The Movie: The Incredible Hulk (2008)
The Comic: Marvel Comics (1962 First Appearance)
My favorite character in the comic book world is Marvels “The Incredible Hulk”!. He has been my favorite as long as I can remember and I started collecting the comic back in the mid 80’s. Little did I know it would take me 23 years to finally see my giant green friend, with anger issues, on the big screen! Ok, maybe 18 years if you count the 2003 “Hulk” directed by Ang Lee. But to me the 2008 Hulk directed by Louis Leterrier was the first time they really got it right! Bruce Banner, played by actor Edward Norton, gave a solid performance and the look of the new CGI (Motion Capture) Hulk was excellent! The origin story did not follow that of the comic, but rather that of the 1978 TV show of the same name, with Bill Bixby (Bruce Banner) and Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk. Now with all due respect to the TV show and 2003 hulk, let me jump in to all the goodness that the 2008 hulk brought to Hulk fans around the world. Featuring important characters of the Hulk mythos like Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), General “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt), there was one character here that topped them all, Emil Blonsky (The ABOMINATION )! The addition of the Abomination was very important for several reasons. First, its the first appearance the character has ever had on the big screen or little screen for that matter. Second, the role is played by actor Tim Roth who is one of my favorite actors, for he is always fun to watch in anything he does. Last but not least, the Abomination equals the Hulk in strength, giving the Hulk a true challenge which had been a problem in all other attempts to bring him to the big screen. Yes, pound for pound the Abomination can stand toe to toe with Hulk and that makes for some serious action fight scenes which this film took advantage of as they fought a no holds barred style match thru Harlem. On top of that, this movie would be tied into what is now known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), as you see a cameo by Tony Stark (Ironman/Robert Downey Jr) at the end of the film. This new, never before done, interwoven universe that Marvel was setting up made this Hulk movie even that much more special! At the time, I could only imagine a world with all these heroes in it together, but I knew it was going to be special. Edward Norton would later be replaced by another great actor, Mark Ruffalo and the Hulk himself would take a slightly different look but it has been one amazing ride. The next film we’ll see our angry friend will be in Thor: Ragnarok coming Nov, 3 2017. So be sure to stay tuned in cause this Marvel ride is far from over and its gonna be, well, “Incredible” … So until next time,
“See you at the movies”
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