Welcome to the explosive new chapter in the Super Hero franchise that's captivated the world for more than 40 years.  Universal Pictures and Marvel Studios bring the action-packed epic motion picture of one of the most captivating heroes of all time to a world that's been anxiously awaiting it. 
For decades, the brute strength and touching vulnerability of this character have captured the imagination in all of us who are unsure of how to manage the passions that lie buried within.  While we try to keep our tensions in check, there is a creature that embraces the pure rage and limitless aggression--living inside one brilliant man who finds his alter ego more and more impossible to suppress. 

HULK SMASH: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HERO
With his off-the-chart strength, size, durability, speed and fighting skills, The Hulk has achieved the enviable status of one of the most popular Super Heroes of the last century.  Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character debuted in May 1962 in a series of Marvel Comics.  A young writer, Lee had just finished the first of the Marvel line of books with a then unknown team called the Fantastic Four, and he was looking for a hero who wasn't as handsome or pretty--someone, or something, totally different who could capture the imagination of Marvel's readers.  Lee and Kirby wanted a "misunderstood hero."
Lee remembers, "I had always loved the old movie Frankenstein.  And it seemed to me that the monster, played by Boris Karloff, wasn't really a bad guy.  He was the good guy.  He didn't want to hurt anybody.  It's just those idiots with torches kept running up and down the mountains, chasing him and getting him angry.  And I thought, 'Wouldn't it be fun to create a monster and make him the good guy?'"
Wondering how to bring a new twist to Mary Shelley's classic character as imagined by director James Whale in 1931, Lee recalled another favorite from his childhood: Robert Louis Stevenson's half-man/half-monster, depicted in director Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 classic, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  "I combined Jekyll and Hyde with Frankenstein," Lee tells, "and I got myself the monster I wanted, who was really good, but nobody knew it.  He was also somebody who could change from a normal man into a monster, and lo, a legend was born."
Lee and Kirby imagined Dr. Bruce Banner, a nuclear physicist who was forever changed after a freak accident during the testing of an experimental bomb that showered his body with gamma radiation.  [Notably, Lee, a big fan of alliteration (think Sue Storm, Scott Summers, Peter Parker), preferred to give his heroes the same first initials in both their names, therefore Bruce Banner was born.]  Whenever seriously angered, adrenaline would course through Banner's body and he would morph into the fearsome Hulk, a creature of limitless power and endless aggression.  When enraged, he became a brutal menace to society, but would learn to use his powers to help the weak and helpless.  Dr. Banner would spend the rest of his life battling to control the fury of his alter ego and do good with The Hulk. 
Though the series was initially cancelled in March 1963 after six issues, The Hulk immediately went on to guest star in "Fantastic Four #12" and, shortly thereafter, became one of the first members of The Avengers, appearing in the first two issues of that famous series.  Two years later, he turned up opposite Giant-Man in "Tales to Astonish (#59)," earning his own story in the very next issue. 
By 1968, the popularity of the character caught on with audiences across the globe.  The Hulk had taken over the entire book of "Tales to Astonish," which was then renamed "The Incredible Hulk."  The series ran all the way to issue #474, when it ended its publication in 1999; it was quickly relaunched in a new series titled "The Hulk."  With issue #12, the name was changed back to "The Incredible Hulk," and the title remains one of the most prominent in the Marvel library today.
For almost half a century, audiences have responded to the fact that Bruce Banner and The Hulk are two sides to the same man.  They have been fascinated by the idea that he represents the extremes of the id and superego that Freud believed controlled us all.  When Banner is The Hulk, his consciousness is buried in the monster, and he has next to no control over his green counterpart's actions. 
Lee offers that he originally thought it'd be fun if the monster and the man "both hated each other.  The good guy, Bruce Banner, doesn't want to turn into the monster and wishes he could cure himself.  The monster thinks of Banner as a weakling and wishes he wouldn't have to change back to Banner."  And their battle for dominance raged on for decades while readers devoured it. 
Throughout his career as a Marvel Comics character, The Hulk has been seen in a number of incarnations.  Not only has he gone from the pages of comics to television to the big screen; he's turned from gray to green and lumbering lunk to brilliant colleague.  He's taken on aliases from Annihilator and Joe Fixit to the Green Scar and Green Goliath--but he has always retained the core element that has kept him beloved by audiences for nearly half a century.  He remains indelibly linked to a scientist confused by the fate dealt him, and the two have been intertwined in a constant, volatile relationship. 
Fifteen years after his introduction, The Hulk's immense popularity generated a successful CBS television series, produced by Universal Television.  In 1977, the show The Incredible Hulk, which starred Bill Bixby as David Banner and a young bodybuilder named Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk, was imagined.  The series, which premiered in March 1978, was a huge hit that enjoyed a five-season run before being cancelled in 1982.  Six years after the cancellation, the devotion of legions of fans prompted the network to create three more telefilms, which aired in the late '80s.  In 1993, Bill Bixby passed away from cancer, ending that legacy of The Incredible Hulk on television.
In 2003, director Ang Lee imagined The Hulk in a feature film for Universal Pictures.  The Oscar-winning filmmaker captured Banner and his alter ego in an origin story, one that examined a portrait of a man at war with himself and the world.  HULK told the story of a beast that was both hero and monster--whose powers embodied Banner's waking nightmare.  The film opened in American markets with a record-setting $62 million, third only to Spider-Man and Iron Man in highest opening-weekend grosses for original Marvel properties.
When Universal and Marvel decided to make the next chapter in his saga, they elected to capture the rawest elements of the franchise, selecting a French filmmaker known for his lightning-fast camerawork and passion for the television show that transfixed him as a child.  Opting for a series reboot that embraces the spirit and narrative of the Bixby/Ferrigno series, the studios knew it was time to give fans exactly The Hulk they demanded.  THE INCREDIBLE HULK would be full of the pulse-pounding action audiences begged to see from their hero--complete with feats of heroic strength and a nemesis even more dangerous and powerful than The Hulk himself.

