Bruce Banner's Apartment Building is a building located in the Rocinha favela of Rio de Janeiro.
History[]
Hiding from the U.S. Army[]
Bruce Banner Manhunt[]
Bruce Banner begins quietly living in Brazil
Five years after the original Hulk incident, Bruce Banner eventually settled in the Brazilian slums of the Rocinha favela, Rio de Janeiro, working as a handyman in a soft drink bottling factory that produced Pingo Doce while still attempting to find a cure for his condition, with the aid of his Internet friend Mr. Blue. His apartment was right above the apartment of his co-worker Martina. To keep himself sane while living in his exile, Banner had adopted a dog and taught himself Portuguese by reading a bilingual dictionary and watching television, including translated broadcasts of US TV shows.
Banner finds a rare flower to help with his cure
The search for a cure for his condition drove Banner to study the Corablanca flower described inside of the book Inventory of Rare and Endangered Tracheophyta of Amazônia, and he finally received it from someone he had hired to search for it.[1] In his apartment, he partially build a laboratory using scavenged trash, such as an old record player and a bicycle tire.[2] Banner put up a picture of Betty Ross before he contacted Mr. Blue to inform him of the discovery of the plant, as Mr. Blue commented on what a beautiful flower it was and then advised Banner to use a high dose of it.
Banner trying to create an antidote
With Mr. Blue advising him to try a high dose of the component extracted from the plant and wishing him good luck, Banner was able to produce a serum using the homemade laboratory equipment and every bit of the flower to ensure he had enough to likely cure himself. Banner tried the serum on a drop of his own blood to undo all the effects of the gamma radiation, and while it seemed to be successful at first as all the green gamma-infected blood was reduced, after just a few seconds it triggered a reaction that made all of the cells explode, marking this latest experiment as a failure.
Banner finally gets a message from Mr. Blue
Informing Mr. Blue of the failure, noting that he had used all of the flowers and therefore, he could not try it again. The scientist insisted on meeting Banner in person in the United States of America, as he noted that living with gamma poisoning could be more dangerous than the eventual risks of their meeting. Banner still refused, fearing that Thaddeus Ross could find him, however, Mr. Blue then convinced him to send a blood sample for more testing.
Banner is asked for more data for his sample
A few days later, Banner finally received some more news from Mr. Blue, that the preliminary blood tests showed some significant gamma reduction, but that in order to develop an appropriate antidote for Banner, he would need more data and requested the details behind the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project. Banner realized he would have to return to Culver University to retrieve the data and told Mr. Blue that it would be impossible to get it.[1]
Ambush in Rio de Janeiro[]
Bruce Banner overhears soldiers coming for him
One night, while Banner attempted to sleep in his bed, he became alerted upon hearing one of the nearby dogs yelping out in pain. As it turned out, Thaddeus Ross had tracked Banner's location due to his infected blood falling into a Pingo Doce bottle, and sent his team led by Emil Blonsky to capture him. They attempted to break into his home and take Banner back into custody by force.
Banner attempts to hide away with Martina
Realizing the danger that had arrived, Banner quietly escaped through his window as Blonsky and his unit located Banner's house and burst in to shoot him with tranquilizers, although Banner had already fled through the window and momentarily hid with Martina in her apartment. As Blonsky and the other soldiers looked for Banner, they assumed he had run into the streets of Rocinha, allowing Banner a moment of relief. Because of his incessant barking, Banner's dog was tranquilized by Blonsky.
This would be Banner's last night living in that apartment, as minutes later he would transform into the Hulk at the Pingo Doce Bottling Plant, fight the military and flee Brazil to Guatemala.[1]
Aftermath of the Ambush[]
Emil Blonsky, Thaddeus Ross and Kathleen Sparr in Banner's apartment
In the aftermath of the battle, with the military investigating Banner's apartment, Emil Blonsky reported back to General Thaddeus Ross, furious that he had not been giving all the information about Hulk, and explained that Bruce Banner evaded them in Brazil due to the appearance of the large green monster, which he believed had been helping Banner all along. Ross explained that the monster was Banner, although he refused to give any more details at this time, ordering Blonsky and his surviving men to pack up and return to the United States of America, as Banner would be long gone by this point.[1]
