There is a lot of information and curiosity about the Avenger movie on May 4, 2012. It stars Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, & directed by Joss Whedon from a screenplay by Joss Whedon. I wanted to talk about the Mark Ruffalo-inspired Incredible Hulk. Back in July of 2011 Kevin Feige president of Marvel Studios and producer of “The Avengers,” was interviewed By Geoff Boucher of the LA Times about the Hulk in the Avengers movie. Below is part of that interview it reveals a lot about Marvels attitude towards the Hulk in the movies.
GB: Will we see anything substantially different in the visual realization of the Hulk?
KF: Well, I don’t know about substantially different. It will be as different as ”The Incredible Hulk” was from Ang Lee’s “Hulk” in terms of its look and design, but it is Hulk. The image we released on the last day of Comic-Con — which got a tremendous amount of attention and I was very pleased about — is a very good representation of what he’s going to look like. Hulk is Hulk. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel.
GB: How big will he be? That’s been a major variable through the years in the comics and the two films as well.
KF: He’ll be about the same size he was in “The Incredible Hulk” [which was about 9 feet tall] or maybe a little bit smaller. His muscles won’t be quite as cut. We figure he’s been the Hulk now for a few years and [his physique is changing]. He’s not as cut or as ripped as he was in “The Incredible Hulk.” The most important thing is that face. As you can already see in that concept painting, it is — more than any Hulk that’s ever been done in live action — a Hulk that let’s you see the actor in there. You will be able to see Ruffalo in there. That was a big revelation for us. It’s just a concept painting, but in that you can see the [influence of Marvel Comics pioneer and original Hulk artist Jack] Kirby, as people have already pointed out, but also, and equally important in this case, Ruffalo’s eyes and his cheek structure. It is him.
GB: That sounds like a very different philosophy than the approach you took on Louis Letterrier’s movie.
KF: It is. It was something we actively avoided before. Hulk was Hulk, he’s not any one actor and Hulk should look like Hulk. It was like Iron Man’s armor, in a way, it wouldn’t change depending on the actor wearing it. But we’ve taken a different approach because Hulk is Banner and, frankly, we came to question our approach. Why are we not doing it this way? So we did a few designs that put Ruffalo into it, and we immediately saw how much more you feel for the creature. When you keep that connection going between Banner and the Hulk and you have characters around him trying to reach Banner inside — “Bruce, calm down,” and all of that classic Hulk stuff — it means more if you see the same actor throughout. I think before it was something we thought might look silly. We were nervous about getting it good enough [via visual effects] to work. Frankly, it was the same way we were nervous early on about making Steve Rogers skinny for “Captain America.” Is this going to look disturbing? Is this going to look silly? In the end, we got that one right. We’re going to get this one right. End of Interview Section.
The Hulk first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962), written by writer-editor Stan Lee, and penciller and co-plotter Jack Kirby, and inked by Paul Reinman, and the Hulk has gone through many changes in looks and mannerisms. The one thing that has remained constant has been the influence of Bruce Banner. They are essentially different manifestations of the same person like a person with multiple personality complex to the max. Using CGI in movies can make that happen. Why wouldn’t the Hulk manifestation have similar futures. I guess they would. And if there is a person inside of a character like the Hulk then you could try to talk to him and calm him down so could appeal to the Hulk to help in a situation where you need his brute strength. You can see that the Hulk is more than “Hulk Smash” he is also Bruce Banner. Hulk may speak in a childlike manner, but he’s not a mindless brute.
In the new trailer it looks like the Black Widow played by Scarlett Johansson approaches Bruce Banner to join the Avengers how they work out the control of the Hulk as a force for good we still don’t know but I am sure that is part of the early storyline. Bruce is seen later in the SHIELD headquarters with other members of the Avengers. Perhaps more will come out later about the role of the Hulk in the movie. So far the action scenes do not show the Hulk in trailer yet except for shot of Banner changing and the growl of the Hulk. Till then we will be on the outlook for news and comments on the Avenger movie. Stay tuned comic faithful for more. 🙂 Walt
