Talking about what’s overrated is boring. What does it even mean, really? It also feels mean… and we’ve got plenty of avenues rewarding odious behavior already. Instead, we should focus more on encouraging everyone’s inner Sicko. Forgive the Ready Player One-esque dialogue, but I’ll take a hipster over a hater any day. It is with that I must confess my secret love for 2008’s The Incredible Hulk—a film that is often besmirched, and dismissed, by our needlessly cruel society.
The movie is more often seen through the lens of a meme telescope. Edward Norton did not reprise his role as Bruce Banner again. Therefore, many MCU lovers don’t take him seriously as the Hulk. But that’s a mistake, because it’s not only a solid flick, but one that should get more appreciation following the release of Captain America: Brave New World.
For starters, Edward Norton is—hold on to your pants for this one—great actor. While he may not be the first choice that comes to mind for the iconic character, he does an admirable job with what he’s got to work with. He doesn’t fully capture the galactic nerd vibe of Banner the way Ruffalo would in The Avengers. But there’s a certain fragility to the performance juxtaposed to the enormous green rage monster residing in him. It is both underappreciated and a far cry from the rollicking, almost buddy-cop-like adventurer of Thor: Ragnarok.
Norton’s Banner exudes a blend of exhaustion and optimism (super relatable!). It fundamentally works because being the Hulk is, unlike most Avengers, an extremely not-fun time. I’ve always seen the character as an allegory, of sorts, for dealing with illnesses. It’s something you have to try to adapt to and live with—for your sake and the people around you.
And boy, is it a lonely road. While the current MCU Hulk is more bubbly and composed, The Incredible Hulk is Pennywise the Clown by comparison. The rage is understood and the film embraces it. After watching some of Ruffalo’s films, you think of the Hulk as a fun brute. But this movie makes you more fearful of the power. Even the opening credits, which quickly and efficiently summarize how Banner got to this point, give off brilliantly disturbing horror vibes. Frankly, with the allegations of the modern day MCU feeling like “homework,” maybe some stylized openers in the same vein could become a true calling card.
Also unique for this particular film is a sort of down time. It shows Bruce backpacking his way across the world, wearing nothing but cargo shorts and receiving charity from random strangers. It’s all of this and the little things—from scenes of him doing yoga training and learning a new language by watching Sesame Street—that give the film its soul. Natasha Romanoff would later, quite beautifully, state in Avengers: Age of Ultron that Banner “runs from the fight because he knows he’ll win” and this film makes such a characterization feel all the more real.
But perhaps one of the film’s best attributes is its antagonist, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, played by the late William Hurt, who is about as evil as you can be. “Now she’ll see” states Ross upon intentionally releasing the horrific violence of the Hulk, in a tone that implies awe and potential, when all he’s stoking is fear and inevitable destruction. Ross is essentially an avatar for the military—a common foe in Hulk stories—and the quest for power, believing it, because Merica’, can wield it righteously.
In Brave New World, Ross (now played by Harrison Ford) gets a sort of redemption arc. It’s a decision that, for a myriad of reasons, feels not only like a betrayal of the character, but of everything we learned from The Incredible Hulk. Forget that the movie is incredibly (ha! HA!) old, because that’s a separate discussion about the MCU’s over-reliance on fan service entirely. It’s about the narrative decision here, and one that doesn’t feel targeted towards anyone.
Harrison Ford’s performance is admittedly is quite fantastic, all things considered. However, it’s hard to take seriously that Ross’ redemption can be an emotional pull because he …wants to broker a deal to give equal access to adamantium to the most powerful nations on Earth? This feels like a half-measure echoing that of the Game of Thrones finale. The relationship between the MCU and the military industrial complex has been discussed ad nauseum. But it feels a lot more blatant than it did in the early days.
The politics of The Incredible Hulk are right in your face simply by observing its antagonist’s actions and what he represents. But for Captain America—whose politics are about what’s underneath the surface and ripe for exploration in a sequel—this brazen ignorance feels like a major missed opportunity, and I can’t help but see just how intentionally lackluster it all felt.
I wouldn’t say Brave New World is outright terrible, exactly. It is much less bad than it could be? For sure. I’m a sicko, so plenty of rewatches are likely in store. I like seeing that gorgeous shield go ricochet and bouncy-bouncy. However, its resolution almost entirely amounts to an obnoxiously simplistic “Hey, sometimes people make an oopsie!” and that’s not great. This is far less gratifying than the Edward Norton flick. Instead of Ross obtaining forgiveness in this 2008 flick, his daughter Betsy practically cuts him out of her life entirely. It’s bleak but necessary, and all the more bold by today’s standards.
And we got something bittersweet for Bruce. He once again leaves his life, and the woman he loves, behind in order to safeguard this incredible, potentially world-ending power inside him from the evils that seek to exploit it. In a final scene that calls back to the globe-trotting scenery of the film’s earlier moments, we see Bruce living in the mountains, finding some level of peace. He resides in a humble cabin making his little sweet coffee. Bruce continues his yoga and meditation and we see his eyes turn green, but this time with a smile.
The Incredible Hulk is story about overcoming the horrors that illnesses can beseech upon us and a lesson of balance. We can’t exorcise some of these demons, or our past, entirely. But what we can do is work at it, and find some level of control. And it’s worth it. Forgive the cheesiness to close this out, but hey, just because something’s trite doesn’t make it any less true.