MEANER AND GREENER: THE HULK IS REBORN
When opting to make a new film that starred Marvel's famous green leading man, Marvel and Universal were keen to bring all the action and wish fulfillment that audiences expected out of one of its preeminent Super Hero franchises.  Marvel had the luxury of drawing from the seemingly endless stories of a universe its writers and pencillers had imagined over the years.  Since the early 1960s, The Hulk has done most everything--from joining The Avengers and The Defenders, engaging in battle with The X-Men and becoming one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to getting married, receiving a presidential pardon and finding himself hurtled deep into subspace by The Illuminati.  It was not a stretch that he could recapture his roots as hero and give moviegoers The Hulk they always wanted--one who was there to smash bad guys and save us all.
With this chapter of THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Marvel aimed to recall the storylines brought to life by Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno in the late '70s/early '80s show of the same name.  The studio knew that Banner's struggles as a fugitive desperately searching to rid himself of the beast that lived inside resonated with fans. 
Banner frequently used the power of that creature to protect innocents he met on his journey of redemption, becoming a reluctant hero.  While on the run from the military machinery that wanted to exploit his powers, Banner was forced to embrace the darker side of his personality…and to make something good out of the violence that owned a part of him.  Bixby and Ferrigno underscored that throughline every season the television show was on the air, and that would prove the theme for this iteration of The Hulk's story.   
Marvel chairman and executive producer of the film David Maisel offers, "The Hulk is one of the gems of the Marvel universe, and we are excited about bringing him back to the big screen.  THE INCREDIBLE HULK celebrates all the things that have kept the character beloved by audiences for close to five decades, returning to the roots of the long-running comic series and television show."
Producer and president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, admits that his passion for the project was colored by the effect that The Hulk had on him as a boy--specifically his fascination of the duality that lives in Banner.  He reflects, "In the Marvel universe, we have over 5,000 characters.  All Marvel heroes have virtues, and all of them have flaws.  It's that dynamic that makes the characters so appealing, so interesting for generation after generation to watch.  They're not one-dimensional characters.  They're characters with a lot of richness and complexity, and the intertwined relationship of Bruce Banner/The Hulk is one of the richest."
Blockbuster producer Gale Anne Hurd, whose credits include landmark action films such as Aliens, The Abyss and the Terminator trilogy, agrees with Feige's assessment.  "One of the things I always liked about The Hulk is that, while he's a hero, he's not really a Super Hero in the same sense as the other Marvel crime-fighting characters," she says.  "Banner isn't a character who puts on a costume and then saves the world.  In fact, he rarely has a choice as to when he becomes The Hulk.
"He's conflicted about his power, but also grasps its potential and, as such, is able to transform his curse into heroism," Hurd continues.  "That's one of the things that makes this character so relatable.  There's a part of all of us that wishes we had the ability to let go, to let someone or something stronger than us take care of the situations we sometimes find ourselves in.  Everyone has a little Hulk in them; this movie is about embracing that."
Marvel executives and the producers were adamant that the story they wanted to tell in THE INCREDIBLE HULK was about the heroism Banner would learn from grappling with the creature inside him.  But, true to the roots of "The Strangest Man of All Time" whom Lee and Kirby created, Banner never set out to be a hero; indeed, this role was forced upon the brilliant researcher who longed for a quiet life of complicated hypotheses.  Stan Lee explains: "Banner was looking for a way to cure himself from being The Hulk.  All he wanted to do was to be able to be somewhere in a laboratory and be left alone long enough so he could work on a cure.  He was a scientist, but he was never able to do that.  There was always something happening."  Indeed, the bad guys just never let him be.
"The key phrase on this film is 'Hulk is Hero,' says Feige.  "We've already explored some of the darker, angst-ridden sides of The Hulk.  This time around, it's about the wish fulfillment of being able to tap into strength within you, something stronger than yourself.  But if harnessed the right way, and if you're the right person, it's a strength that can be used for the power of good.  It's a universal notion and one of the reasons that The Hulk is one of the most popular characters of all time."
