The jury is still out on whether The Incredible Hulk will be a hulking success or an incredible flop next week, reports claim.
Crucially, it is not the first time that Bruce Banner's battles with his towering green alter-ego will have been interpreted on the big screen.
Ang Lee, the director of 2005's Brokeback Mountain and of 1995's popular take on Sense and Sensibility, created his own version of the comic strip protagonist in 2003's Hulk.
Lee's version starred Eric Bana (Munich, Troy) and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Requiem for a Dream) – and has thrown the gauntlet down to what will be Marvel Entertainment's first independently funded and produced film.
Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, told the LA Times: "The biggest challenge on The Incredible Hulk was Ang Lee's Hulk in 2003."
The success of Iron Man's opening week will however act as encouragement for Marvel, with the comic book hero played by Robert Downey Jr proving its pull at the box office.