| abstract | - Five years after Bruce Banner became the Hulk, battled and defeated his own father and then faked his own death, he is working at a bottling factory in Rio de Janeiro. It has been 158 days since he last changed into the Hulk, but still struggles to control the beast. When Bruce accidentally cuts his finger, a drop of his blood falls into a bottle, which is shipped off to Wisconsin, where it is consumed and causes medical problems. Using the bottle to find Bruce's location, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross sends a team to capture him. The team, led by Emil Blonsky, are defeated when Bruce is forced to become the Hulk. As Blonsky is now aware of the Hulk, Ross explains the creature's origin. Blonsky is then injected with a small amount of a serum developed from the operation, enhancing his speed, strength, agility and healing. He suffers as a result, however, as his skeleton begins to deform. Bruce is reunited with his old love interest Betty Ross, who is General Ross' daughter, but finds that she is now dating a man named Leonard Samson. Samson, suspicious of Bruce, alerts Ross and Blonsky, summoning a military force. Bruce must once again become the Hulk and battle them. After fighting them off, Bruce must once again go on the run. To his surprise, though, Betty comes with him. The two head for New York, in order to meet a cellular biologist who Bruce met on the internet. The man is revealed to be Dr Samuel Sterns, who has been attempting to develop an antidote for the Hulk, using blood samples Bruce sent him from Central America. However, he has also created a large supply of Bruce's blood, having synthesized it. Bruce realises that the power of the Hulk could now fall into military hands and tries to persuade Sterns to destroy the samples, but they are interrupted by Ross, who finally captures Bruce. Blonsky confronts Sterns and learns of the blood supply, and chooses to inject himself with it. Sterns warns him that combining Bruce's blood with the Super Soldier serum could transform him into an "abomination," but Blonsky ignores him and injects anyway. Blosnky then proceeds to wreck Sterns' lab and attacks him, leaving him for dead. Blonsky soon mutates and goes on a rampage. Betty realizes that the Hulk is the only one capable of defeating Blonsky and convinces her father to release him. Bruce transforms into the Hulk and confronts Blonsky. A brutal fight between the two ensues, leaving a wake of destruction across the city before they wind up at the local dam. The Hulk prevails by choking Blonsky into subconciousness with a large chain, but is stopped by Betty from killing him. The Hulk climbs out of the dam to get to Betty's side, which is when Blonsky wakes up and tells them that they have lost before using the last of his strength to smash the dam apart, disappearing beneath the wall of water. The Hulk, however, manages to set off a landslide which saves the city from being flooded. Transforming back into Bruce, he shares a final kiss with Betty before running off, preventing the military from capturing him. A month later, Bruce is seen in British Columbia, revealing that he is now able to control the transformation rather than suppress it.
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