Usually after starting a franchise, the producer just has to keep the same team going for sequels. With the Hulk movies, producer Gale Anne Hurd started over from square one on the second film. The Incredible Hulk takes more of a cue from the classic TV series in addition to the comic books.
Gale Anne Hurd Talks The Incredible Hulk (Start Up)
"It was funny because one of the jokes we all made was, "We're making the Hulk this time and this time he's Incredible," Hurd said. "[Director] Louis [Leterrier], growing up in France, his first exposure to the character was on the TV series. So it's something that was very much in the forefront of his mind as we participated in the development of the project."
As the story follows Bruce Banner's search for a cure, it periodically offers on screen counters of "Days Without Incident." This was a last minute artistic addition.
"It was post production. It wasn't in the screenplay when we started shooting. It was actually a discussion in the editing room. We were saying, 'Okay, how long has it been since he Hulked out?' And Louis said, 'You know what would be great is if we actually put that on screen. Maybe it's something that the fans and the audiences watching the movie will enjoy as much as we did talking about it in the editing room.'" So that was actually fairly late in the process. I would say it was six weeks ago."
There is plenty of Hulk violence in The Incredible Hulk but no body count. "Certainly when it comes to Hulk, Hulk certainly gets mad and certainly can give as good as he gets. He's a defensive character. He's not someone who consciously attacks someone. Whenever Hulk comes to life, someone's already attacking him. So it was important to stay true to that aspect of his character. To be able to have fun with a comic book movie, you can destroy personal property. I don't think you want to see people killed."
All of these may be familiar questions to Hurd, as she just did press for the first Hulk in 2003. For her, that was an eternity ago.
"I have to say, five years actually seems like a very long time to me. My daughter was 11 when the movie came out. Now she's 16, but yes. It was great to actually get back into the world of Hulk but this time to be able to incorporate elements from the TV series as well as the comic book."
Add to Heffee!
