The Incredible Dr. Banner

The Incredible Dr. Banner

            “It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner.  Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled.  And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”  These words, the first interaction between Tony Stark (whose fame as a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist is trumped only by his alter ego as Ironman) and the recently returned Bruce Banner, perfectly capture the war that is constantly waged by his two personalities.  The unsuspecting physicist-turned-third-world-doctor Bruce Banner and his more volatile side: The Incredible Hulk. 

            The tone is bitter when Bruce Banner says "Tony Stark and Reed Richards use their genius to save the world every other week. That's how they'll be remembered in history. Meanwhile, I – I who, forgive me, have just as much to contribute – will be lucky if my tombstone doesn't simply say "Hulk Smash.""  His hatred of the Hulk is deep-seated and justifiable.  The abuse he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic father (who killed his mother, the only one who loved him, in a fit of rage) coupled with the trauma of waking up surrounded by rubble and the knowledge that it is due to your alter ego's destructiveness would be enough to convince anyone to think the thing they shared their body with was a monster.  Each Hulk Out leaves Bruce to wake up alone, not knowing where he is or what The Other Guy has done, but knowing that there is a body count and a city in ruins around him.  Hulking Out not only has psychological effects that leave Banner with blame and guilt on his very un-green shoulders, but physical effects.  Bruce's body is left exhausted, with sore muscles, and a pounding headache that can last for days. 

            The major flaw that comes from Bruce Banner not remembering anything from his time as The Other Guy is that he only has his pre-conceived notions of what the Hulk does when he hijacks his body.   This is unfortunate because the Hulk is not a monster who goes out and destroys cities, like King Kong.  The Hulk, sometimes referred to as The Jolly Green Giant, was selected by the Strategic Homeland Enforcement Intervention and Logistics Divisions, otherwise known as S.H.I.E.L.D., to be a part of the Avengers Initiative, an elite team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.  The screening process was long and arduous.  Tony Stark, was originally kicked out of the initiative for displaying compulsive behavior, self-destructive tendencies, and textbook narcissism.  To have picked for the Avengers Initiative by Director Fury makes it clear that the Hulk can do more than just destroy things.  And he's proven it, even with the mindset of a child who says little more than "Hulk smash" and "Puny God" he has saved the life of more than one of his teammates.  For instance, in the Avengers movie, when Tony fell from the sky (again) without the aid of the Mark VII the Hulk came from nowhere, caught him out of thin air, and landed with him gently. 

            The sweet, shy, socially awkward physicist-turned-third-world-doctor that is the unassuming Dr. Banner is a surprisingly emotionally unstable person.  After suffering the horrible childhood that seems to be a prerequisite for becoming a male comic book superhero it’s not too surprising, and his transitions into an enormous green rage monster certainly do nothing to help his mental state.  To most the Hulk would be a superhero, a great power, but for Bruce Banner the guilt and blame combined with memories of suffering at the hands of his father makes The Other Guy something Banner hates and wants rid of.  Several times badly enough to take drastic measures against his own life, saying once to Betty Ross: “It’ll be worth dying, Betty – if it rids this planet forever of the Hulk.” He claims that the Hulk is too much of a liability, and is too much of a danger to everyone on the planet.  It’s the reason he goes into “exile” in the third world pre-Avengers movie.  It’s his way to stay calm, and keep The Other Guy at bay.

            “It’s a . . . terrible privilege” Tony Stark says when talking with Bruce Banner, speaking directly about the Arc Reactor that keeps a cluster of shrapnel from crawling into his heart, and indirectly to Bruce’s transformations into the Hulk.  Bruce’s response is to ask what exactly The Other Guy saved his life for, foreshadowing the later confession of his latest suicide attempt.  Banner’s beliefs that the world would be better off without the Hulk have been disproven over and over, and are quelled by the other members of the Avengers throughout the movie.  As a successful character for fifty years the Hulk has more comic books than anyone could ever keep track of, and they all show why the earth, and the fictional planets of the Marvel universe sorely need him.

            While most people would be green with envy at the chance to change into the Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner thinks of it as a curse.  As The Other Guy is triggered by stress and anger Bruce spends all of his waking hours struggling to quell these everyday emotions. The truly sad thing is the he spends his days in a fight against the rage that is always inside of him, and yet he is still so close to the edge at all times, like he says to Steve Rogers “that’s my secret Captain, I’m Always angry.”  He believes that every time the Hulk comes out it is a failure, even referring to his appearances as “incidents”.  And how could he not?  People walk on eggshells around him, whisper when he’s around, and always have one hand on their gun.  No one has ever made the impression that the Hulk is anything other than a monster that must be restrained at all times.

            This all changes when Bruce Banner becomes a part of the Avengers Team, and meets his Science Bro, Tony Stark.  Unlike Natasha Romanov, who pulled a gun on him only two minutes into their first meeting, Tony doesn’t fear the Hulk.  On the contrary he tries to draw him out, even stabbing Bruce with a sharp object just to see what would happen.  As the teams’ view of Bruce and the Hulk slowly begins to shift, so that Bruce is not feared and the Hulk is seen as an ally in battle it becomes more and more apparent that Bruce’s fear of the Hulk may not be entirely necessary.  In the end the Hulk is called on by the team for help, and while it is still saddening how easy it is for the anger to overtake the physicist it is nice to see that the Hulk does not constantly need to be restrained, and that perhaps S.H.IE.L.D. doesn’t need a Hulk-proof glass prison aboard the Helicarrier.

            The negative views Bruce Banner has about the Hulk certainly stem from his childhood and from the psychological effects of sharing a body with something that many deem a monster, but overall his view on the Hulk is one with considerable bias.  As he has no memory of what happens while he is the Hulk there is no validation to him that the Hulk is a hero, instead of a senseless murderer who will take over his body if he isn’t constantly vigilant in his control.  Even with the two entirely different views, the two manage to work together to make the world a better place.