After two failed attempts to channel the inherent darkness of Stan Lee's muscular green man, Marvel finally got it right in The Avengers by astutely casting Mark Ruffalo and making his condition both a tragic curse and a powerful weapon, as opposed to making him no more than a giant green emo in ripped shorts. The Hulk is the key to the Avengers film - he is the only one with enough of a physical threat to take down Loki and indeed most of the invading alien forces, and he represents the key to the final question relating to how the Avengers should be regulated - hopefully teasing a forthcoming adaptation of the Civil War comics run. And Ruffalo offered a nailed on performance as both Bruce Banner and the Hulk, catching the emotional vulnerability and darkness to the former, and the outright physical prowess of the latter (obviously with some significant CGI assistance.) And in the most effective scene of the film, which gave Banner his most relatable trait, we discover that Banner found his curse too much and chose to put a bullet in his mouth, only to see the Hulk spit the bullet out as if nothing had happened. Therein we see the definition and the prison of Banner's condition and it is an oddly haunting refrain in the otherwise rip-roaring actioner.
