Dr. Bruce Banner is a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film franchise portrayed by Edward Norton and subsequently by Mark Ruffalo—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—known by his alter ego, the Hulk. In the films, Banner is a renowned physicist who subjected himself to a gamma radiation experiment designed to replicate a World War II-era "super soldier" program; the experiment failed, now causes Banner to transform into a green and gigantic creature, with super-human strength and durability, whenever his heart rate goes above 200 bpm or if he is placed in mortal danger. The character is one of the central protagonists of the MCU, having appeared in eight films of the series and is depicted as one of the most powerful members of the Avengers; the Hulk is strong and throughout most of the films he acts on the instinct of self-preservation, attacking anything that he perceives as a threat. Over time, Banner demonstrated an increasing ability to control the transformation, calling the Hulk at will, but was not able to recall events during the time he was in that form.

The Hulk, became aware of Banner and able to stall the transformation back – one time staying in Hulk form for two years, becoming able to speak with others and control his destructive rage. Banner was able to merge with the Hulk, combining Banner's mind and personality with the Hulk's body and strength; the Hulk first appeared as a comic book character in The Incredible Hulk #1, written by Stan Lee, penciled and co-plotted by Jack Kirby, inked by Paul Reinman. Lee cited influence from Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the Hulk's creation, while Kirby recalled as inspiration the tale of a mother who rescues her child, trapped beneath a car. Lee gave the Hulk's alter ego the alliterative name "Bruce Banner" because he found he had less difficulty remembering alliterative names; the Hulk was grey, but coloring problems led to the creature being made green. Banner and his alter ego appeared in a 1978 live-action TV series, in a 2003 film that received mixed reviews, with Marvel Studios regaining the film production rights for the character in February 2006.

In the mid-2000s, Kevin Feige realized that Marvel still owned the rights to the core members of the Avengers, which now included Hulk. Feige, a self-professed "fanboy", envisioned creating a shared universe just as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done with their comic books in the early 1960s. Louis Leterrier, who had expressed interest in directing Iron Man, was brought onboard to direct, with a screenplay by Zak Penn intended to serve as a loose sequel to the 2003 film, but keeping the story closer to the comics and the 1978 television series. David Duchovny was a front-runner for the film, Leterrier's original choice for the role was Mark Ruffalo. In April 2007, Edward Norton was hired to portray Banner and to rewrite Penn's screenplay in order to distance itself from the 2003 film and establish its own identity as a reboot, although he would go uncredited for his writing. Producer Gale Anne Hurd recalled Norton's portrayals of duality in Primal Fear and Fight Club, while Norton reminded Kevin Feige of Bill Bixby, who had played Banner in the 1978 TV series.

Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk with Bixby, remarked Norton "has a similar physique similar personality". Norton was a Hulk fan, citing the first comic appearances, the Bixby TV show, Bruce Jones' run on the comic, as his favorite depictions of the character, he had expressed interest in the role for the first film. He turned down the part, recalling "there the wince factor or the defensive part of you that recoils at what the bad version of what that would be", as he felt the previous film "strayed far afield from a story, familiar to people, a fugitive story"; when he met Leterrier and Marvel, he liked their vision, believed they were looking to him to guide the project. During the 2008 New York Comic Con Leterrier publicly offered Lou Ferrigno the chance to voice the Hulk for the film; the Hulk's only line was "Betty" at the film's ending, which would have been his first word. Leterrier was aware that fans wanted him to speak and added "leave me alone" and "Hulk smash!" The latter line received cheers during a screening.

Mark Ruffalo began his role as Banner / Hulk in The Avengers, after Feige said he chose not to bring back Norton. Norton has since asserted that it was his own decision never to play Hulk again because he "wanted more diversity" with his career, did not want to be associated with only one character. Screen Rant has noted that, in part due to the change in actors, "many forget that Incredible Hulk is canon within the MCU". In April 2012, despite Ruffalo being on board to play the Hulk in the sequel, Feige confirmed to Collider that Marvel had no plans at that time to film another Hulk film. In a Q&A session and Ruffalo confirmed that discussions were underway to produce another Hulk film due to the positive audience response to Ruffalo's performance in The Avengers. However, Universal retained the distribution rights for The Incredible Hulk as well as the right of first refusal to distribute future Hulk films. In September 2012, while exploring all possible story options for a sequel film, including a film based on the "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk" storylines, stated, "everything is on the table.

Do I think Hulk can carry a movie and be as entertaining as he was in Avengers? I do believe that. I do believe he could. We are not going to attempt that until Avengers 2. So there's a lot of time to think about it". In June 2014, Ruffa

Peltospiridae is a small family of gastropods that used to belong to the clade Vetigastropoda, but is now included in the clade Neomphalina This family has no subfamilies. Genera within the family Peltospiridae: Chrysomallon Ctenopelta Depressigyra Warén & Bouchet, 1989 Echinopelta McLean, 1989 Hirtopelta McLean, 1989 Lirapex Warén & Bouchet, 1989 Nodopelta McLean, 1989 Pachydermia Warén & Bouchet, 1989 Peltospira McLean, 1989 Rhynchopelta McLean, 1989 A cladogram based on sequences of cytochrome-c oxidase I genes showing phylogenic relations of Peltospiridae. Lacunoides and Cyathermia are sometimes classified within Neomphalidae, but according to the COI genne analysis, they cluster within Peltospiridae