It only stands to reason that Marvel would create such an unusual pairing of short films based around two of Marvel's flagship characters. What with the Hulk smashing the box office, the development of a "Thor" film, and Wolverine being granted the lead in a new series and a series of action movies, it suddenly comes to mind that these pairings aren't so odd after all. Once you break it down to its core, it's really Marvel testing the waters for the fan boys and girls yet again. And if you're not over thinking things like moi, there's always the possibility that Marvel just wanted to get three of the greatest Marvel heroes and make them go one, two smashing the Earth and spitting blood in a stand off that only exemplifies the appeal and why my local DVD store had to restock every week since these movies premiered on shelves across the nation. Fan boys want to see their favorite heroes bust each other's skulls in and for "Hulk vs." it's an animated movie series I'd definitely follow if Marvel allows for more heroes battling one another in animated PG-13 glory.

So if parents are looking for a change from kiddy crap, this movie isn’t suggested to entertain them. At 37 minutes, The Hulk vs. Wolverine is based on the original introduction of Wolverine that feels like a glorified episode of a series than a movie, which in retrospect makes sense. I hate blatant padding. The Hulk is out of control and it takes some of the biggest heroes of the universe to stop him; what with the challenges faced, you have to wonder if anyone can stop his onslaught of carnage before it spreads across the globe. HULK VS. THOR is the more epic and less complicated installment that follows the Asgardian god in his struggle to battle the misdoings of his brother Loki. What can I say? These duel films have been a blast to sit through and definitely made me forget anything about “Next Avengers.” With excellent voice work, “Hulk vs. Thor” centers on Bruce Banner, a vulnerable young man transferred to Asgard at the feet of Loki who plans to manipulate the man in to defeating Thor once and for all to claim Mjiolnir.

HULK vs. WOLVERINE is a much more simplistic look at the meeting of two anti-heroes as Lions Gate takes the first appearance of Wolverine in the comics and morphs it in to the accidental meeting of the two who fight endlessly, one nearly invulnerable while the other can re-generate his body; simply it’s a short film that introduces us to exhausting battles that shines the light on Logan who works for the US Military to track down and stomp the Hulk whose been inflicting rage on some land becoming. There’s no need to go to the plot because there’s not much of one.

Wolverine appears, wolverine gets his mission and now wolverine hopes to achieve his orders nice and tidy-like. Simply, this movie is the better of the two because it works in achieving what fan boys want from this clashing and also setting up the coming feature film for Logan who meets some pals while attempting to put down the Hulk. It’s a surprise and convenient bit of cameos with characters making their way in to the movie soon. “Vs. Wolverine” serves a purpose: to set up the Wolverine movie and taking very little consideration to the Hulk who battles the fuzz ball for a while and exits stage left almost immediately. This is Wolverine’s show. You can’t sweat Marvel for wanting to promote the character, but what about the Green giant? I enjoyed it and I know Wolverine fans (good acting by Steve Blum, FYI) will eat it up and ignore Thor.

Some caveats are easily ignored in "Hulk vs." because there's so much damn talent here. From the animation, top drawer voice work, the action scenes and good characterization, "Hulk vs." is a definite win in spite of the short run times. I enjoyed it a great deal.