I know nothing about the current state of affairs, but the Hulk was certainly separated from Banner several times before, most notably in HULK # 130 and during JB's run.

The first split literally separated the Hulk and Banner into two beings, who behaved exactly the same as when they were together. The Hulk was still the Hulk, and Banner was still Banner. This didn't make a whole lot of sense.

JB's approach was the more realistic one, for me. Although the mindless Hulk had just been done at the end of Mantlo's run, JB's take made more sense, contextually. I can't quite see Banner committing "psychic suicide" and letting a mindless Hulk run around.

In JB's version, it seems clear that the Hulk's persona was essentially sucked out of him along with Banner. When Banner becomes the Hulk, massive cell growth occurs due to the gamma energy in his body. Samson and the nutrient bath simply "sifted out" the original Banner cells and formed a new body for him, with his intellect going into that body. The Hulk's mutant cells and body remained as their own entity.

And, without Banner--without the mind that the Hulk is an outgrowth of--, the Hulk became a totally blank slate (albeit one still fueled by rage, because, well, that's the Hulk for ya!).

The way I see it, the Hulk's persona would essentially be trapped inside Banner, once Banner was not physically able to become to Hulk any longer (due to his physical separation from the "infected", gamma-charged body of the Hulk). And the Hulk's mindless body was free to rampage, untrestrained by any of Banner's morality and subconscious moderation of the Hulk's anger.

Of course, immediately after JB left, Milgrom took a cue from STAR TREK to merge Banner and the Hulk again. But I would have loved to have seen where it would have gone.

I'm quite sure that Banner would have been unable to resist the temptation to use the Hulk's power for good, and would have turned himself back into a Kirby-style Hulk (whom he believed he was in full control of). The mindless, Buscema-Hulk could then have been killed off, leaving the world to think that the Hulk was dead, and the New Hulk to become a creature of the night again, with Banner becoming more and more like an alcoholic.