The Incredible Hulk review: How does it impact Infinity War?

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – JUNE 08: (l-R) Universal Studios’ Ron Meyer, actor Edward Norton and Universal Studios’ Adam Fogelson arrive at the premiere of Universal Pictures’ ‘The Incredible Hulk’ held at the Universal City Walk on June 8, 2008 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

10 years after The Incredible Hulk hit theaters, how does it stand? Could it impact Avengers: Infinity War?

In 2008, The Incredible Hulk became the second movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to hit theaters, following Iron Man. It was the only film about the Hulk to be made in the MCU, following previous renditions of this character. This also marked Edward Norton’s one and only appearance as this character, before being replaced by Mark Ruffalo for The Avengers and ensuing movies.

10 years later, the MCU will culminate with the release of Avengers: Infinity War. Will The Incredible Hulk provide anything toward this? How does the movie stand?

What worked?

The Incredible Hulk has become something of a forgotten stepchild in the ever-expanding ever-successful MCU. Set against the extremely high bar of the original Iron Man, which came out oozing charisma and slinging repulsor blasts and one-liners with equal accuracy, it was considered something of a disappointment at its release. A sentiment that was only compounded when Edward Norton was replaced as the Hulk by the incredibly popular Mark Ruffalo, creating a rare moment of discontinuity in the MCU. Marvel has been absolutely fantastic in avoiding these kinds of disbelief-shattering hiccups with a few pointed exceptions,*cough* War Machine *cough*, and being the only movie so far to sport a different lead actor gives this film a bit of a black eye.

Truth is, though, there’s still a lot to like about this early Marvel outing and most of its bad rep is completely undeserved.

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The issue the movie has in fitting in with the rest of the Marvel films about diverse and marketable characters is that Hulk isn’t like the others. Not really. Because the Hulk, strictly speaking, isn’t just a superhero; he’s also a monster.

As such, his movies often contain scenes and themes that are far more suited to a monster flick (think werewolves or Frankenstein) than to the breezy fun-loving style Marvel has cultivated. And this one is no exception. This movie was never going to be as easy to digest as the origin stories of the other original Avengers. The Hulk is a mix of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. His roots are in horror, not adventure. He doesn’t go down smooth.

The Incredible Hulk tries very hard to walk a fine line between being a story about a man tormented by the terrifying, uncontrollable power that threatens his soul,  and setting up a guy who can plausibly team-up with a dude wearing the American flag and fight some baddies.

It’s a tricky proposition, and the movie gets it half right on both accounts, with scary, awe-inspiring transformations, brutal battles, and heroic moments, but it also only partially delivers on the promise of real introspection and struggles to find compelling reasons for the Hulk to, well, Hulk.

There are solid performances throughout. Liv Tyler turns in a commendable one as Betty Ross. William Hurt is excellent as her father, Thunderbolt. Even Norton hands in a nuanced take on a perpetually nervous and worried Bruce Banner, who is obviously inspired by the tortured doctors that populate the horror stories from which the idea for the Hulk sprang.

Once Blonsky gets around to becoming The Abomination, the fight between he and the Hulk is suitably titanic. The sheer physicality of The Abomination makes him a worthwhile and refreshing villain for Hulk, especially for those of us who grew up watching the classic television show where the most intimidating opponent the Hulk ever fought was a grizzly bear.

Similarly, the Hulk itself (because it is mostly an “it” in this movie, not a “him”) is imposing and frightening at times. The scene in the soda factor in particular presents a positively malevolent vibe on the strongest one there is, as Hulk flits from shadow to shadow snatching up thugs like some super-powered Predator alien.

The instance when a raging Hulk shatters every bone in Emil Blonsky’s body before shielding Betty from a fireball moments later is as good of an example of the hero/monster dichotomy of the Hulk as I can remember.

This movie understands that the thing that makes the Hulk special as a hero is that he doesn’t want to be one, that he pays a steeper price for his heroics than others, that he is a hero in a world that hates and fears him when he could more easily give in to his base nature and become the villain everyone fears him to be.

It’s admirable in the application and exploration of that pain, and as a monster flick, The Incredible Hulk is a smashing (pardon the pun) success.