The Incredible Hulk

Simple Synopsis

The Acceptable Hulk is the reboot that seems like a sequel and failed to be a prequel for Hulk sequels that never came while also being the not-a-sequel follow up to Iron Man and the second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s take a moment to unpack it.

So, even though the Incredible Hulk is not in fact a sequel to Ang Lee’s Hulk, released a few years before, this movie spends pretty much now time at all on the Hulk’s origin story, glossing over it in the opening credits. We quickly see Bruce Banner subject himself to science, see the experiment go wrong and him turn into the Hulk, smash some things, hurt some people, and get chased by the military. Once the credits are done we find Bruce hiding out in South America, trying to keep his cool and working in a bottling plant while trying to find a cure for his condition. He’s working with a pen pal, the mysterious Mr. Blue, but Blue doesn’t have enough data and asks for a blood sample. After some testing he says he is close, but needs more data about the accident, which Bruce doesn’t have.

Bruce’s frustration quickly turns to desperation when an errant drop of his gamma irradiated blood makes its way into one of the plant’s bottles and gives away his location. The military shows up at his doorstep, led by General Ross and his new recruit: veteran special ops agent Emile Blonski. Blonski tracks Bruce through the city, always hot on his heels and eventually backs him into a corner. Stuck in a bind Bruce is no longer able to keep his cool and the Hulk takes out most of Blonski’s unit before fleeing. Bruce wakes up miles away and starts his journey back to America to look for his much needed data.

Ross tells Blonski that the experiment that created the Hulk was a failed attempt to revive the Super Soldier program that made Captain America, and hooks him up with the closest thing they have to a successful serum. Meanwhile Bruce makes it back to his old lab only to find his data has been erased. Fortunately he runs into his ex-girlfriend Betty Ross, who has a backup, but he’s unable to escape before Blonski shows up for round two. The Hulk surfaces again to take out the military guns and tanks, and to break every bone in Blonski’s body before jumping in to save Betty’s life and vanishing into the woods.

With Betty’s help and the missing data, Bruce travels to New York to see Mr. Blue. Blue studies the data and comes up with a plan to cure Bruce, ridding him of the Hulk for good and the experiment seems to work, but they have no idea if it’s temporary. The military shows up again, with Blonski now fully healed and slightly deranged after another injection of the serum, but with Bruce weak after the procedure they have no trouble taking him and Betty captive. Blonski stays behind and forces Blue to use his expertise with the Hulk to recreate the experiment that created him. Blue is willing but warns that he has no idea what it will do given the chemicals already in his system. Injected with a mixture of chemicals and the Hulk’s blood, Blonski turns into the horrible Abomination, and immediately takes his newfound power to the streets of Harlem and starts rampaging.

Catching wind of the new threat the military turns around and heads back, but realizing that they won’t be effective against Abomination, Bruce convinces Ross to let him go. He says he can’t control the Hulk, but he can at least aim it, and the Hulk is the only one that stands a chance at stopping the threat. Ross agrees, reluctantly, and the Hulk is unleashed. The battle rages on across the city, with the Hulk eventually triumphant. He uses the opportunity to once again escape and disappear.

Afterward Ross is approached by Iron Man and asked to help him track down the Hulk for the Avengers.