#02 the Incredible Hulk
Retrospective
10 Year Anniversary & Infinity War Countdown
! S E V E N D A Y S L E F T !
[June 08th 2008, PG-13, 1hr 52min, Dtr: Louis Leterrier, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi]
After the surprise success and reception of Iron Man, this second entry into the potential shared universe had to overcome two massive obstacle: following up on the admittedly innovative yet too out-there Ang Lee's 2003 adaptation and of course the rapport Robert Downey Jr's outing had procured. They had to retell his origin story to differentiate their version with the last aforementioned ill-received effort. Caused by the gamma radiation accident in the futile attempt to revive the super-soldier program (love their foreshadowing!), Dr. Bruce Banner would transform into Hulk whenever his heart rate would rise above 200. An ability that he didn't want keep hindering him as he tried to find a cure, being hunt by General Thunderbolt Ross and Emil Blonsky with the latter going the same road willingly to avenge his team. The duality in accepting and rejecting the power is the main theme with Banner acquiring the help of Betty Ross to develop an antidote, but as an ally wanted to use his power in the field of medicine, his constant rejection of the power now seemed to be counter-productive if it falls into the wrong hands in the end. Case in point, Blonsky survived the earlier attack and wanted Hulk's power for himself so the combination of the super-soldier formula and Banner's Blood made him an 'Abomination'. Fighting fire with fire, Bruce was released to have a brawl throughout Harlem and finally 'defeat' his lesser alternative, leaving him the opportunity to run away and just be by himself. We know that he now had the ability to transform under control and in the after credit scene the seed was being planted again with Tony Stark himself came to meet the General, telling him that "a team is being put together".
- IMDb - wiki -
P.S. They started to find their footing in finding the right balance to portray the Hulk, trying to venture out of the uncanny valley with the then limited technology!
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