Hulking Out of "The Avengers" - Should Ruffalo get his own Movie?

Everybody knows the Hulk smashes.  It appears, however, the only thing the Hulk hasn't been able to smash is the box office.

"What did puny writer say about Hulk movies?"

With the arrival of The Avengers, things may have changed.  Mark Ruffalo's performance as Bruce Banner has garnered positive reviews, and with Ruffalo signing a six-movie contract with Marvel, will they be willing to give him a chance to star in his own solo feature?  Ruffalo has already indicated he wants Marvel to give him this opportunity.

Should they bother? As you may remember, George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  Before we decide the fate of Ruffalo's Hulk, let's have a look at what worked, and what exactly went wrong the first few times around.

Ang Lee's Hulk (2003)

"...you won't like me when I'm angry..."

Years in the making, Hulk debuted in theatres in 2003.  Though initially a successful opening weekend (16th highest opening at the time), it dropped 70% by the following weekend, becoming the first movie to drop over 65% by the second weekend (see here for the financial stats).  Avi Arad, one of the producers, declared the film a financial disaster, though it essentially made it into the red through merchandising ("Merchandising, merchandising," - am I the only one that hears Yogurt's voice?).

"Do you have any flame throwers that come in Hulk?"

What Failed - I like Eric Bana.  I thought he did a fine job at playing Dr. Banner, our conflicted and reluctant hero.  And I truly, truly try hard when someone asks if I liked the film and if I would recommend it.  Oh, I give them an honest answer:  With a clenched smile, staring people in the eyes, I generally respond, "Yeah, I liked Hulk."  But I then usually feel as though I've cheated someone out of hours of their personal time, and before I know it I'm sputtering out a series of comments that seem to contradict that initial statement.

Roger Ebert, in his positive review of the movie, said, "Ang Lee is trying to actually deal with the issues in the story of the Hulk, instead of simply cutting to brainless visual effects."

In my opinion, I humbly offer that this was actually the worst aspect of the movie.  I'm not saying we need to go "Micheal Bay"-like here and cause mindless explosions and destruction and ignore plot and substance.  But I do contend that anybody who knows anything about the Hulk knows these simple points:

1. Little guy gets hit with gamma radiation.
2. When angered, he grows into the HULK.

That's it!  That's really all you need to know!!  Once the guy gets his atoms scrambled, he can stub his toe and watch out, here we go! So why is it in a Hulk movie that we don't see the title character for almost 90 minutes?

The insanely long exposition in this story made the movie way too long (over two hours).  I know I'm not the only one feeling this - to paraphrase Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, "...its epic length comes without an epic reward."  Does this make it an epic fail?

It would be like reading Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and the whole movie you watch Dr. Jekyll formulating a potion and mulling over whether man is inherently good or bad, and then cap the movie off with a quick Hyde appearance and have him fight a bunch of irradiated dogs.

"I don't know where we went wrong, Mr. Lee."

As for the father versus son aspect, well, I don't know how or why it was involved in this story.  As far as I can honestly tell you, good reader, this was not part of the origin story.  Maybe a revamp somewhere along the Hulk's 50 year history (Wow! And not a gray hair on the green goon!), but I'm not aware of the comic story this was derived from... and truthfully, I don't really care to know (Okay, okay, I care.  I looked it up, but I couldn't find any details on it anyways).  My problem with it is I don't feel it helped to enrich the tale of the Hulk, offer a modern update (a man estranged from his father, what a twist!), or improve on any aspect - it only offered a different dynamic to the origin, and not one that I feel paid off.

One of the  reasons Superman Returns failed (there are many reasons) was because there wasn't any innovation, just another Superman versus Lex Luthor movie.  The "might versus mind" thing becomes tiresome (especially in that franchise).  We essentially saw the same thing in Hulk, where Bruce is up against his father's ideals and scientific schemes, something his muscles can't really combat.

In the end, it may be more apt of Marvel and Universal to have named the film Banner instead of Hulk.

Saving Grace - Ang Lee got his chops busted over this one, and as the director, I guess he really should have the final say.  But an excessively long script shouldn't completely fall on his shoulders.

Prior to Hulk, Lee had directed the cinematic beauty Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  In this way, one of the most noticeable things that makes Hulk stand out from other comic book movies is the way Lee screened his shots, and framed them comic-book style.  This made it entertaining and visually appealing.

Also, this is the only Hulk film that I've been able to actually notice the Hulk's strength being augmented by his rage.  In comics, his strength is directly proportional to how angry he is; insult him, he'll throw you through a wall, shoot him, and he'll throw you across town.  Bruce turning into the Hulk puts him at near 7 feet; enraged, he can be as large as 12 feet.  This version of the film actually used this angle in various scenes, a memorable one being when one of the mutant dogs is biting his shoulder and he grows so big it breaks its jaw (to see the dog fight in its whole go here, to see him "Hulk Out" and break its jaw go to the 3-minute mark).

