On display: Hulk Car from The Fast & The Furious Tokyo Drift - 2005 Volkswagen Touran

In a movie about fast racing cars, the 2005 Volkswagen Touran driven by Twinkie (played by Bow Wow) stood out because it was “twinked” out to be a Hulk mobile.  It was a nice metallic green, of course.  In some shots, it kinda looked a light candy apple green.  Painted at the front was the angry face of the Incredible Hulk.  On the side and the back, the fists and foot of the Incredible Hulk were molded as if he was trying to break out from within and he had dented the enclosing walls of the car from inside.  It’s really neat to see.  Not sure if I’ll drive anything like it.  But it will definitely get you some attention.

Video Clip of the Hulk Car on display

Since 1989, Kotobukiya had been marketing two popular brands of collectible figures: ArtFX Statues (vinyl) and Fine Art Statues (resin).  For the 2008 movie, they released three collectible Incredible Hulk Movie Fine Art Statues:

The Abomination Fine Art Statue from Kotobukiya

Kotobukiya's The Incredible Hulk Fine Art Statue from the movie

Hulk Movie Fine Art Bust from Kotobukiya

They also have a collection for Iron Man, Blade, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, X-Men, and the Punisher.  Along with Bowen Designs, there should be plenty of neat collector statues for Hulk and Marvel comic book fans.

Below is a quick rundown of the easter eggs and references that I picked up:

The easter eggs fall neatly in 3 categories that are related to the Hulk universe and/or Marvel universe:

• the Hulk TV series;
• other Marvel characters and story arcs; and
• the Hulk comic book story arc itself.

Easter Eggs from the Incredible Hulk TV Series – Remembering the Old School

Ed Norton & Bill Bixby: Hulk Eyes

• Lonely Man Theme can be heard in the background during the Guatemalan scene as Dr. Bruce Banner walked around in his tattered pants.  That’s a killer theme song, by the way.
• Lou Ferrigno cameo as a security guard.  He was the original Hulk on TV.
• Bill Bixby, who played Dr. Banner on the Hulk TV series, was shown in a TV show (The Courtship of Eddie’s Father) in an early scene at Bruce Banner’s Brazilian apartment.
• Early lab scenes with Banner using the gamma experiment on himself.  The setup is the same as the TV series including the rotating chair and the crosshair on Banner’s forehead.
• Student named Jack McGee speaking as a witness to the fight between the army and the green giant.  In the TV series, the news reporter who hounded Dr. Banner is named Jack McGee.
• Getting the Hulk eyes.  In the factory when Norton first turned to the Hulk, the close up of Norton’s face is similar to the popular screenshot of a TV closeup when Bixby turned to the Hulk.
• David B. as the recipient’s name on the envelope when Banner opened the package with Betty Ross’s necklace.  David Banner is Bixby’s character name. Bruce Banner is Norton’s character name, which is the same as the comic books.
• “You wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.”  Said in Portuguese by Banner to the thugs in the factory while rescuing the beautiful Martina played by Débora Nascimento (seen here at VanitySpy.com).  Acknowledged by Banner as not making sense, the line made famous by Bixby is “Mr. McGee, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” Clip available at www.tripletsandus.com/80s/wav.htm.

References to the Hulk comic book universe

The reason why I wrote these down was because the Ang Lee version obscured the comic book story arc.  The following was for the benefit of fans who do not follow the comic book:

• Samuel Sterns receiving gamma ray blood on his temple.  In the comic books, Samuel Sterns became the Leader, a Hulk villain with an artificially induced super-genius prowess that he received from an accidental gamma ray bombardment.
• Mr. Blue as Sterns’ alias.  In the Hulk comic book series scripted by Bruce Jones, a mysterious figure named Mr. Blue pursued the Hulk.
• The purple pants that Betty Ross gave Banner at the motel room.  In the comic books (and the 2003 movie), the Hulk wore purple pants.
• “Hulk smash!” is not a corny line thrown in by the writers.  It’s the Hulk’s signature line in the comic books.  He’s known for that and “Puny humans!”


