The year 2017 marks the 55th anniversary for several of Marvel Comics most iconic characters, including the shrinking Ant-Man, the god of thunder Thor, and the web-slinging Spider-Man. But there is one more character who would be quite angry to not be mentioned, and trust me, you won’t like him when he’s angry.

Bruce Banner, a/k/a the Hulk, created by the dynamic duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, made his smashing entrance in The Incredible Hulk #1 in 1962. The creation of the Hulk was largely inspired by the popularity of Frankenstein as well as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While experimenting with a gamma bomb, scientist Banner sacrifices himself by saving a teenager who wandered onto the testing field. Banner is hit with the detonation blast and absorbs massive amounts of gamma radiation. Although he awakens later, seemingly unscathed, that night he transforms into a lumbering grey form – dubbed by a soldier as a “hulk.” Originally, Banner transformed into the Hulk at sunset and reverted at sunrise. However, he later used a gamma-ray machine to cause the transformation. The Hulk later became a founding member of the Avengers, until his overuse of the gamma-ray machine rendered the Hulk as an uncontrollable monster, subject to spontaneous changing. While Banner is considered one of the greatest scientific minds on Earth, as the Hulk he possesses the potential for seemingly limitless physical strength.

During his appearances in the series Tales to Astonish, stress was established as the trigger for Banner turning into the Hulk and vice versa. It was also during this time that the Hulk developed a more savage personality, shifting away from his original portrayal as a brutish but not entirely unintelligent figure. His memory, both long-term and short-term, also became markedly impaired in his Hulk state. After Glenn Talbot witnessed his transformation, he turned Banner into a wanted fugitive. In 2006, the Illuminati decide the Hulk is far too dangerous to remain on Earth and launch him into space. After crash landing on Planet Sakaar, the Planet Hulk storyline was ushered in. Throughout this series, Hulk found allies in the Warbound and even married the alien queen Caiera – a relationship that later produced two sons, Skaar and Hiro-Kala. After an Illuminati ship appears to kill Caiera, the Hulk and the Warbound declare war on Earth. However, after discovering that one of the Warbound was responsible for Caiera’s death, the Hulk redeems himself as a hero.

The popularity of the Hulk has led to a number of alternate universes and alternate timelines in which the character’s origins, behavior, and morality differ. In some stories, the Hulk succumbs to his darker tendencies, while in others someone other than Bruce Banner is the Hulk. In addition to comics, the character has also made appearances on animated and live action TV series, films, video games, and stage shows. The Hulk debuted in 1966 as part of The Marvel Super Heroes animated series, before making his live-action debut in The Incredible Hulk. This series, starring Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk, ran from 1978 to 1982 and led to several subsequent television films.

In 2008, Edward Norton portrayed Bruce Banner in the The Incredible Hulk, with Ferrigno providing the voice of the Hulk. Norton was later replaced by Mark Ruffalo for the 2012 film, The Avengers. This time around the voice of the Hulk was a combination of Ruffalo, Ferrigno and few others. Ruffalo reprised his role in a post credit scene for Iron Man 3, and in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Additionally, Ruffalo will reprise his role in the upcoming film Thor: Ragnarok, in theaters November 3, 2017, as well as Avengers: Infinity War and its untitled sequel.