Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk

Superhero & universe: Iron Man and Hulk, Marvel Universe

Is it based on a comic? Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 by Marvel Comics in 1963. Iron Man soon received his own series, and has been in print continuously since, celebrating the 500th issue in January of 2011. Iron Man currently appears in his own monthly book The Invincible Iron Man, Avengers, and the recently begun Avengers Assemble.

The Hulk first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 in 1962, and has also been in print almost continuously since his premiere. In 2009, The Hulk celebrated his 600th issue of publication, and currently stars in his own series, supports a successful spin-off, Hulk (which features the Red Hulk), and is also appearing in Avengers Assemble. The Red Hulk appears monthly in Avengers (comic) as well.


Haven't they already made that? The Hulk has been featured heavily in the media in the past forty years, having starred in a popular television series and several made for TV movies, at least five animated series (2 of those as a member of the Avengers or an equivalent), two recent theatrical films, and several direct to DVD animated features. Hulk currently stars in Super Hero Squad, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and the upcoming Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Hulk is also playing a major role in the highly anticipated film Avengers in 2 weeks!

Iron Man has been the main character in several self-titled animated series, as well as most of the different Avengers cartoon series. The character has also appeared in three direct to DVD animated films, and two hugely successful theatrical films. Iron Man currently appears on TV in Super Hero Squad, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and will be appearing in theaters alongside Hulk in Avengers (again, in just 2 weeks!).

What the heck does this have to do with Avengers? Everything!  With these two movies, we're coming to the real ground work and build up to Avengers.  Iron Man and Hulk, released the same summer, made up the first volley of Marvel's aggressive and dangerous bid to join the superhero movie trend more directly, and have more control over its properties.  In a nutshell, Marvel's gamble paid off HUGE.

With the success of Iron Man, Marvel discovered the recipe for fun blockbusters that please comic fans and newcomers alike.  A small bonus scene at the end of the credits for Iron Man, featuring Nick Fury talking about "The Avengers Initiative," ended up setting the course the company would take for the next several years.

The Incredible Hulk took the success one step farther;  While the movie met with average success and reviews, its contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (it's even got a wiki page!) was invaluable.  The movie contained the first hints of Captain America and the impact he had on the world.  It name-dropped several agencies and characters that would continue to shape the upcoming films.  And that vial that the General uses to make Bronsky stronger?  Yes, it's the same design as the vial used for the serum in Captain America.  Add in a cameo of the recent fan favorite Iron Man and a fascinatingly vague reference to forming a "team," and the Countdown to Avengers had begun.

Kate says I had a tough time committing to see The Incredible Hulk again, even though it was vitally important to this project. I find Edward Norton creepy, and I am unbelievably thankful that he has been replaced by the ultra-huggable Ruffalo in Avengers.

I realize it is possible to watch a movie without being totally committed to the hero, but in the world of superhero movies, this is rather difficult. It really isn't good for a movie when the viewer is more upset about the soda factory being demolished--destroying people's sole source of income--than the hero's fate.

Other than Norton, I quite like the movie's cast. I've always admired William Hurt; Liv Tyler is a sweetie, and I quite like Tim Roth even if I dislike the premise of Lie to Me. In fact, setting aside my Edward Norton antipathy, the film really works on several levels almost entirely due to the excellence of Tim Roth's incipient bad-guyness; once he becomes Abomination, he's far less interesting but as the combative, ambitious Bronksy he is fantastic.

The ending, unfortunately, still doesn't work for me. Banner spends 3/4 of the movie wanting to be cured; then, suddenly, at the end, he decides the Hulk can be used as a positive weapon. Huh? Where did that choice come from?

And the battle scene is just boring. There's no cleverness involved. Just force. And more force. While I like to watch high rise buildings blow up, I don't really care about really, really big creatures duking it out (watching every single gun and rocket launcher in existence fail to take out the Hulk is far more entertaining).

Ironman, on the other hand, is--from a writing standpoint--a far tighter film. And one of my all-time favorites. I don't find Robert Downey Jr. creepy at all despite the intrinsically unsettled nature of his character. Granted, watching any movie with Robert Downey, Jr. is, well, watching a movie with Robert Downey, Jr. but since I happen to find the actor incessantly amusing, it works for me.

The movie is lighter on character-development than many other superhero movies, but what is there is quite subtle and powerful. We aren't hit over the head with Tony Stark's inner development, mostly because he develops entirely within his own capacities and worldview; he doesn't suddenly become some Greenpeace Peacenik. I think this is far more provocative than Tony Stark turning into a completely different individual. In addition, Shaun Toub as Yensin provides an understated but powerful mentor-figure. Gwyneth Paltrow isn't a bad Girl Friday. I adore Terrence Howard for himself. And I triply adore Agent Coulson.

The villain is a bit weak but also a tad irrelevant. This does keep Ironman from being the best action movie ever made. Still, in terms of purely fun action, it ranks fairly high on my list.

