As you guys know, next summer is shaping up to be a HUGE one for the super-hero genre. There’s obviously the next Batman film “The Dark Knight”… then there’s the looking better and better Iron Man… and then there’s The Incredible Hulk! I’ve been pumped about this Hulk film ever since they announced it a while back. Yes, I really enjoyed the Ang Lee version… but even I longed to see a true “Hulk Smash” rendition as well. And it looks like that’s exactly what we’re getting.
At Comic Con, they released a concept photo of what the big guy will probably look like. Damn skippy…. now THAT’S the Hulk! Excellent look for the green man.
Not only did they release that poster… but they also announced that Ed Norton himself re-wrote the scipt! Our friends over at FirstShowing put up this report from the Hulk session:
Norton talked at length about his interest in the comic book and television series, stating “I was a Marvel kid, I had subscriptions to a lot of the Marvel comics.” Norton also said that “the whole idea of starting from scratch and re-conceiving the story as a mythic saga was really appealing” to him and that he “thought it was really an amazing opportunity.” Norton also said that his reasons for taking this project on were that the technology allowed for him to actually play both halves of the character, the regular half and the technological half, without losing his actual performance.
I’m not totally sure how I feel about Ed Norton messing with the script. Is he a good screenwriter? i don’t know… he hasn’t done anything in that regards so far that has made it to screen. Some people may think this is good news… and it might very well be… but it makes me nervous a little bit. I’m adopting a wait and see mentality for it right now. HULK SMASH PUNY HUMANS!
21 Comments, Comment or Ping
Kristina
Cross a frog with a T-rex and you get………
Jul 29th, 2007
Naught
Hahahah. I think he looks like an ape. And I don’t see what the big deal is with the Batman buzz. Batman Begins was okay, imho. Just because it was better than the rest of the Batman movies doesn’t mean it’s spectacular, and to be honest I was a bit bored watching it. But that’s just me.
Jul 29th, 2007
Josh
Holy shit that looks like my crack head uncle.
Jul 29th, 2007
Rayato
Looks hella mean. I like it.
Jul 29th, 2007
Bobby
Naught, that makes two of us! I agree totally about BB, i was really bored and i still dont enjoy it…oh well
Jul 29th, 2007
Mike
Edward Norton has done some writing, it was uncredited. The only ones I know of are The Score and Frida.
Jul 30th, 2007
Darren j Seeley
I was looking foward to this until you reported on Norton personally tinkering with the script. That sounds off an alarm bell with me.
He’s a really good actor, but…this just sadly reminds me of that contreversy over “American History X”, and how other actors pull power trips from time to time and override the director or the script given to them that *everyone* signed off on to do. It’s not one or two lines, not one or two scenes, it is suggested he re-wrote a good chunk of the script. The strike hasn’t happened yet, did he think the script was horrid? Do actors normally sign on to films with scripts that bad, or was it just a good, well written script, got a director, got a good cast…and then ONE actor says , “I don’t like the other scenes that I’m in/not in, I’m going to rewrite this and that…” In fact…”why don’t I give that Campea fellow a line, he seems like a nice dude…”
I don’t care how many comics he’s read, owns, or if he’s fan of the old TV series**…pulling rank this way is uncool. When “stars” mess with thier films, most of the time, the results are a big, ugly mess. Sometimes they want to fix things that aren’t broken. I’m GLAD I wasn’t at Comic Con. If I was and heard that, I’d be tempted to boo. It raises a serious red flag for me, and it is interesting that he mentions ‘the dual role’, for didn’t Eric Bana have the same challenge (aside from one or two scenes, when Ang Lee stood in)?
As for the image, looks better than Bana Hulk, but not by much. That’s NOT a put down, because the Hulk from the previous film (I thought) was well done.
