Joe Johnston is hired to direct, known for his effects-driven films like
The Rocketeer and
Jurassic Park III. He’s able to deliver the high-thrills film that both Universal and Marvel Studios are mandating while still able to highlight character, especially with the Hulk.
Hugh Dancy is cast as Bruce Banner, a charming and brilliant gamma researcher despite his “condition.”
Visual effects by Industrial Lights & Magic (ILM).
Music by Alan Silvestri (
Captain America: The First Avenger,
Marvel’s The Avengers).
Amidst the action spectacle, the human drama between characters like Bruce and
Betty Ross, and her new boyfriend
Leonard ‘Doc’ Samson is woven throughout the story.
Colonel Nick Fury replaces General Greller from the original film as the one who introduces
General Thaddeus Ross to
Emil Blonsky, a Russian S.H.I.E.L.D. assassin. Fury appears in a traditional Colonel military suit (black spy fatigues are reserved for the helicarrier).
Fury tasks
Maria Hill to be his eyes and ears on Ross & Blonsky and report back any progress on the hunt for the Hulk—Hill replaces Ross’s assistant Major Kathleen Sparr from the original film to provide exposition from time to time. When Blonsky dispatches Hill to force Samuel Sterns to transform him into the Abomination, he does not kill Hill (differing from Sparr’s fate in the original film).
Hulk is given more characterization throughout the film, and his pigmentation/coloration is more green, and more similar to his appearance in
Marvel’s The Avengers and animated series:
Hulk doesn’t speak at all during the bottle factory incident, which adds to the horror felt by Banner’s coworkers / assailants.
Hulk’s first line of dialogue is “Hulk Smash!” when he transforms during the Culver University battle. His speech improves there on as Banner accepts his alter ego, going from basic ‘Hulk strongest there is,” etc. to something more his similar to his speech patterns in
Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes by the time he battles Blonsky in Harlem.
Rick Jones is featured, replacing Martin Starr’s character from the original in an expanded role as one of Bruce’s former interns. When Bruce returns home, Jones helps him lay low (not Stanley, the local pizza guy) and later access his lab at Culver University.
S.H.I.E.L.D. plays a large role in initially aiding General Ross capture Banner. When Fury learns Blonsky has taken the super soldier serum, he becomes suspicious of Ross and turns to Banner in Act III to save New York City—which gives Fury more reason to call him in again to save the city, and the world, in
Marvel’s The Avengers.
Emil Blonky’s final form as the Abomination is more comic-accurate like his more recent MCU appearances:
After Hulk subdues Abomination, General Ross strikes the killing blow with a special one-shot device retrieved from Sterns’ lab which he had planned to use on the Hulk after he eliminated Blonsky for him. By stopping the monster, the public views Ross as the hero and propels him to his eventual appointment as Secretary of State.
The final shot of the film is Bruce Banner, isolated in a cabin in the Canadian wilderness and deep in meditation, before looking into the camera as his eyes flare green:
In a post credit scene,
Tony Stark stands in front of the destroyed Apollo Theater and announces efforts to help rebuild Harlem, even joking about his recent string of big announcements at press conferences—a callback to
Iron Man. He namedrops Ross’s iconic ‘Thunderbolt’ nickname and mentions he’s considering moving to New York—a hint to Stark Tower in
Marvel’s The Avengers.
THE INCREDIBLE HULK WILL RETURN.
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