Interestingly enough, after watching Iron Man 2, I've formed the conclusion that Tony Stark, however dysfunctional a human being (which is part of his charm), has the most "home life" of all the superheroes we've encountered on the list (with the exception of the last two movies). He is surrounded with family in the form of Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, Jarvis, and Dummy. He has a friendly relationship with Agent Coulson. He has his dead father looking out for him. This list of ongoing relationships is somewhat unusual for superheroes who are often separated from others by actual distance, the job, or the double identity. I think this may be one reason I like Iron Man/Tony Stark so much--the man is the machine and the machine is the man: what one sees is what one gets.

Mike says I was infuriated when I finished watching Iron Man the first time in the theater.  It was a good movie; in fact, it proved that Marvel characters could be brought to the screen in an entertaining and believable way. But when Tony Stark steps up and declares his identity, it brought back all the frustration and and disappointment that made me abandon buying Marvel comics altogether earlier that year.  The Tony Stark of the film captures all of the arrogance and pride of contemporary comics, and most of my reasons for writing them off.

After awhile, the stronger parts of the film grew on me, and I realized that I was okay with the ending.  The production, acting, and writing is all strong.  Downey was perfectly cast as Stark, and Favreau was the perfect director to bring this to screen.

The movie really takes its time to explain and explore the character, and shows nearly every step of his transformation into a hero.  While I agree with Kate, that the villain was weak and poorly developed, at the same time he wasn't all that important.  What was important was seeing Tony embrace the mantle of the Hero and put himself firmly on the path.  Stain really does provide this path, as well as providing a good action climax for the film.

If the Iron Man movies have any real flaw, it's that the villains' potential for truly emotionally wrenching conflict with the hero is never fully explored.  While the back story and depth of story was there, the time was never taken.  Stain's betrayal in the first film should have been devastating to Tony; this man had raised him after his father's death and had guided his life for several years.  Instead, Tony never really confronts him until it's really too late, and when he does, he handles it in with the same cavalier attitude he sports through most of the film.

Despite this, the first film is especially strong, and was a worthy start to what has become a groundbreaking theatrical undertaking.

The Incredible Hulk's failure to meet the same success and popularity really isn't that surprising, though a tad disappointing since it's a great film.  With a premise that pushes an audience's ability to suspend disbelief, a previous film that left a bad taste in just about everyone's mouth, and a star that usually plays villains or seriously unhinged characters, the movie is a bit hard to accept.

For a fan still trying to forget the previous movie, Incredible delivered.  The tone was right, the world was well constructed, and when the Hulk smashed, it wasn't set to depressingly sad music. Throw in some wonderfully appropriate references to the 70's TV show and some of the stronger Hulk comic story lines (and one entertaining video game reference), and the movie really pleased fans.  If anything, fans really dug the idea that the movie coexisted in the same fictional world as Iron Man, with clear connections established by the filmmakers themselves. The Stark cameo goes a long way to making this work, and because of this I can overlook that these scenes were added despite none of the filmmakers even knowing what the Avengers would be about!

For me, I like and enjoy the film very much, but it fails on a couple crucial points.  First, while the villain is wonderfully portrayed by Roth, Bronsky's connection and rivalry with Banner is completely one-sided, and Banner/Hulk, for the most part, has no real idea who or what Bronsky is other than some vague threat.  As a result, the end has no emotional punch, and Banner's choice to try and channel the Hulk has little weight to it.

Second, while I'm not a huge fan of Ruffalo, I admit that Norton may not have worked in the Avengers cast.  I've been fairly impressed with Norton's range in the past, and he does bring some good emotional weight to Banner.  He does a fairly good job emulating Bill Bixby.  But as a crowd pleasing Bruce Banner, the filmmakers could have chosen better.

My last real issue is something shared by all of the live action incarnations of the Hulk: the origin.  In the comics, Banner was transformed by the radiation of a massive explosion.  The scene has drama, tension, and suspense.  The origin featured in the last two film were both inspired by the series, and feature Banner being exposed in a rather mundane lab accident (in the series, Banner's accident is the result of a typo; really).  The event has no real drama, no real weight.  In fact it's so insignificant that it doesn't feel worthy of the end result.

While I think three origin films for one character in a ten year span is definite overkill, if they were to try it again, the  accident itself needs to be the focus of at least the first half of the film, exploring the set up, the accident, and then the consequences.  While I understand that pleasing fans of the TV series is a concern, that aim shouldn't shape the entire film (or films, in this case).

Ultimately, The Incredible Hulk may deliver for fans of the comics, and really tries to service fans of the TV show, but it didn't really appeal to general audiences.  Despite this, it does do a great job building the world that the heroes exist in, and creates a solid foundation to build the following films, and their end goal, The Avengers.

Did I mention that it's only two weeks away?