An accidental overdose of gamma radiation creates a mutation in David Banner's DNA, and, whenever he becomes angry, it causes him to metamorphose into a seven foot, 338-pound, green hulking creature. A reporter, Jack McGee, begins investigating claims of a giant monster; his investigation leads to Banner's laboratory. An explosion in the lab kills friend Elaina Marks; McGee, who dubs the creature "the Hulk", believes the Hulk killed David too. Unable to explain the truth, nor control his transformations, David leaves to try and find a cure for himself.
With the world believing him to be dead, David Banner is on the run, trying to find a way to be cured of his transformations into the Hulk. Meanwhile, David lands a job at a ranch, where he befriends a young heiress. He notices that the woman is being given a questionable drug by her physician. He then overhears a plot to kill her so that her stepmother could gain an inheritance; he also learns that the recent death of the young woman's father was no accident. Now, David must get the heiress to safety before it is too late.
David boards a flight to visit another doctor whom he thinks has information that might help him with his problem. But, when the pilot and stewardess drugs the rest of the crew in an attempt to bail out of the airplane with stolen property, David and a young boy named Kevin try to land the jetliner.
Banner poses as a top doctor in physics to infiltrate a research complex, in order to access some gamma-ray equipment that may just be able to cure him of his green alter ego. He is about to start the attempt of reversing his condition when an earthquake strikes, blowing his cover, causing mass destruction and devastation, and setting off an impending core melt-down.
Banner is working in a tavern on the docks in Galveston, Texas, where he befriends the owner, a Union President's widow, whose husband was killed under suspicious circumstances. The woman is being pestered by a shady businessman, running to become the new President, to endorse his election campaign and he is willing to go to any lengths necessary to win the election.
David 'Benton' travels to Hawaii to meet Dr. Carolyn Fields (Mariette Hartley), a psychologist whose technique might help control the Hulk. However, Dr. Fields is in the terminal stages of a disease that the Hulk could help cure. With the pair working in close proximity, love begins to bloom with tragic results
David 'Benton' travels to Hawaii to meet Dr. Carolyn Fields (Mariette Hartley), a psychologist whose technique might help control the Hulk. However, Dr. Fields is in the terminal stages of a disease that the Hulk could help cure. With the pair working in close proximity, love begins to bloom with tragic results.
David works at a hardware store in a resort town, where business is receding. But when an argument with the store's depressed, widowed owner, Harlan, brings on the Hulk's appearance, Harlan and his friend quickly see the possibilities of what the publicity could do for the town. So they set about re-creating their own "monster" to draw in the tourists. But the scheme ends up endangering Harlan's own young daughter.
David is working as a gardener in a suburban school, where he befriends a boy whom he notices is covered in bruises. The school nurse informs David that it's not the first time it's happened, and he soon suspects that one of the boy's parents is abusing him. With no-one willing to listen or help, David sets about putting the situation right himself.
In a follow-up to "Another Path," David visits his friend Li Sung to hopefully find a cure to his transformations. But the old philosopher is now dying and looking for a successor in his practices; the candidate for his leadership is a student, a police officer coping with the recent murder of his father.
When David is arrested for vagrancy, he is placed in a police van where he encounters a man who envisions himself as the deceased writer Ernest Hemmingway. But when a fight provokes David's transformation into the Hulk, our hero escapes, inadvertently freeing the mentally ill man in the process. David must help find the man before he hurts himself or someone else.
In Atlantic City, FBI agents catch David with contraband shipments belonging to a gang of thieves, and insist that he be an informant until the gang is apprehended. David has no choice but to cooperate with both sides since both are aware of who he is; the FBI agents know that he is David Banner, while the elderly woman, who is one of the thieves, is aware that he becomes the Hulk.
David is employed at a scientific firm known as the Joshua-Lambert Institute. He is also happily involved with a colleague named Dr. Maggie Shaw. Two years have passed since his last transformation into the Hulk, and he hopes to rid himself of his alter-ego for good with the Gamma transponder he has created. But before David could be cured of his affliction, a former student of his by the name of Donald Blake makes a surprise visit. Blake, who has discovered that David Banner is still alive, explains to David about his bond with a Viking god named Thor. He calls upon Thor to prove his claim, but unfortunately, things get out of control, and Thor provokes David's transformation into the Hulk. A fight between the Hulk and Thor ensues, leaving the laboratory damaged. To make matters even worse, David and his transponder are soon at risk, thanks to a gang of criminals associated with the Joshua-Lambert Institute.
David finds his way to a large city, unaware that it is run by a crime lord named Wilson Fisk. After two of Fisk's men commit a robbery, one of them attempts to assault a woman. David's intervention leads to a transformation into the Hulk, and the two men flee after being attacked themselves. Although the Hulk saves the woman, he soon changes back to David, who is then wrongfully arrested for the attempted sexual assault, in addition to several other crimes committed by the robbers. Matt Murdock, a blind attorney, is assigned to David's case. Although David is uncooperative, Murdock believes in his innocence, and seeks to prove it. While awaiting trial, David has a nightmare about transforming into the Hulk, and wreaking havoc in the courtroom. This leads to another transformation into the Hulk, who then breaks out of jail.
In a desperate attempt to find a cure, David works as a janitor at a research laboratory in Portland, Oregon. While pretending to be simple-minded, he anonymously guides the genetic research of Dr. Ronald Pratt. After being discovered by Dr. Pratt, David admits to his true identity, and explains his story. Pratt then agrees to help rid him of the Hulk. Unfortunately, however, a group of spies are after Dr. Pratt's research, and want to use it to create "perfect" soldiers.