‘Incredible Hulk’ to Speak – ‘Captain America’ Film Hinted?
The panel for The Incredible Hulk movie at New York Comic Con had a few big surprises for fans. If you don’t want any minor spoilers, get away from this post right now.
Still with us? Sweet.
A not-quite-finished version of the full length trailer was shown (the completed version will appear before Iron Man). The new trailer had some added scenes showing the Hulk and his enemy the Abomination (referred to only by his real name of "Emil Blonsky" in the film) fighting in New York City and smashing helicopters in the process. It also included a quick clip of a military official referring to Blonsky as a subject of a General Ross’s "bio-force project" who winds up going out of control.
During the panel, a couple of clips were shown with actor Tim Roth as Emil Blonksy. One clip showed him receiving an injection of a blue-colored serum which was supposed to prepare him to take on the Hulk in physical combat.
The second clip involved Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, being cornered by the military. Seeing his beloved Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) in danger, Banner transforms into the Hulk and begins fighting off the soldiers. On the order of General Ross (William Hurt), Blonksy then shows up and challenges the Hulk.
Apparently as a result of the serum he’s been injected with, he is now able to operate with enhanced agility and speed. While not exactly superhuman, his newfound physical prowess reminded me of Captain America in action as he dodged and weaved between the Hulk’s physical attacks while letting loose with guns and rockets. This was a phenomenal action scene and the direction made it feel very personal and in-your-face.
Equally enjoyable is the fact that Blonsky is obviously having fun in the physical confrontation and even asks the Hulk sarcastically, "Is that all you’ve got?!"
When asked about how familiar he was with Blonsky beforehand, Roth said that while he had read Hulk comics when he was younger, he had never read any stories with Blonsky/Abomination before. To prepare for the role, he read several stories featuring the Abomination and found him to be "a very interesting character, I hope we see more of him."
When pressed further about Blonsky’s motivation, Roth explained "He’s a combat man, he’s not a desk man. But he’s getting older and he knows his body’s starting to lose it. And then he finds this way to enhance himself and he loves it. And it gets too far."
Indeed, it seems that when he finds he is still unable to defeat the Green Goliath in physical combat, Blonsky demands futher treatment of the serum and that this is what mutates him into the Abomination creature.
One shrewd fan asked whether or not the serum used to mutate Blonsky into a monster was at all related to the chemical that made Captain America a super-soldier (similar to how the Ultimate Marvel incarnation of the Hulk owes his mutation to the same serum). Leterrier answered by asking if fans had noticed that the chemical used on Blonsky was colored a bright blue, which he then smiled and said was, "Captain America’s color."
Leterrier said that he had made it a point to watch message boards discussing the Hulk film and what fans wanted and that he had decided to let the Hulk speak due to immense fan request. What’s more, Lou Ferrigno (who played the Jade Giant back in the live-action ’70s show) made a surprise appearance to confirm that he would be playing the voice of the Hulk, just as he had done in the ’90s animated series.
Leterrier asked one fan, "What would you like the Hulk to say?" The fan simply answered he wanted to hear the Hulk’s famous catch-phrases "Puny humans!" and "Hulk smash!" Leterrier answered, "You want Hulk Smash? We can do Hulk Smash."
When asked about the rumors that there were arguments and conflicts between Edward Norton and the director, the panel stated that the film was a collaborative effort and that the rumors were exaggerations. What’s more, Leterrier said that Edward Norton was "great to work with. I was a little nervous because he’s so big and I’m just, you know, the guy who directed Transporter. But he was great. I was the director and that was good enough for him."
And finally, a crossover rumor was confirmed. After the trailer ended, a roughly 30-second clip was shown in which General Ross (Wililam Hurt) was sitting in a bar, looking quite defeated and frustrated. A man walks into the bar and the camera then revealed it to be Robert Downey, Jr., reprising his role of Tony Stark from the Iron Man movie. The two characters obviously recognized each other and shared a brief dialog.
WILLIAM HURT: "You always wear such nice suits."
ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.: "I hear you have an unusual problem."
WILLIAM HURT: "You should talk."
[beat]
ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.: "You should listen."