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COMIC-CON 2007

Incredible Hulk Updates from Comic-Con: Ed Norton Speaks

by Alex Billington
July 29, 2007

At the Marvel films panel at the San Diego Comic-Con yesterday, two of next year's most highly anticipated comic book movies, The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, took the stage to talk with thousands of fans. The Incredible Hulk was one of the highlights, with appearances by director Louis Leterrier, and stars Liv Tyler and Ed Norton. Although they're only 2 weeks into production and have hardly filmed enough footage to show to anyone, they did debut a concept photo of the Hulk, which you can see above. More information and details on the Hulk were revealed at the panel, so read on!

This new Hulk film, aiming for release on June 13th in 2008, is the beginning of a whole new Hulk saga, not a remake and not a sequel. The most exciting bit of news to come out of the panel was that Ed Norton himself actually rewrote the script that was originally written by Zak Penn.

Norton talked at length about his interest in the comic book and television series, stating "I was a Marvel kid, I had subscriptions to a lot of the Marvel comics." Norton also said that "the whole idea of starting from scratch and re-conceiving the story as a mythic saga was really appealing" to him and that he "thought it was really an amazing opportunity." Norton also said that his reasons for taking this project on were that the technology allowed for him to actually play both halves of the character, the regular half and the technological half, without losing his actual performance.

When asked by a member of the audience whether they were using the comic books or the television show for inspiration, both Ed Norton and director Louis Leterrier responded at length.

"I don't always just want them to race through that origin and get onto the story because it seems like obligatory, like you're hustling through it. So one of the first things we talked about was let's grapple with what our own version of the history in this story is, but spool it out and artful way throughout the story. I certainly wouldn't say this film is rooted in the television show at all. The fun in this was not to remake anything, but to just 'spin our own sort of fantasy' between the interface of all these things. Many characters have nothing to do with the television show but are deeply rooted in the comics..."

Louis Leterrier also added that "it was really for me a mix of the TV show, the comic books, the old and new." He said that "I don't think that you guys want to see a film version of the comic books, so Edward [worked] very hard to come up with an original story." Their story has many more scenes than before, which allows for a lot of understanding of who this character is and what he's been through and where he is.

We'll keep you updated as the film develops and production begins to wrap up in Toronto. They're currently filming now and still aiming for the summer 2008 release.

Filed under Comic-Con 07, Feat, Hype, Movie News

From around the web:

http://theentertainmentguru.blogspot.com Flutie

I'm thinking this go-round will be much better...It's good to see the studio is getting more excited about this one, and I think the look of the Hulk is good, though I think we may see some tweaking from this initial image. Still....I'm almost excited for this one as much as I am for Iron Man after watching the footage....all the pop-culture jokes are hilarious!
http://www.policeinspector.co.uk police inspector

I agree, the hulk is a great concept, a strong fellow
http://www.residualincome.co.uk residual income

I loved the comic books, can wait!
http://www.youplayme.co.uk uVme

I loved the television show, although I used to be scared when he first came on tele
Johan Moore

What a great show of Holywood creativity
http://www.mobilephoneinsurance.me.uk mobile phone insurance

your kidding me, he's great
http://www.sandsdesigns.com Shawn Satterfield

He said, “I don't think that you guys want to see a film version of the comic books, so Edward [worked] very hard to come up with an original story." No you dumb ass, that is EXACTLY what I want to see. A film version of the comic book. Why is that such a hard concept to grasp? Be true to the source material. Jeeeez!
http://www.gadgetmadness.com GadgetMadness

Same here, we actually enjoyed the first film once the Hulk actually made it on screen. Ang Lee paid total homage to the comics - the source material - which IS what we all want to see.
praxis22

Yup, what he said. You don't think I want to see a film version of the comic book? You thought wrong. But then this movie, like every other "comic book" movie will disappoint those of us that actually read the comics. Why? Because this movie isn't made for us, it's for all those people that watched the TV series as kids, and the average movie goer. What really annoys me however is that it's always heroes in isolation, a Superman movie, a Batman movie, etc. When heroes never exist in isolation, they inhabit worlds populated by myriad other heroes, and all of this is perfectly normal. It takes years to build up depth of character, but you never get more than character sketches from a movie. They make the same kind of shlock out of video games too. "The Sims" is the best selling video game of all time, that has to be worth making a movie about...
http://www.horizonplastics.ca 10668844

The images of the Hulk look great, here's hoping they get the movie right. Some people will probably kill me for this, but I wasn't that impressed with any of the Spider Men or X-Men.
hulkangry

The simple fact that they would say that we don't want to see a film based on the comic books make me angry enough that I can't even finish my comment.
ROotman

Geez, a remake already? Why not concentrate on something ELSE for a while?
Flarkin

