The Incredible Hulk

What happens when a man is caught in the awesome fury of an exploding gamma-bomb? You might expect he would be incinerated, but in the fertile imaginations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby he becomes Hulk, a brutal powerhouse gifted with superhuman strength, stamina, durability-and a seemingly uncontrollable rage. Also, he's all green.

The Hulk is a Marvel Comics character that has been adapted several times for TV and the movies. In 2003, Ang Lee made The Hulk starring Eric Bana as Dr. Robert Bruce Banner and Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross, but it failed to live up to fans' memories of the 1978 television show.

Now, Hollywood is hoping for a surer strike in a second Hulk movie, slated for release on June 13, 2008. Produced by Marvel Studios, The Incredible Hulk stars Edward Norton as Banner and Liv Tyler as Ross. More has changed in the movie than just the leads. The Hulk will be up against Abomination this go around, an evil force who is almost as strong as the Hulk himself.

The Incredible Hulk takes off from where The Hulk had left off; deep in the South American jungles. Pitted against both the external danger of US Army, led by Betty's father General Thunderbolt Ross, and the internal danger of the Hulk sleeping deep within him, Dr. Bruce Banner is trying hard to find a cure for the menace he harbors. This film will differ from its predecessor in its focus on the struggle between Dr. Bruce Banner and the Hulk. It's about being strong one moment and being helpless in the other. It's about being subject to drives and urges beyond your control. Dr. Bruce Banner has faced a lot, and the only thing he now fears is his own anger and rage

The first Hulk comic appeared back in May 1962, and featured a monster with...gray skin! By the second issue he was green, and he ran for many years in Tales to Astonish before reclaiming his own title. Sometimes a mindless brute, sometimes a thoughtful, and even dapper, man of science, the Hulk has undergone many transformations in his time. In the current comic series, a mysterious, gun-totin' red Hulk appears to have separated from Bruce Banner altogether.

In addition to the fondly-remembered live-action series with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno (the only time the Hulk has been played by a real person), the Hulk has been animated in his own cartoon in 1966, 1982 and 1996. An animated Hulk was also noticeable in the 2003 movie release, when a computer-generated image of the Hulk rampaged incongruously Ang Lee's thoughtful, deliberately paced family drama.

A CGI Hulk will return in the latest movie, which promises 100% more smashing, in addition to a taut Jekyll and Hyde psychodrama. Previews have stressed that 2003's experimentation and long, character-driven scenes have given way to faster-paced Summer movie fare. Rumor has it that Ed Norton is not necesarily happy with the decision to focus on hulking action and Kirby-style extended fight scenes, but frustrated fans should be celebrating at the idea of two green goliaths duking it out on the big screen. Will Hulk prove to be the "strongest there is"?

We tried to ask Hulk about his prospects, but he gave us the brush off, saying, "Puny humans hound Hulk, harry Hulk. But Hulk just wants to be left alone."