Geez, you go away on business for a couple of days and Marvel have the indecency to release a fully fledged teaser trailer for possibly the most anticipated comic book movie of all time; The Avengers. SO please watch the trailer and then join me after the jump for a Sidekick's view:

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The latest Marvel Studios film, Captain America: The First Avenger, has been out in the UK now for just over a week. It’s doing quite well at the box office, and has had, for the most part, some pretty solid reviews. But among the film going fans, be they comic geeks or not, opinions seem to be a little divided. Not in an extreme manner, we’re not talking huge arguments between those who loved it and those who hated it. But whereas there seem to be widely agreed upon opinions on the previous films in the Avengers franchise, there appear to be two differing groups when it comes to Cap. You have those who loved it (which includes myself, who actually holds it up as the best Marvel Studios film to date), and those whose opinion is best described as “It was okay. I liked it, didn’t love it.”

Like I say, it’s not like there are any massive differences, but it did get me thinking. There’s no such thing as a universally held opinion. You’ll always find someone who disagrees with you. But a quick poll of the other Avengers films should yield the following results, generally speaking: Iron Man is awesome, and a great start to Marvel’s shared film universe. The Incredible Hulk is dumb, but fun. Iron Man 2 is hugely flawed, too much of a set up, yet also quite likeable. Thor is a spectacular blend of superheroes with epic fantasy and some Shakespeare thrown in for good measure.

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There are two good reasons to pick up Incredible Hulk #1 when it relaunches in October; Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri. One is a writer who has taken Marvel by storm, taking well known characters to places they've never been before, the other is a legendary artist who made a name for himself on the X-Men and was one of the famous seven that went on to form Image comics and then Top Cow. Need I say more?

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Doc Bruce Banner, pelted by gamma rays, turned into the Hulk. But chances are if you’re reading this, you already knew that. In this, part two of part five of my regular column, I’m looking at the actors who have played Banner, and giving you who I think are the five best.

Last week, when we looked at the Hulk, there was only one man who received any votes at all. Lou Ferrigno was, unanimously, picked as the best Hulk ever. But while there’s a clear favourite when it comes to the Hulk, the voting for Bruce Banner was much more varied. Four actors were very much in the running, with Eric Bana, Bill Bixby, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo all fighting for your top spot. Normally in this column, this is the point where I’d tell you exactly which one was your favourite. Not this week though. As it happens, I concur with your number one, and since it was so tight, I thought I’d try and keep you in suspense. Bana, Bixby and Norton all feature on this list. Ruffalo, much as I love him and awesome as I think he’ll be, doesn’t place here, much as Andrew Garfield didn’t for Spider-Man, simply because we haven’t seen him yet. Anyway, on with the list, and a man who got no votes from you at all.

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Wait, part 5-1? What are you playing at PJ? What does that even mean? Well, it’s quite simple. In this week’s column, I’m looking at the ever Incredible Hulk. Hulk is a unique character when it comes to his screen outings. The characters featured in these columns so far have, with the possible exception of Wolverine, all had dual identities. However, when it comes to the actors who have played them, each actor has taken on both the secret identity and their more heroic alter-ego. Of course, when it comes to the Hulk, this just isn’t possible. So different is the Hulk to Bruce Banner, that by necessity, the two have always been played by different actors, with only one exception, to the best of my knowledge.

As such, I’m splitting this column in two. This week I’ll be looking at Hulk, while next week will be devoted to Banner. So, who did the people of the internet vote as their favourite Hulk? Not as many actors have played the Hulk as some of the other heroes I’ve covered, but even so, only one actor received any votes at all. It’ll come as no surprise to learn that it was the one and only Lou Ferrigno.

Just a quick note, for the purposes of this list, I’ve excluded any actors playing the grey Hulk, as he’s technically a different character, and to the best of my knowledge, has only ever been played by two actors anyway (Michael Donovan, who was excellent in the role, and Travis Willingham). So, on with the five best Green Goliaths!

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Expectation seems to be everything with the new Thor movie. Whether it be the expectation of what has come before (Iron Man, Hulk) or what's next (Captain America or the Avengers Uber-movie). That being said, although Thor can be seen as bridging some gaps in the cannon continuity of the new Marvel-Film Universe(lets ignore Hulk for now), it comes alive by just being it's own thing.

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