Hulk vs Doc Samson

• Dr. Samson, Betty’s psychiatrist boyfriend. In the comic books, he goes by Doc Samson, also a psychiatrist who was exposed to a small dose of gamma radiation.  He gained similar powers as the Hulk but at a much lesser
  level.
• Rick Jones in a list of names during the opening sequence.  Rick Jones is the name of the Hulk’s sidekick / best friend.  He plays a big part in the Hulk story arc.
• Hulk out muscling the Abomination.  If you haven’t been following the Hulk, it may seem a bit lame that the Hulk was able to comeback from the beating he had received from a much more powerful and better-trained Blonsky as the Abomination.  The same goes when the Hulk was clearly beaten down by the soldiers using sonar cannons in an earlier battle.

Where did the Hulk get the burst of strength?  Well, in the comic books, the Hulk gets stronger as he gets angrier.  This particular trait allows the Hulk to match up very well against most powerful supernatural beings such as the Norse god Thor and the demi-god Hercules.

In the movie, each time the Hulk was beaten down, he saw Betty Ross in danger (e.g. soldiers carrying her away against her will and flames about to engulf her on the rooftop) and these situations made him madder allowing him to muster up the strength to overcome his opponents.

• Banner using yoga to control the Hulk.  In a recent series of Hulk comic books, writer Bruce Jones introduced a story arc where Banner used yoga to rein in the Hulk.

Marvel Crossover Easter Eggs

In comic books, it is not unusual for superheroes and villains to crossover to each other’s story arc.  Thus, the Fantastic Four would sometimes team up with Spider-Man, Captain America, etc.  The Incredible Hulk movie also has crossovers, though may have only been picked up by … ahem … comic book fans.

• Stark Industries on documents in the opening sequence.  Stark Industries is a weapons manufacturer owned by Tony Stark whose alter ego is Iron Man.
• Tony Stark cameo (Robert Downey Jr.) at the very end scene speaking to General Ross about a new team he’s putting together.  Could this be the Avengers?
• S.H.I.E.L.D. name and logo on documents in the opening montage.  S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division.  S.H.I.E.L.D. is a super secret government agency run by Nick Fury.  Samuel L. Jackson made a cameo in Iron Man as Nick Fury.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. technology intercepting Banner’s e-mail to Mr. Blue from a gas station computer. 
• Allusion of Thor in the cave scene as rain, thunder, and lightning raged outside.  One of the bolts seemingly struck the Hulk or close enough to infuriate him.  It was indeed a powerful scene as the Hulk howled upwards at the sky in defiance of the elements.  In Marvel universe, Thor is the god of war and thunder and many fans saw this scene as Thor measuring the Hulk before an eventual showdown.
  


Blue serum to make super soldiers like Emile Blonsky and Captain America

• The blue serum that turned Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) into a super soldier references Captain America the first super soldier created by the US government during World War II.
• Blonsky’s super quickness and agility coupled with his military training and experience demonstrated how Captain America would fare against a much stronger opponent like the Hulk.  Blonsky was clearly faster and had more stamina than the soldiers he led into battle against the Hulk.
  
• Blonsky’s healing ability also demonstrates how Captain America could survived being frozen in the arctic since World War II.  In the comic books, the Avengers found the body of Captain America frozen in a block of ice somewhere in the North Pole.  He could not have survived such cold condition unless he had the ability to heal.
  
• Jim Wilson, one of the students who witnessed the battle between the Hulk and the US Army, is a nephew of Sam Wilson.  Sam Wilson is a superhero known as the Falcon who is a friend of Captain America.  Jim Wilson also appears as a sidekick of the Incredible Hulk in other issues.
• The blue serum is clearly labeled Weapons Plus.  This one is a bit of a stretch, but the program that created Wolverine is called Weapons X.  Wolverine made his very first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #180.
  
