Welcome to the explosive new chapter in the superhero franchise that%u2019s captivated the world for more than 40 years.

Universal Pictures and Marvel Studios bring the action-packed epic motion picture of one of the most captivating heroes of all time – The Incredible Hulk – to a world that’s been anxiously awaiting its arrival.

For decades, the brute strength and touching vulnerability of this character have captured the imagination of die-hard fans.

The Hulk is a creature that embraces pure rage and limitless aggression – living inside one brilliant man who finds his alter ego more and more impossible to suppress.

And you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

Scientist Bruce Banner (two-time Oscarnominee Edward Norton, American History X, Primal Fear) is desperately hunting for a cure to the gamma radiation that has poisoned his cells and encourages the unleashing of The Hulk.

Cut off from life and the woman he loves, Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Ross (Liv Tyler, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Strangers), Banner is living as a fugitive to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Oscar-winner William Hurt, Into the Wild, A History of Violence). Also only a few steps behind is a military machine seeking to capture him and brutally exploit his power.

As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk’s creation, they are confronted with a vicious new adversary known as The Abomination, a monstrosity whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk’s own.

Portraying the human incarnation of this powerful creature is noted Academy Awardnominee Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs). As Emil Blonsky, Roth imagines a super soldier whose lust for power manifests itself in The Abomination.

And to defeat this nemesis, one scientist must make an agonising final choice: accept a peaceful life as Bruce Banner or find heroism in the creature he holds inside – the Incredible Hulk.

Joining Norton, Tyler, Hurt and Roth for the film is an accomplished cast including Ty Burrell (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Dawn of the Dead), who portrays Leonard, a man competing for Betty Ross’ affections, and Tim Blake Nelson (Syriana, Holes), who takes on the role of Professor Samuel Sterns, a cellular biologist who quite possibly holds the key to Banner’s quest for a cure.

With his off-the-chart strength, size, durability, speed and fighting skills, The Hulk has achieved enviable status as one of the most popular superheroes of the last century.

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character debuted in May 1962 in a series of Marvel Comics.

A young writer, Lee had just finished the first of the Marvel line of books with a then unknown team called the Fantastic Four, and he was looking for a hero who wasn’t as handsome or pretty – someone, or something, totally different who could capture the imagination of Marvel’s readers. Lee and Kirby wanted a "misunderstood hero".

Lee remembers, "I had always loved the old movie Frankenstein. And it seemed to me that the monster, played by Boris Karloff, wasn’t really a bad guy. He was the good guy. He didn’t want to hurt anybody. It’s just those idiots with torches kept running up and down the mountains, chasing him and getting him angry. And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to create a monster and make him the good guy?’

The Incredible Hulk is rated M and is currently screening at Birch Carroll & Coyle.

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