Ang Lee‘s HULK wasn’t the one we wanted or deserved. It was the one we got. It was a year after the success of SPIDER-MAN, and I think the process there was to find a hero everyone was familiar with hoping it had that sort of success. While Hulk is a fun character for kids, they don’t get excited when they hear about the complex life that Bruce Banner leads.
Lee brought a version of the character that wasn’t going to work with kids instead he gave Banner/Hulk what he thought they needed. Did it pay off? If you are familiar with the fanboy community it wasn’t a big hit. As of late, I’ve been seeing some people defend it. I certainly don’t think if anyone, the actors are to blame.
During an interview for Eric Bana‘s next project CLOSED CIRCUIT, the actors time as the angry green one was brought up:
Eric Bana: I’m sorry about that.
Vulture: Do you not like it? Compared to the superhero movies now, it’s certainly an interesting take.
EB: Yeah, well, it was the first of the “dark” take. Make no mistake.
Vulture: Are you not proud of that movie?
EB: I’m proud of what it tried to do. I apologize to all those people who were so angry about it.
Vulture: I think time has been kind to Hulk.
EB: I don’t know about that.
Vulture: I think people like it more now than they did in 2003.
EB: Well, I don’t know. I’m fascinated by the people who hated that movie and feel compelled to watch it again, which always blows my mind. But, yeah, it is what it is and I certainly don’t regret doing it.
Vulture: Do you ever think about your career if that had been a huge success and you would have done a few Hulk movies?
EB: Yes. And I think I’m so lucky it didn’t happen. So, I think the opposite — one of the things I was most fearful of at the time is it being a huge success [laughs].
So can we knock it off with the hate now?
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