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

"...I told you not to make him angry..."

Round two.  The intent here was to separate and ignore the first film, essentially reboot the franchise.  However, as the movie hits the ground running with an "infected" Bruce fleeing those that wish to imprison him, and does not really delve into the Hulk's origin too richly, many (including myself) see the film as a running sequel.
Producer Gale Ann Hurd felt, "We couldn't quite figure out how to term this... It's kind of a reboot and it's kind of a sequel... A "requel.""  When all else fails, Hulk-smash two words together.

What Failed - I really had to sit and think about this one.  The film debuted well - though its opening weekend was less than the first film - and it went on to gross a profitable margin.  Still, many couldn't help but compare the film to Marvel's explosive blockbuster earlier that summer, Iron Man.

One feature that may have suffered was marketing.  There was an apparent dispute between Edward Norton and the producers about the film's final cut.  Edward Norton, himself a Hulk fan, contributed a great deal towards Zak Penn's script, incorporating elements from the Marvel "Ultimate Universe" like the Hulk's relationship to Captain America and the super-soldier serum.  While Norton has gone on to say the dispute was fictitious, he was noticeably missing from some key panels and promotions, pulling a Dave Chappelle and leaving for Africa to do charity work.

Though I admit I would not compare this film to Iron Man's scale, front to back I felt this was a strong film.  So with this notion, let's discuss some of the film's highlights.

Saving Grace - I'll lead this segment with this excerpt from Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald, "...[the film] does a lot of things Lee's Hulk didn't: It's lighter and faster-paced, it's funnier and it embraces (instead of ignoring) the 1970s TV series that furthered the character's popularity."

Faster-paced, I think, is the key point here.  After a quick exposition scene to stage the film, Banner is next shown in South America, keeping out of the watchful eye of the government while still working on a cure.  The film quickly follows the pace of The Fugitive.

I also enjoyed how elements of "The Lonely Man" were incorporated into Bruce Banner's theme, a nod to The Incredible Hulk TV show theme song.  Again, embracing the Hulk's past, as noted in the above quote.

[2008 SPOILER ALERT] Finally, with Robert Downey Jr.'s appearance after the credits as Tony Stark, this movie is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making it in-continuity with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, thusly tying this Hulk's appearance to the one seen in The Avengers.  Unless you wish to consider The Avengers another "requel," well, then, that's up to you.


Final Thoughts


So what can we take away from these films?  I suggest taking heed of the following advice:

1. Have Hulk fight a Hulk-sized villain.  Hulk fighting the military has been done twice now, and we know that the military really doesn't scare him.  Their bullets don't pierce his skin.  Besides, now that he's got Nick Fury on his side, SHIELD's rank supersedes that of the U.S. Military, making such a conflict irrelevant.   Having Hulk fight Abomination actually made our hero fight for his life.  As mentioned above, avoid another rendition of Superman versus Luthor, and aim for Superman versus Doomsday.
   
   [SPOILER ALERT - DON'T FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE AVENGERS]
   
   There's a certain villain at the final cut of The Avengers that would make for a good bout - maybe Hulk himself can avert the villain's first solo attempt at conquering Earth before the villain escalates his threat, making it require the whole team in Avengers 2.
2. Have fun with it.  Learn from X-Men, Iron Man, and other successful Marvel franchises.  As there aren't actually real-life superheroes and massive mutant menaces running amok, don't take it too seriously.  Things can be on a global catastrophic scale and yet still be amusing.  Making it overly dramatic reverts us back to Ang Lee's Hulk.
3. Continue to integrate other Marvel characters into your storyline.  Don't make them dominate your title feature, but even Captain America's shield in Iron Man 2 or Hawkeye's appearance in Thor was enough to satisfy fans.  However, considering how successful their rapport was in The Avengers, perhaps Tony Stark (as himself or as Iron Man) should play a prominent role as scientist or fellow hero, respectively.  Or, use this as an opportunity to introduce scientist Hank Pym.
4. Most importantly, don't bother wasting everybody's time rebooting this franchise, even if Ruffalo is now the third actor to play the Hulk.  Nobody was overly confused when Batman was played by Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and George Clooney.  We got it.  Somebody new is in the title role, keep it going.  The only reason to reboot again would be if the first go-round caused the main protagonist to become unlikable, and it ruined the credibility of the characters to the extreme that you would have no choice but to reboot the title character and reset the universe.  I don't think Hulk hit this point.

Ruffalo has proven he's got the Banner part down, and Hulk was arguably one of the most enjoyable parts of The Avengers.  If given the right script, the right villain, and the right direction, it's easy to see we would have a box-office SMASH, one of HULK proportions!

"HULK HATE PUNY WRITER'S PUNS!!"