23 Marvelous Movies: The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk is a fascinating chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was released when people still had the unusual (however you felt about that film) taste of Ang Lee’s Hulk from 2003 in their mouths and had to deliver what that movie failed to promise in the eyes of many fans of the not-so-jolly green giant, it brought forth a star that audiences agreed was a good Bruce Banner and wanted to see more of in future installments, and it was still in a stage where the Marvel films were keeping their interconnectivity subtle.
It was apparent right when The Incredible Hulk was released how different this slice of the MCU was supposed to be from Iron Man. It was directed, not by a unique auteur like Jon Favreau, but by Louis Leterrier, who since then has worked on the two Clash of the Titan reboot movies and Now You See Me. And instead of a star that had before fallen into hard times who needed a fresh new blockbuster start, it featured a consistently respected actor who mostly seemed perfect for the role because of how different he was from its alter ego.
And Edward Norton truly is the best part of this film. He is aware of what makes Bruce Banner such a tragic character and does a great job of conveying an incredibly smart man with a power he never asked for that makes him unable to feel a basic human emotion without turning into a raging monster that can destroy everything he loves. He was so passionate about the role in fact, that he did some uncredited work on the script. Even in his human form, this intensity to him makes him more like the beast he wishes to get rid of than he thinks, making his acceptance of this violent side of himself very natural and understandable.
As stated before, The Incredible Hulk was directed by Louis Letterier, who has not had as distinct a filmography as Jon Favreau. As a result, Hulk goes by a more formulaic writing template, without the clever dialogue and more downplayed action, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
On one hand, Bruce’s inner conflict is treated with a refreshing amount of seriousness, managing to convey the emotions it wants to without the overbearing nature of Ang Lee’s split-screen and unbearably slow pace and instead with minimal dialogue. A view of Bruce’s everyday life hiding out in Brazil is a good example of subtle storytelling, as well as a later scene where Betty and the Hulk are hiding in a cave during a thunderstorm. The action is also more visceral and heavier than that of Iron-Man, with punches and kicks being effectively felt by the audience.
On the other hand, it also means that there isn’t much heart with this more dower take on a Marvel hero, which is ironic because that was the main criticism people had against Ange Lee’s version. Edward Norton and Liv Tyler have a shockingly small amount of chemistry, to the point where the most passionate scene between them is stopped so Bruce doesn’t feel too much adrenaline (which is a nice change from the comics where anger is what caused him to hulk out). Most of the interactions between them are either discussing how Bruce’s problem or how they plan to go from point A to point B. I’m not even exactly sure why he became so in love with her in the first place.
But an even weaker dynamic is the one between Norton and Tim Roth as Emile Blonsky, the big bad of the film. The two only interact twice and both times, Banner is in his Hulk form. Also, while it does make sense for a soldier like Blonsky to want the incredible power that Banner has, the conflict between the two of them is essentially just a retread of Tony vs Obediah in Iron Man, only in that film, there were more interactions between those two. Once again, Blonsky only works as a symbol of the worse aspects of the protagonist without really being a character in his way.
The most interesting character in the film is Betty’s father and the story’s Captain Ahab, General Thunderbolt Ross since he’s not so much motivated by protecting the world from Bruce’s power as his lust for it. He also has a sinister edge because of how trusting he is of Emil Blonsky, not seeing the danger of giving him the strength he wants to abuse.
After the film’s so-so Father’s Day weekend release (easily the lowest grossing and least acclaimed of the Marvel flicks for apparent reasons), it immediately became irrelevant when Edward Norton was expelled from the MCU in 2010 for being so difficult to work with onset. To add to how self-contained The Incredible Hulk would become, William Hurt as General Thunderbolt Ross would be its only returning actor in the series, and that wouldn’t be for another eight years and at this point, it seems safe to say neither Tyler nor Roth will be coming back. Though given that they were the two weakest characters in the bunch, that isn’t exactly a tragedy. It was also teased that a character played by Tim Blake Nelson would come back as iconic Hulk villain, The Leader, but of course, that never came. Even the pre-credits stinger with Robert Downey Jr. cameoing as Iron Man proved to be so irrelevant (because Banner doesn’t join the Avengers at the start of that film like this scene implies) that Marvel had to create a One-Shot short film (remember those?) to retcon to avoid a continuity error.
In terms of its place in the series, it’s an interesting look at when things were not as planned and smoothed out for Marvel Studios as they were in future installments. When the series is viewed in release order, it serves as a nice intermission between Iron Man and Iron Man 2. But even taking its place in the franchise out of the equation, it’s still an entertaining and effective flick in its own right that, unlike the first film version of this character, knows that sometimes, the best way to enjoy a character is to have less of him talking and more of him smashing.