So, one of the biggest egotists in the industry is going to write a movie when he is the main character. I for one would love to see the Planet Hulk storyline made into film. That will solve their problem of not having any other heroes...except Surfer, who just made his film debut. Instead we will see some sort of artsy-fartsy film that will suck worse then the last one. The only highlight to this film is that Tim Roth will be in it!
Jeffy Dahmor

Hulk sucks.
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property entrepreneur

I don't like the new look Hulk, I don't like cartoons either
HulkHoping

I took the comments about "a film version of the comic book" to mean that they aren't just following a plot line that's already been done in the comics, but creating a new one that will remain true to the source material. It may just be wishful thinking, but i hope I'm right. Hence, the mention of a cast of characters who are "deeply rooten in the comic."
HulkSucks

Hulk is one of the worst comic book characters ever. Why they do this?
Hulk good.

The Hulk is one of the best Marvel characters ever! The first movie was an insult. Horrible ending, and the Hulk looked like a green supermodel...he's supposed to look like a barbarian...this one looks much better, although I think they need to dumb down his appearance a bit more...real caveman-like. I agree however that they should follow the comics.
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Hulk Friend

I think they are on the right track here. I fully agree with ,HulkHoping, in my interpratation of what they said to mean that the storyline will be new but that the characters will be true to the comics. The last thing I want out of a comic book movie is to see another repeat of an existing storyline that gets mangled by the fact that the dirrectors can't make it bridge to the big screen. A whole new storyline, true to character, could be absolutely fantastic.
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plkrtn

I just hope one of the best actors, and biggest egotists in Hollywood hasn't screwed this script up, and makes a decent Hulk film. Hell, can't be as bad as the last one.
Lavenice Carter

Come on man!? What is this re-writing the script stuff? Why? .... I read the quote from Ed Norton, talk'n about how he re-wrote the script the the director guy is like he dont think that people want to see a film version of the comic book...WHAT!!? The comic book is the reason why the people want to see the movie in the first place. THe only reason marvel movies became the great blockbuster movies that they are is because someone finally got smart, stopped trying to recreate the wheel, and just got in the freakin car and drove. Stick to the comic. The comic is a script for God sakes. I mean damn man... the Hulk dont talk you to death He smashes you to death. Get a clue, PLEASE. Planet HULK is a movie in itself. Stop screwing up the Hulk and just let the Hulk do what the F!?* he does.
http://www.sandsdesigns.com Shawn Sattterfield

I think a movie (or probably a trilogy because of the length) based on some of the stuff Peter David wrote would be great. The stories he wrote that explored the diffrent elements of banners personality expressed as the different "Hulks" (ie. the Grey Hulk, The "Smart Hulk" The Savage Hulk etc.) These books had a lot of scenes where Banner would confront the Different versions of his personality as the different Hulks in his mind. There was even a version that was the Hulks savage mind in Banners body. This would lend itself to some great action scenes, some character development of the Hulk himself thats never been explored so deeply in a comic movie, AND get rid of the trap so many comic movies fall into of having to do a COMPLETE second (or sometimes 3rd, {Spiderman 3} origin story for the villans.) One movie barely has enough time to get into the back story of the hero, much less explaining all of the villans back story as well. This has led to SOOOOO many poor story choices that somehow try to tie the villan and heros origin stories together. Things like, the Joker killing Batmans parents in the first Keaton movie, Sandman being involved in the murder of Uncle Ben in the 3rd Spidey movie, and on and on. If the Antagonist and the Protagonist in the movie is the Hulk as it was in Davids run, it can all be about his character. AND we still get the Fanboy pleasing Hulk vs Hulk smashing action. What do you guys think? Hell, just to make it perfect, let Peter David write the damn thing!
Magnolia hater

I think norton may do something cool and original. His story ideas sound good.The new Hulk look is okay to me, but then again after they turned Optimus Prime into Johnny 5 with flames I'll pretty much accept anything. (exept superman kicking his @$$! )
John L. Brown

The 2003 version of the Hulk may have been a flop in term of its popular appeal, but I loved it. The acting was first rate, and the special effects were generally excellent. Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliot and Nick Nolte gave stellar performances. The mere fact that the movie lacked popular appeal does not define its merit. I have observed that some movies need to be viewed at least twice. Why? Because of expectations. If a movie does not meet your original expectational it may appear unsatisfactory. Subsequent viewing may result in a completely different opinion. How often have most of us taken the time to watch a questionable movie again? Moreover, this movie employed some rather original techniques, specifically, displaying multiple, related scenes. There is often a resistance to appreciating "new" art forms. As well, this movie was rather long, 2hrs. 18 mins. Unfortunately, many of us seem to have rather short attention spans and become bored quickly. I am persuaded this movie deserves another look. A perfect movie, no. Great entertainment , with many thoughtful touches, yes.
Liquid

