Marvel Mondays continue as we move through the early MCU with the franchise’s second entry.

Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government, must find a cure for the monster he turns into whenever he loses his temper.

June 13, 2008 | Theaters

• Edward Norton as Bruce Banner
• Liv Tyler as Betty Ross
• Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky
• William Hurt as General “Thunderbolt” Ross
• Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns

The movie kicks off with a quick montage explaining how Bruce Banner became the Hulk. You know the deal. The military, however, is very interested in finding him because… he’s extremely dangerous.

Five years later, Bruce is living in Brazil, lying low. He’s doing breathing exercises to keep his heart rate down and working at a bottling factory. He’s also desperately searching for a cure for his Hulk-ness, secretly chatting online with someone named Mr. Blue.

One day at work, Bruce cuts his finger, and a drop of his blood falls into one of the bottles. That bottle eventually makes its way to the U.S., where it causes serious problems for the guy who drinks it. Using this contaminated bottle, the military tracks Banner’s location. A strike team led by Emil Blonsky is sent in to capture him.

Bruce transforms into the Hulk and completely wrecks Blonsky’s team. Blonsky, instead of being terrified, is impressed and immediately wants that power for himself. He agrees to be injected with a small dose of a super-soldier serum connected to the original Hulk experiment. Surely nothing bad will happen.

Bruce returns to the States to grab some of his old research and reunites with his former girlfriend, Betty Ross. Blonsky attacks again, and when Betty is put in danger, Bruce transforms into the Hulk. Hulk fights off the military—including Blonsky—and escapes with Betty.

Now officially on the run together, Bruce contacts Mr. Blue, who urges them to meet in New York City.

Mr. Blue turns out to be Dr. Samuel Sterns, a cellular biologist who claims he’s developed a possible antidote. They test it—and it actually works. But Sterns reveals he’s also been stockpiling Bruce’s blood samples, believing its “limitless potential” could revolutionize medicine now that a cure exists.

Bruce immediately points out that this is a terrible idea because the military is absolutely going to weaponize it. (Did we learn nothing from Iron Man?)

Right on cue, Blonsky and the military arrive, capture Banner, and take him away. Blonsky stays behind and forces Sterns to inject him with Banner’s blood. Sterns warns him that combining the serum with the radiation already in his body could turn him into something far worse—an Abomination.

Blonsky hears the name and says, “Cool. Do it.”

Blonsky mutates into a massive, rage-filled monster even bigger and stronger than the Hulk and immediately starts destroying Harlem.

Bruce realizes he has to stop him. He jumps from a helicopter, transforms mid-fall, and the Hulk takes on Abomination in an extended, brutal battle across the city. Hulk ultimately defeats him by choking him with a massive chain, stopping only when Betty begs him not to kill Blonsky.

After a quiet moment with Betty, Hulk flees the scene and disappears.

One month later, Bruce is in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Instead of trying to suppress the Hulk, he’s learning to transform on purpose. As his eyes turn green, Bruce smiles.

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