unusual suspects: wait, so, uh… does the Hulk canonically lack Banner’s intellect? I...
wait, so, uh… does the Hulk canonically lack Banner’s intellect? I thought he just had some trouble with syntax and pronouns. and of course the clouded reasoning that necessarily accompanies his natural state of meltdown.
I checked wikipedia and the only reference it makes is that She-Hulk retains her intelligence post-transformation, apparently unlike Bruce. but I never got the impression that Hulk’s overall intelligence is lower than Bruce’s (partially since that’s impossible) — it’s just that certain faculties are locked away and obscured by others.
I know “lack intellect” etc are lazy ways to put it but what I mean is, Banner isn’t mysteriously divested of his physicisty brilliance when he becomes the Hulk. right? he’s just REALLY ANGRY.
The Hulk’s level of intelligence differs dramatically though out the lengthy comic canon. Though generally Banner and the Hulk are written as two seperate beings. There was a peroid when either the Hulk had Banner’s brain or Banner’s level of intelligence.. or something like that? I’m not the best person to comment on this because despite being a long time Marvel fan the Avengers film was legit one of the first times I’ve felt that interested in the character (kudos Joss and Mark!.. oh I know comics fans I should read the Peter David run etc)
Reblogging so that Neil can see and answer.
The problem with giving a definitive answer on a Marvel character is that they’ve been around for so many decades under so many different authors without any breaks that their histories read like scripture; difficult to comprehend, at odds with itself, and ultimately open to interpretation. But here’s what I can come up with;
The basic Hulk paradigm is that when Banner becomes angry, he turns into the Savage Green Hulk, and his intellect plummets. The Green Hulk is about as intelligent as a small child, and his rages are effectively a meltdown that can level cities. But though the Hulk has very limited brain power, he’s not malicious, and his basic desire is to just be left in peace. During the times when we see the Green Hulk at rest (and Banner hasn’t taken over), he can even be gentle and make friends. As destructive as the Hulk can be, most of his victims are villains who try to capture and/or exploit his power, and they get what’s coming to them.
In the comics, there’s also the matter of the Grey Hulk, a separate personality that manifests from time to time. The Grey Hulk isn’t a scientific genius like Bruce, but he’s not intellectually handicapped like the Green Hulk. He’s actually quite crafty and opportunistic, and while he’s not prone to malicious deeds, he’s basically out for himself and will easily kill if provoked. Most modern day versions of the comic Hulk are basically the Grey Hulk with the Green Hulk’s skin. The version on the current Avengers cartoon is basically that, a crafty brute.
What’s also worth noting is that Bruce Banner is the child of abuse. His father was a monstrous, violent man who murdered Bruce’s mother and would’ve killed his son had Bruce not struck lethally in self-defense. The gamma bomb that made Bruce into the Hulk unleashed various personalities that, in effect, manifested his repressed emotions. The Green Hulk is what the child Bruce wanted to be, all that pent-up rage turned into a giant monster that will fight back. The Grey Hulk is a bit more complex, but works under the same paradigm; he’s a creature so powerful he doesn’t have to follow any rules, and instead of book smarts he has street smarts, so he’s like what the insecure teenager Bruce would want to be.
And if you want to get really weird, there was a period in the mid-90’s comics where the Hulk was a merger between Bruce’s intellect, Grey’s cunning, and Green’s strength…except when he got angry, and turned into Bruce Banner’s body with the Green Hulk’s brain. The image of a 90-pound man flailing wildly and screaming “Hulk Smash!” was simultaneously comic and tragic, like much of the character.
