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January 21 2014


Ruffalo also mentions that in a standalone movie his own personal artistic vision will have a greater impact on the final product.

[ edited by Tausif on 2014-01-21 11:30 ]

"The Inevitable Hulk?" Write that in ink! He has a point in that movies need to have more direction, in general. An ensemble piece like The Avengers understandably spends time going in circles a bit due to its size-but 'single property' movies tend to waste minutes on 'unique destruction bits' rather than heady notions. In order to carry, the movie would have to have a singular vision, but not a dictatorial tone. Whom do we know with supreme subtlety?
Whom do we know with supreme subtlety?

Michael Bay.

On a more serious note, I actually really like the title "The Inevitable Hulk".
The trick, or course, is to make the film about Bruce Banner not the Hulk. My favourite parts of that character were seeing Bruce struggle to keep control throughout, rather than seeing Hulk smash. Likewise with Norton's Incredible Hulk - it was a lot of fun seeing him battle with what was inside. Imagine a film where we don't even see any green guy for 70 minutes and then he's unleashed full-scale. The tension could be immense. But maybe that's not a good idea (I haven't thought it through).

I'm amazed they never attempt to show the two characters side-by-side in Banner's head. A conversation between the two in a big white room? Banner obviously has a handle on things by the end of the Avengers, so maybe some sort of magic/science could disrupt that inside his psyche, leading to a loss of control. Either that or play on the idea that - if Banner has control - Hulk could be an incredible weapon. Much like the weaponisation of River in Serenity.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Either way, I would simply call the film "Banner".
BeSound - I thought both the Ang Lee 'Hulk' and the 'Incredible Hulk' with Norton put the focus on Banner.

The former movie tried to put the emphasis on disturbed parent-child relationships and the Hulk only appears halfway through. I appreciated Ang Lee's unique approach for a superhero movie (although, IMO it failed miserably and became a tedious drag, the Hulk looking like a babyfaced Shrek didn't help things either..)

I quite like the movie with Norton. It quickly handles the origin backstory by showing some scenes during the opening titles, then proceeds to place a lot of emphasis on Banner's fear of turning into the monster and him being on the run from the army wanting to catch & use him. I thought they got a lot of things right in that one. What I thought made it a bit less good was the clumsy placing of the Hulk in a standard superhero vs supervillain big monster bashfest as the film's climax, simply resorting to Hollywood conventions in the end.

Joss subsequently showed another side of the Hulk in the Avengers, namely how to have fun with the character. And it worked. Hulk was a breakout, sorry, a smash-out character in the immensely succesful movie.

But I agree, there should be plenty of space for further development and other dimensions, like getting more inside Banner's head. I like your big white room idea!
Did Joss consult on the Ang Lee Hulk version? He has talked about meeting Ang Lee to help him solve a problem on a movie before. Focusing on Banner's emotions does seem like a Joss way to go as well.
I've never heard anything about Joss helping out on the Lee Hulk movie, but I suppose it's possible....
Yeah he mentioned he was brought in (as were a lot of other writers) to try and "fix" the third act of HULK. It was one of those situations where he basically told them "the problem with the third act is the first two acts."
I have two problems with how the Hulk has been presented in movies and TV.

1) He only has one line, if that. Hulk in the comics has a *personality*. He's more than just Banner throwing a tantrum, he's someone you can care about separately from Banner.

For example, I love hearing "Hulk smash!" and "Puny [something puny]", but I think the most important line from the classic era of the Hulk is, "Hulk just wants to be left alone." With all the fighting and brute strength, I always liked the contrast that the Hulk just wanted to get away from whoever was chasing him. The fights were forced on him, though he'd win them if he had to. That gives the character a little depth. Without that, we're just looking at a computer effect punching another computer effect.

2) Banner changes into the Hulk when he's mad, right? No, that never happens. Banner changes into the Hulk when he's physically injured.

I'd like to see a scene where Banner is on the run and he's shot. He struggles to hold the pain in and gets himself under control without changing. He continues running, but an explosion caused by his pursuers sends him flying. He stands up with raging green eyes, then pulls himself together and keeps going. Banner ducks into a greasy spoon diner to hide. He settles into a booth, breathing deeply.

Then he hears someone say, "There's no such thing as global warming. The sun's gettin' hotter!"


Of course that leads to the Hulk going back outside and handling the people who were chasing Banner.

Wouldn't that be fun? Banner is always portrayed as an incredibly calm, patient guy who transforms when he's injured. I'd like a movie to show me what makes Banner angry. What pushes him over the edge.

Personally, I think that Banner being a scientist, the things that anger him should include lies that people tell about science and the misuse of science. This would fit pretty well with Ruffalo's comments about a movie teaching about science and what we should be doing.

Hulk had a similar line in Norton's version. When he was first unleashed he grumbled "leave me alone". It's quite subtle but definitely there. One of my favourite parts about the movie.
I think it'd be cool and appropriate since Ruffalo places such a high interest in environmental issues himself while his character is at times either a genius scientist who maybe wants to save the world (from himself?) while the Hulk is a green character and thus a fairly good mascot for green issues.

On the other hand I'm pretty convinced that given how expensive Hulk special effects are, they'd probably be more inclined to go for the most middle-of-the-road direction possible and not get embroiled in political controversy. (On the other hand, a movie studio did ever take a chance on Ang Lee's Hulk. That was a neat stylistic outlier until the last third or so after San Francisco.)

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