Although in one way or another it continues to be present in our lives after become a pop culture iconthe television movie of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in which he starred Lou Ferrigno in 1977 under the direction of Kenneth Johnson, anticipating the new era of superhero cinema marked by ‘Superman’ Richard Donner, and which led to the mythical series of the same name that aired during the transition between the 70s and the 80s.
On the occasion of the 45th anniversary, the people of Inverse have published a very interesting interview with Johnson, who, among other things, has provided his opinion on the productions based on the Emerald Giant that came after his vision of the Marvel character. Pay attention, because he has no waste.
the other hulks
To begin with, the director commented on his experience during the premiere of Ang Lee’s ‘Hulk’. An event that was less pleasant than expected that culminated in quite the joking and hilarious pun.
“When they made the first movie, the one directed by Ang Lee, Louie invited me to the premiere and I brought my wife. Soon after the movie started, he leaned over and said, ‘Is it just me or is this the worst movie? What have I ever seen in my life?’ I told him to give it time, but it just got worse and worse. The only line that made people jump was ‘Don’t make me angry, you’re not going to like me when I get angry.’ [‘Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry], everyone applauded him. After it was over, everyone was trying to sneak out of the theater and one of the reporters from Variety came up to me and said, ‘Mr. Johnson, don’t make me Ang Lee, you won’t like me when I’m Ang Lee’ [‘Don’t make me Ang Lee, you wouldn’t like me when I’m Ang Lee’]. True”.
Unfortunately, the version by Louis Leterrier and Edward Norton released in 2008 ended up being a missed opportunity for Johnson, who consider Mark Ruffalo the best incarnation of the superhero.
“For the next one, the one with Edward Norton, the guys who were doing it said great things about our show. When I saw the first trailer, it seemed like they were trying to focus on the emotional part, but then there was this huge green hand coming out of the asphalt and I thought, ‘No.’ The CGI got me out. It wasn’t until ‘The Avengers,’ when the Hulk didn’t have to direct the movie and he was among other characters, that I thought it finally worked. And Ruffalo, I think he’s the best of everyone. I’m a big fan of his in general, but I think he’s great in that role.”
Of bodybuilders and bears
Of course, the conversation has also dealt with the casting process to give life to Bruce Banner and his gigantic alter ego. A trip with more ups and downs than expected in which Arnold Schwarzenegger was the first option.
“For the creature, we first thought of Schwarzenegger, although he was a little short, but he was busy doing ‘Conan,’ so he recommended Lou Ferrigno. Lou had never acted before and I wanted an actor, so we cast Richard Kiel, that he was 7’2” and a serious actor. But his physique wasn’t quite right for the Hulk and after a few days we realized it wasn’t working.
Then we went back to the Ferrigno and rehearsed the scene from the pilot where Susan Sullivan dies in his arms with me playing Susan. This is where he breaks down and screams, and Lou did it very well. So Lou came on board, and with the help of Bix and Jack Colvin—a great acting coach—Lou began to grow as an actor immediately.”
As it could not be less, Stan Lee had to appear at some point, and Johnson only has good words for him. The support of Stan The Man was a constant, but Johnson particularly fondly recalls a wacky conversation about…robot bears..
“There was another conversation we had when I was doing the second movie. There was a scene where the creature—I always called it ‘The Creature’—fights a bear. So I sent the script to Stan so he could look at it and he called me and He said, ‘God, I love this script! It shows exactly how it can become a series! That’s a great script! And the bear fight is great! But it should be with a robot bear!’ God, that’s what he said. So I said, ‘Stan, let me try to explain it to you. We’re trying to appeal to an adult audience, and an adult audience can only sneak in a few things.’ Then he said, ‘Why? why don’t you put a robot bear?’.
If you can nostalgia, don’t stop reading the full interview because it is not wasted.