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So, I recently rewatched the Ang Lee "Hulk" film not too long ago, and upon looking at our current profile for "Absorbing Man", I've realized that it absolutely does not appear to be up to code. I have quite a few gripes with this page, which I will be going through in order:
The first gripe is the name. "Absorbing Man" is not the correct name for this character. He is never referred to as "Absorbing Man" at any point in the film, or even the film's credits. His name is David Banner, and that is the name he is given throughout the movie. The name on the profile should be changed to reflect this.
David Banner's powers are interpreted and elaborated upon very poorly in this profile. See, everything he does in the film (after gaining his mutation) is achieved by one ability and one ability only, explained within the film (by the man himself) as the ability to "partake with the essences of all things".
This ability, as demonstrated in the film, is a mixture of absorption, adaptation, fusionism and shapeshifting. Anything David Banner touches, he can absorb, fuse with and/or change himself into. The very limited number of entries in his Powers and Abilities section do not address the full scope of what this means; he can change into metal by touching it, change his entire body into rock by laying across it, turn into water by submerging himself in a lake, fuse his hands with metal objects to move them (which he does in the above video), et cetera. He's not limited to solid or liquid matter either, as the endgame of the film has him doing things like absorbing San Francisco's entire electrical grid, absorbing the ambient energy in a lake to freeze it solid, and even absorbing the Hulk's own energy numerous times in their final fight. (Which ends up being his downfall.)
Which brings me to my second point. David Banner's actual abilities and characteristics have the propensity to change wildly thanks to the nature of his mutation. A key example of this is when he managed to absorb San Francisco's power grid; he gained the properties of extremely high-voltage electricity, allowing him to travel through the clouds as honest-to-God lightning and remain completely unaffected by the Hulk's attacks. Depending on what he has absorbed, several forms of elemental intangibility are achievable, as are numerous degrees of healing (after absorbing water, the Hulk ripped right through his torso with a punch and he reformed immediately), natural resistances to certain attacks (ex: if he's made of fire, explosives aren't going to hurt him) and significant changes in speed stats. (see: him absorbing SF's electrical grid granting him the ability to move as a lightning bolt)
I also shouldn't have to explain that the things we see him do in the film should not be the full extent of what he's capable of with this power. Nobody is going to argue that he'll be absorbing the Power Cosmic anytime soon, but he's clearly not limited to just water, rocks and electricity. The nature of his powers and his own, very broad explanation of them imply that he's capable of absorbing and becoming just about anything that's present in the 2003!Hulk film setting, which should include most if not all elemental attacks and practically any other natural phenomena below a certain threshold. He also proves that he can absorb radiation and gamma energy, so that lengthens the list of possibilities considerably.
Long story short, his current profile doesn't properly explain the nature of his powers or what they allow him to do, and that should be changed. There needs to be a better elaboration on what his abilities actually do, as well as the greater potential that such powers give him compared to what is currently suggested on the page.
Also, change that name.
P.S.: I recommend clarifying on the profile that he doesn't have access to all of these powers at once, because he clearly doesn't. He can't project or travel as lightning if he hasn't absorbed any, he has no elemental intangibility unless he's absorbed an element to speak of, and all of his other unnatural feats aren't possible unless he's absorbed/fused with something first.
P.S.S.: He should also have resistance to radiation, electricity, and pretty much anything else harmful that he absorbed in the film, because said things did absolutely no harm to him whatsoever and the only thing that ended up doing any real damage to him was a nuke that hit him after he reached his limit trying to absorb all of the Hulk's energy.
The first gripe is the name. "Absorbing Man" is not the correct name for this character. He is never referred to as "Absorbing Man" at any point in the film, or even the film's credits. His name is David Banner, and that is the name he is given throughout the movie. The name on the profile should be changed to reflect this.
David Banner's powers are interpreted and elaborated upon very poorly in this profile. See, everything he does in the film (after gaining his mutation) is achieved by one ability and one ability only, explained within the film (by the man himself) as the ability to "partake with the essences of all things".
This ability, as demonstrated in the film, is a mixture of absorption, adaptation, fusionism and shapeshifting. Anything David Banner touches, he can absorb, fuse with and/or change himself into. The very limited number of entries in his Powers and Abilities section do not address the full scope of what this means; he can change into metal by touching it, change his entire body into rock by laying across it, turn into water by submerging himself in a lake, fuse his hands with metal objects to move them (which he does in the above video), et cetera. He's not limited to solid or liquid matter either, as the endgame of the film has him doing things like absorbing San Francisco's entire electrical grid, absorbing the ambient energy in a lake to freeze it solid, and even absorbing the Hulk's own energy numerous times in their final fight. (Which ends up being his downfall.)
Which brings me to my second point. David Banner's actual abilities and characteristics have the propensity to change wildly thanks to the nature of his mutation. A key example of this is when he managed to absorb San Francisco's power grid; he gained the properties of extremely high-voltage electricity, allowing him to travel through the clouds as honest-to-God lightning and remain completely unaffected by the Hulk's attacks. Depending on what he has absorbed, several forms of elemental intangibility are achievable, as are numerous degrees of healing (after absorbing water, the Hulk ripped right through his torso with a punch and he reformed immediately), natural resistances to certain attacks (ex: if he's made of fire, explosives aren't going to hurt him) and significant changes in speed stats. (see: him absorbing SF's electrical grid granting him the ability to move as a lightning bolt)
I also shouldn't have to explain that the things we see him do in the film should not be the full extent of what he's capable of with this power. Nobody is going to argue that he'll be absorbing the Power Cosmic anytime soon, but he's clearly not limited to just water, rocks and electricity. The nature of his powers and his own, very broad explanation of them imply that he's capable of absorbing and becoming just about anything that's present in the 2003!Hulk film setting, which should include most if not all elemental attacks and practically any other natural phenomena below a certain threshold. He also proves that he can absorb radiation and gamma energy, so that lengthens the list of possibilities considerably.
Long story short, his current profile doesn't properly explain the nature of his powers or what they allow him to do, and that should be changed. There needs to be a better elaboration on what his abilities actually do, as well as the greater potential that such powers give him compared to what is currently suggested on the page.
Also, change that name.
P.S.: I recommend clarifying on the profile that he doesn't have access to all of these powers at once, because he clearly doesn't. He can't project or travel as lightning if he hasn't absorbed any, he has no elemental intangibility unless he's absorbed an element to speak of, and all of his other unnatural feats aren't possible unless he's absorbed/fused with something first.
P.S.S.: He should also have resistance to radiation, electricity, and pretty much anything else harmful that he absorbed in the film, because said things did absolutely no harm to him whatsoever and the only thing that ended up doing any real damage to him was a nuke that hit him after he reached his limit trying to absorb all of the Hulk's energy.
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