With a reboot of The Incredible Hulk on the horizon, I am really having to scramble for an opinion on the character. Somehow in my geek girl education, I really missed out on most things Hulk. I can't really explain it. The television show was in reruns when I was a wee geek, and I didn't watch it very often because it scared me. Obviously it scared other kids too, since Mr. Rogers did an episode devoted to showing how the Hulk wasn't a monster, just a nice man in make-up. (However, I was also scared of the Jolly Green Giant – did I think he and the Hulk were one and the same, or do I have deeper issues to work out? Hmm.)
Thanks to our own Scott Weinberg (a Hulk aficionado) and hulu.com, I've been catching up some of the old episodes to refresh my memory. Actually, none of it rings a bell, so traumatized was I by Lou Ferrigno, and it has been a revelation how different the television series was from the comics. And you know what? It was better for it! As opposed to the often convoluted and outlandish Hulk comics, David Banner's origin story rendered him immediately sympathetic. He was so distraught over his failure to save his wife that he became obsessed with the way to unleash his inner strength. Tragically, his obsession turns him into the Hulk, and forces him to live his life on the run. It was like The Fugitive meets The Fountain by way of Marvel. But most importantly, his life on the run made the Hulk a hero.
Thanks to our own Scott Weinberg (a Hulk aficionado) and hulu.com, I've been catching up some of the old episodes to refresh my memory. Actually, none of it rings a bell, so traumatized was I by Lou Ferrigno, and it has been a revelation how different the television series was from the comics. And you know what? It was better for it! As opposed to the often convoluted and outlandish Hulk comics, David Banner's origin story rendered him immediately sympathetic. He was so distraught over his failure to save his wife that he became obsessed with the way to unleash his inner strength. Tragically, his obsession turns him into the Hulk, and forces him to live his life on the run. It was like The Fugitive meets The Fountain by way of Marvel. But most importantly, his life on the run made the Hulk a hero.
That leads me to the blasphemous point of this post: I really don't think the comic book Hulk works on the big screen. He's simply not heroic enough. He is tragic, to be sure, but there's only so much "I feel really bad for Bruce Banner and his uncontrollable rage" one can take. Unlike Batman, Banner never turned his tragic childhood into anything heroic – it just really pisses him off so that he smashes things. The reason his origin is already getting remade by Edward Norton is because no one knows where to go after that. Most story-arcs of the comic book Hulk involve him going berserk, or going on an outer-space adventure. In between, Banner made discoveries about his inner green monster, and attempts were made to split his personality and contain it. In typical comic book fashion, it became pretty complicated and various Hulk personalities emerged, differentiated by color and name – The Professor, Joe Fixit, Savage Hulk, trigged variously by anger or sunlight. Amusing on the page, corny onscreen.
I'm not denying that a skilled writer couldn't take these ideas, rewrite them, reuse the television show, and turn out some cool Hulk movies. Edward Norton may have done just that. (And I really hope so!) But if you stray too far into the deep psychology, you end up with Ang Lee's Hulk. For the record, I didn't hate it -- but I am not certain an intense character study works when your character is green and wears purple pants. It simply comes off as ridiculous. Yet you cannot make endless movies of Hulk smashing things, either. He has to do something, mean something. And I'm not sure he ever can. He lacks the sleekness of Batman, and the shine of Superman. He's too unpredictable to be a hero – and he's too one dimensional if he's not.
Ultimately, I like the Hulk best as a secondary character. My favorite Hulk story was in Wolverine's solo series, when he came to Madripoor in his Joe Fixit incarnation. Now, Joe Fixit was really silly – the Hulk as a Las Vegas enforcer – but pitted against Wolverine, it was hilarious. For some reason, Wolverine felt compelled to sneak into Fixit's hotel room and prove it was Bruce Banner. Once assured it wasn't a Hulk lookalike, Wolverine was so annoyed his foe was in Madripoor that he stole all of Banner's luggage and replaced Fixit's suits with purple pants. It appeals to my inner 12 year old humor even now. Hulk also works brilliantly as a catalyst for other heroes – one of my friends reminded me that he was one of the original Avengers, but lasted all of one issue. Hulk went off to smash, the Avengers were forced to band together to contain him – and in doing so, found Captain America, who took Hulk's place on the team.
And so, when pressed for what I want out of a Hulk film, I must answer honestly that's what I want to see – Hulk in a supporting role. Maybe not the goofy buddy comedy of Hulk and Wolverine bashing around Madripoor (and oh, how they bashed!), but a movie where he gets involved with Logan or Tony Stark. Hollywood is never going to resist the temptation for "Hulk Smash!" So, just go for it. Give us that match-up with Wolverine -- the old Canucklehead owes his origins to the Hulk, after all. Or let Tony Stark dust off that Hulk Buster armor. Because if you truly want Hulk to be authentic to the comic, you might as well embrace the preposterousness that comes with him. Even if it does involve Wolverine getting ripped in half.
1. I think the best place for The Hulk might be as a villain. If Zak Penn's Avengers script ever gets made a Hulk on the loose follow-up might be a solid possibility. More and more frequently in recent years Marvel has focused on Bruce Banner as a man who can't control one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. With the right lead up a World War Hulk film could be really impressive (or it could be a Michael Bay explosion festival).
Posted at 12:49PM on Mar 25th 2008 by onedollarwilliam