The Hulk Inside You

Why does the Hulk drive such a deep connection to viewers across the globe? Here are a few reasons that may explain this atypical phenomenon.

We are Scared of Ourselves
As humans, we have a tendency to underestimate our full capabilities. This fact leads many to face experiences of surprise, awe, or even fear when confronted with the reality of their own talents amped up to max capacity. Bruce Banner embodies this experience by the way he fears his superhuman alter ego. He does not understand the Hulk within himself, why it exists, or what makes it come to life. Yet, the Hulk remains a part of Bruce, no matter how much he seeks to rid of the big, green monster. This fact reflects our own inners struggles. When extreme circumstances cross our paths, we experience the full extent of our emotions and become of afraid of these pieces of ourselves that act in a way that we cannot fully understand. We explain this phenomena to others using phrases like “I don’t know why I did that. It’s not me.” But it is you. And this is exactly the reason why we are afraid of ourselves.

We are Vulnerable
Despite our greatest efforts of fronting a “tough guy” facade, the emotions which are integral to our being cause a human vulnerability that cannot be removed. Bruce Banner, as well as his alter ego, show this vulnerability that can be often hidden from the superhero persona. The Hulk finds himself running away from society and Bruce Banner suffers upon realization of the demolitions performed by the Hulk. Here the audience finds a superhero who shares with them a deeply human quality. We are vulnerable and imperfect. Characters who do not share this quality give up a fundamental value of relate-ability. We do not sympathize with villains until their weakness is revealed in the same way that we sympathize deeply with the Hulk as his weaknesses are revealed from the first movie frame or comic panel. We are vulnerable, thus Bruce Banner is vulnerable, thus the Hulk is vulnerable. This idea, as an audience, we can accept.

We don’t Always get to Choose our Circumstances
Bruce Banner does not become the Hulk upon his own volition. His “superhero” powers are forced upon him in a way by which he does not personally permit. From there, he must learn how to handle this dramatic life change. The world had its say about his future and now he must suffer the consequences from a situation he did not cause. We feel this in our own lives almost every day. When a loved one passes away, we seriously injure our bodies, or a hurricane destroys our homes, me must learn to adapt our lives to a new future that was previously beyond the scope of our expectations or plans. These events are dream ruiners, goal inhibitors, and relationship destroyers. Ultimately, we must learn how to have hope when it seems all hope is lost as a result of extreme events which extend beyond our control. Bruce Banner emulates this familiar and troubling experience in all of its glory. We watch him struggle but we also watch him succeed. Bruce and the Hulk become a beacon of hope for ourselves, that someday we will also surpass the challenges the world has thrust upon us.

There’s a Big Green Monster is of All of Us
When mom says she’s moving one thousand miles away, a loved one cheats, or a project that has taken us ten years to create becomes unexpectedly obliterated, we discover the big, green monsters inside of our own selves. The Hulk represents our uncontrolled anger that we all wish to unleash. He shows us what it would be like if we were unafraid of the consequences of uninhibited emotion. He reinforces our ideas that we must maintain self-control. The Hulk mirrors our feelings and reinforces our decisions in this way, a perfectly applied formula in order to guarantee audience appreciation and connection to a character. The Hulk answers our “what if” questions and validates our experiences. In this way, we connect to the superhero on a much deeper level than we ever realize.