• Stan Lee cameo drinking the gamma-laced soda and falling over from poisoning.  Marvel movies are known for Stan Lee cameos.
• Stanleys Pizza is the name of the restaurant where Banner stayed temporarily and where Betty first discovered his return.  The name is too close to Stan Lee to be dismissed as coincidental.
• Paul Soles playing Stanleys is the voice of Spider-Man in the late 60′s cartoons.

If I miss anymore, leave them in the comment.

The closeness in numbers, however, do not reflect the sentiments of fans.  In IMDB (Oct 5, 2009), the Hulk 2003 has a rating of 5.7/10 and The Incredible Hulk 2008 has a rating of 7.2/10.  I agree.  I’m a fan of the 2008 movie and do not care for the 2003 movie.

Why the Hulk 2003 sucked

Promo Poster for the Hulk 2003 Movie

While most disgusted fans point to his gi-normous size in the 2003 movie as a turn-off (he was as tall as a house), I simply point to the boring and uninspired storytelling.  There is no doubt that Ang Lee is a great movie director, receiving accolades for dramatic masterpieces such as Brokeback Mountain and Sense and Sensibilities.  But his attempt to turn an action comic book hero into an art house icon just did not work for me.

Perhaps Ang Lee shouldn’t take all the blame.  The writers of the screenplay also deserve some tongue lashing for creating a lackluster storyline.  The Hulk vs his dad?  Are these guys stuck on Star Wars?

The Hulk universe has already been nicely laid out for them by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics.  All they had to do was take pieces from this universe and package it for a film — the Hulk, his friends, the Army, and bad guys.  They had to write-in the Hulk and Betty.  They got the US Army’s role correctly.  But the bad guy being the Hulk’s mad scientist dad who at the end turned into a monster?  Not what I’d like to see as a fan.

They could have chosen from the Abomination (bad guy for 2008 Hulk, Incredible Hulk Vol 3 #25, Tales to Astonish #90), the Leader (Tales to Astonish #69, The Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #115), the Rhino (The Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #104), and Wendigo (Hulk #162).  All great bad guys in the Hulk and Marvel Universe.  All proven to be worthy of repeat performances.  The writers did not have to create a new one.  By doing so, the writers lost me and many other fans.  We just didn’t care why the Hulk was fighting his dad.

The way the writers wrote the Hulk’s nemesis in the 2003 movie pretty much tells me that they didn’t get what the Hulk in the comic books was all about.

Why The Incredible Hulk 2008 is better than the Hulk 2003

Incredible Hulk 2008 Movie Poster

There are plenty of reasons to like Louis Letterier’s Hulk over that of Ang Lee.  First, the action is much better.  I particularly like the “Oh Shit” look on the US Army Special Forces hunting Dr. Banner in Brazil when they suddenly find their weapons and training ineffective against a brutal and superhuman target.  They simply didn’t know what hit them and did so convincingly for the benefit of the movie audience.

So what will the military do if they didn’t have enough firepower in the first go around?  In the case of The Incredible Hulk, they bring more hardware.  The battle scene on campus has plenty of action for those militarily inclined.  And the same goes for the New York city scene.

The showdown against the Abomination is very entertaining as well.  I like how the Hulk was getting the beatdown until Betty Ross got in trouble and he had to get mad to get stronger in order to save her.

What I like most about The Incredible Hulk is the way the writers wove in various aspects of the Hulk and Marvel universe.  They wrote in elements from the Hulk comic book storyline, including other super hero storylines that the Hulk may have crossed over with.  They also paid homage to the great 1970s TV series.  And they even acknowledged the 2003 movie by holding the first few scenes in South America.  That’s where Dr. Banner ended up in the Ang Lee version.

See Hulk movie DVDs for sale on eBay.

See Hulk movie Blu-ray discs for sale on eBay.