Marvel Cinematic Universe: Ranking all 18 movies after Black Panther

15. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

In 2003, Academy Award-winning director, Ang Lee, created the first big budget live action Hulk movie. Although a box-office success at the time, audiences saw Hulk as too long, too pretentious, and too ridiculous. They just wanted to see, and hear, “Hulk smash!” A mere five years later, Universal Pictures, Marvel Studios, and director Louis Leterrier gave moviegoers their wish with The Incredible Hulk.

Acting as both a reboot and a semi-sequel to Ang Lee’s Hulk, this movie not takes more cues from the original comics, but also the iconic Incredible Hulk television series. Edward Norton makes for a sympathetic Dr. Bruce Banner, who’s on the run from the military while searching for a cure. The effects for the Hulk look great, too, and the action overall is the kind fans of the original comics would salivate over. It’s the complete opposite of Lee’s ponderous, contemplative version, running, like Banner, on adrenaline. It even has time for some cute, referential humor.

The supporting cast, though, is a mixed bag. Liv Tyler makes for a nice, attractive, but unremarkable Betty Ross, and the romance between her and Banner lacks genuine spark. Unlike Sam Elliot in the Ang Lee film, the always laconic William Hurt is totally miscast as General Ross. By contrast, you can tell Tim Roth has a blast playing Emil Blonsky/The Abomination. The plot is also safe and paint-by-numbers, setting up a potential sequel which, thanks to Marvel’s deal with Disney, never came to pass.

Even though The Incredible Hulk is canon for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s also the MCU’s most underrated film. Perhaps it’s because it’s eclipsed by the more popular Iron Man, which came out earlier that the same summer.  Still, it’s a fun, if somewhat superficial, movie that’s worth a second look.