[[**why do I smell horseshit? if he's such a good actor and comics fan, why is it he's never been considered for a live action, comics inspired film before? You would think he would have even been considered for the Ang Lee film...I'll expand my views on this in tommorow night's AE comment board. I'm sure it will be brung up]]
—Sealer has sputtered
Jul 30th, 2007
Mike
Darren,
Actually Norton was offered the Ang Lee film but turned it down. Plus it’s a Zak Penn script, anything done to it can only be an imporvment. Regarding the Eric Bana duel role thing, I’m pretty sure that was all Ang Lee doing the mo-cap.
Jul 30th, 2007
Sir Jig-A-Lot
it’s not like Norton is rewriting Shakespeare. it’s the fucking Hulk. & that image is nowhere near the finished product according to Letterier.
Jul 30th, 2007
Donald
Norton also had a hand in the re-writing of American History X and that worked out well. This is very good news for me.
Jul 30th, 2007
Kneon Transitt
Thumbs up on the Hulk design. Good to see they came to their senses and turned the neon green down a few notches.
CGI has come a long way since the first flick (look at Davy Jones and Optimus), so hopefully this Hulk *will* be incredible.
Jul 30th, 2007
Darren j Seeley
@Donald:
“Norton had a hand in the re-writing of American History X and that worked out well”
eh…no. Not exactly.. Not-rewriting. Re-editing. Huge difference.
@Jigs
“It’s not like Norton is rewriting Shakespeare…it’s the Hulk”
So then, the script to the new ‘Hulk’ film wasn’t that stellar, is that what you mean? A script is a script, it does not matter if it is original or an adaptation. It isn’t up to ONE actor, unless that actor is involved in production or is the director…not just the actor.
@Mike.
He turned it down? A big Marvel/Hulk fan like Norton turned it down? No, he wasn’t offered the part at all. He almost became Harvey Dent in ‘Dark Knight’ though…until the new Hulk came along.
Jul 30th, 2007
Geoff
I would cut the man some slack - I’ve never heard an interview or commentary track with him that didn’t give off the impression of an articulate and talented individual. And he has admitted to basically re-writing Frida from the ground up. And let’s not forget that he did go to Yale Drama. :P
I really don’t think this is as simple as a star “messing” with a script. This isn’t Lindsay Lohan. It’s Ed Freaking Norton, one of the few actors who’s rarely disappointed me. As long as it’s not The Italian Job, I think we’ll all be fine.
Jul 30th, 2007
Barf Bag
Wow, that looks pretty cool. Kinda like the classic Hulk look.
Jul 30th, 2007
Sir Jig-A-Lot
@ Seeley
it’s not like Norton has done shit work as director,producer or screenwriter in the past. see Keeping The Faith,25th Hour & Frida.
Jul 30th, 2007
Ethan
I was at the con but I freaking missed the Incredible Hulk booth thingy, I was SO pissed but it looks like everything that was said has been posted so yeah… Anyway this Hulk looks great, better than the previous IMO, in the Hulk he seamed almost “milky green” and this design seams near oposite.
As for Norton messing with the script, well if he rewrote Frida and did a bit to American History X then I have complete faith in him.
Jul 31st, 2007
movie replicas
i like the look. it distingishes him from the other film. i like both hulks. it wouldn’t bother me one bit if they used ang lee’s version for this film.
Jul 31st, 2007
Kevin C
I like that its a more ugly and scary Hulk and not trying to be a fashion model Hulk like the previous one.
Not that it was bad but I kept noticing that Hulk was too good looking…for a giant green freak anyway.
Jul 31st, 2007
austin eastlee
He looks like the griinch on steroids! …which isnt totally horrible i guess
Jul 31st, 2007
Sir Jig-A-Lot
better the grinch i suppose than the shrek comparisons the last movie got. i still wish they’d gone for the ruthless badass grey hulk though.
Jul 31st, 2007
Sir Jig-A-Lot
not only do i dig the grey’s persona but i have been told by someone who works in CGI @ fox that grey is easier to make realistic than green.
Jul 31st, 2007
Reply to “New Hulk Image”