A scientist hiding from the army he used to work for tries to cure the thing he becomes when his pulse rises.
Bruce Banner is in Brazil, working in a bottling plant, learning breathing exercises and counting the days since his last incident. He is not looking for a fight. He is looking for a cure, and for the army general who wants to weaponize what happened to him to leave him alone.
The film is unusual in this run because its hero spends most of it running away. The transformation is a symptom, not a power, and everyone who wants to replicate it is presented as making an obvious mistake.
Show detailsWhy this one feels separate
It is the only entry in the whole run whose lead was recast afterwards, and the only one Marvel Studios made while another studio held the distribution rights, which is why it stayed off streaming services for years and why later films reference it far less than they reference their own predecessors.
Watching it is optional for following the plot. Skipping it costs you the reason one character is already tired when you meet him again.
Who is in it
How it connects
This one sets these up.
Sources
Facts last checked on Sep 7, 2026
Released: June 13, 2008