To bring this new chapter in the saga of Bruce Banner and his green-skinned alter ego to the big screen, the producers began their search for a director who shared their vision for a new path for the franchise.  The search quickly ended after they met with French filmmaker Louis Leterrier, best known for the action-packed films that launched the career of international action star Jason Statham, Transporter and Transporter 2, as well as the critically acclaimed martial-arts film Unleashed, starring Jet Li, Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman.  It was apparent from the first meeting with the inexhaustible Leterrier that he was an invigorating, inspired choice to direct THE INCREDIBLE HULK.   
"From the beginning, we all agreed that Louis was a natural fit," says Hurd.  "It was obvious from his previous films that he had a great sense for tremendous action and stylish camera work, but when we met him, we realized that he shared our passion for the genre.  He really, really loved these characters."
"Louis has the unbridled enthusiasm you want in a filmmaker to get the tone of the fun, exciting, heroic action that The Hulk is all about," states Feige.  "He came to us with a vision for how he wanted the film to look.  His ideas and what he brought forth to us in storyboards and concept designs just blew us away.  He is a superb visualist who understands the importance of combining a well-developed character storyline with incredible action and fun.  Where The Hulk goes, action and chaos follow, and Louis completely gets 'Hulk Smash.'"
Adds producer Avi Arad, "Louis really understands the depth of the character of The Hulk, as well as the tradition the character is steeped in.  And being French, he claims the love story comes naturally to him."  Leterrier, who grew up in Paris where Marvel Comics were not readily available, tells that his love of The Hulk stems from the '70s television series.  "Being French, I was not so exposed as a young kid to comic books, basically because we had only the French and Belgian comics," he says.  "But the TV show was huge in France, and that shaped my strongest memories of The Hulk."
Like all fans, Leterrier loved the energy and the action of the series, but it was Bill Bixby's take on a man with deep internal conflict and the dilemmas his power posed that struck home.  The director notes: "Bixby's portrayal of this character was so emotional and lovable as he tried to befriend people and re-create a new life every episode.  Every time he was creating the foundation of a new life, the foundation was broken when The Hulk appeared."
For the same reason he was drawn to his other films, Leterrier admits he loves protagonists who don't fit a stock mold: "Bruce Banner is an antihero.  He doesn't want this power, but he knows he can't give it up, because if he gives it to someone else they would harvest it to create evil.  That's the whole journey of this character; it's a journey of acceptance.  Every one of us has anger built inside.  Some control it better than others.  Banner understands that anger can easily be transformed into courage." 
As the origin story had already been told on screen, Leterrier was ready to enter Banner's story mid-action, not at the point at which the physicist is irradiated and discovers his powers.  He was also eager to make use of recent technological achievements to help him tell the story.  Adds the filmmaker: "It's an amazing thing to be given the opportunity to tell this story with all the technology we have today.  The Hulk has such a rich tradition for me to draw on.  We've got a great story, and we've got the action, the excitement and the rush that people associate with The Hulk.  Our Hulk is definitely a hero, and our Hulk smashes!"
Bruce Banner himself, Edward Norton, summarizes why this tortured man and his powerful alter ego have, for so many decades, remained a fascination to generations of fans, especially those who hold on to Bill Bixby's legacy: "The reason you tuned in week after week to watch this guy's lonely existence is that you wanted him to find the cure.  You wanted him to get to come in from the cold and be a real person again--not this haunted, hunted fugitive.  He lost everything.  There's an aspect of Hulk that is a little sadder, a little more tragic."
Fittingly, The Hulk's creator has our parting words.  Lee concludes: "The thing I'm happiest about is that he has lasted this long, thanks to so many brilliant writers and artists who did that strip after Jack and I went on to other projects.  Now it's going to be a major motion picture, which I know will be great.  I wonder how many Hulk sequels there'll be after it.  I'd better stay in good with the guys at Marvel so I'll get my cameos."

READ MORE: MONSTERS AND SAVIORS: AN INCREDIBLE CAST

READ MORE: BUILDING "THE STRANGEST MAN OF ALL TIME": VISUAL EFFECTS/  CREATING THE HULK/ DESIGNING THE ABOMINATION/ MOTION CAPTURE AND  INTEGRATING TWO WORLDS

READ MORE: HULKING OUT GLOBALLY: DESIGN AND LOCATIONS OF THE FILM/ KEEPING THE INCREDIBLE HULK GREEN/ ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS LOUIS LETERRIER (DIRECTED BY), ZAK PENN (SCREEN STORY AND SCREENPLAY BY) AND STAN LEE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)

READ MORE ABOUT 'HULK' (ANG LEE)

THE ART OF ADAPTATION

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