Yeah... lookin at the way cg has evolved over the last few years i wouldnt say i'd want a real actor playing hulk...i mean if people can make something likt the transformers all in cg... what cannot be done...! i mean..haven any of u seen movies lik narnia and all...and how many of you thought aslan was real...??? well...he wasnt...so come on...!! so firt go get yourself some knowledge about cg before splatting out any stupidities...
http://www.myspace.com/Djoser Djomogod

Half of you think the Hulk sucks, and half of you are disappointed that they said they're not making a film based on the comics. But have any of you read the majority of Hulk comics? As a lifelong Hulk fan, I have to say that the Hulk ouvre is so overwrought with rewrites & convoluted reinventions of the character that I can say YES, I do NOT want to see that made into a film. I'd also like to point out that very few of you have mentioned anything about knowing what goes into making a good film. Sim City, an-open ended interactive computer game, for example, would NOT make a good film just b/c its a best seller- the fun is in playing it. It would be absolutely impossible to translate that into a film that you have to sit through from beginning to end. Which gets to the point- Ed Norton is the one man- the perfect man- to rewrite this script and do justice to the portrayal of Bruce Banner on screen. We owe Bill Bixby a great deal for elevating the Hulk to something more than a brainless rampaging beast- which, even though Kirby's incarnation was pretty much that on a 2-dimensional level, was undoubtedly fleshed out in the minds of readers who could see Kirby's metaphor for the nuclear age. So the Hulk is many things, to many people. I applaud Ed Norton for taking a stand against Zack Penn, whose recent offerings have been less than exceptional (X2- decent, X3-C'mon, etc. etc. etc.) And Norton proved that he's a fan, not meaning he has no life other than comic books, but that they filled his burgeoning imagination with memorable characters that spoke to something inside of him, as all great mythology, literature, and films and yes, Comics do. I'm psyched. (They do need to tweek that CGI on Hulk's shoulder though. I've seen demonstrations of the CGI/Actor interface they're talking about, and it's pretty breathtaking.) Give 'em room to work- on second thought. Talk all you want. I'm confident Ed Norton is focused on the task at hand.
Manuel

The color is fine. I just hope they fix the grandma look.
Manuel

Oh, and another thing. I love the first movies. True, it has its weak moments (especially the final battle, I would say), but it touches some very deep stuff, and almost without words. Ang Lee deserves a little more credit.
Unknow

Great! I'm looking forward to this one. The last Hulk film SUCKED!
RAFF

I believe the Incredible Hulk movie needs to moslty focus on the television series. Yes, update the special effects and all, but don't make it a poster boy for CGI. You actually cared about the David Banner character equally if not more than the Hulk character. Maybe they need to find another bodybuilder to play the Hulk. You can never get that human touch and depth of character from a CGI effect. Let's draw from the most successful reincarnation of the Hulk and not try to reinvent the thing in a two hour timw span. Give Kenneth Johnson a shot at making the thing.
Jaws

I'm looking very, very forward to a remake of the Hulk. I loved the T.V. series, and I'm delighted with the choice of Ed Norton as Bruce Banner. Hopefully, with a new director in tow, The Incredible Hulk will have some of the admirable qualities from the comic as and T.V. series. I'm looking forward to a fiercer looking Hulk.
mr cool guy

umm im just here to do a project on the hulk... yeah
http://www.lifeart.co.uk LifeART

He looks a tad like John Major on steriods but I am looking forward to the movie none-the-less. Hulk rocks!
http://www.games-of-skill.org.uk uvme

The big green guy rocks, my favourite Marvel character for sure!
Djomigod

He'd better have ripped purple pants this time. Those speedos weren't cuttin' it.
darrin

alright the first hulk didnt suck but the green guy look really fake, but this hulk looks great, but lets hope the story is good
marvel freak

many people say the first hulk movie is a flop... I wish this is a way better film than the first one... And i also wish that the hulk saga should continue just like spiderman... ; )
Trailblazer

Incredible Hulk Movie Looks Great!! http://www.incrediblehulkmoviefans.com
uVme Inferno

Thank you.
James

I love these kinds of movies. Good and a Bad guy. A hero movie. No sex or foul language, no nudity, or other crazy stuff. Just 2 comic book action figures going at it. No-body liked the Rambo series, well too bad. I liked them. Hope my 9 y/o boy likes this movie. I believe he will.
briams

What I like is how people vent about the movie will suck or the movie will be great. Did anyone really, and i mean really read most of the Hulk under many writer may they be Lee, Claremont, Jones ? For me It'.s NO. But I did read some comics. And saw the cartoons 1969 1984 1996, TV Series and TV films and the 2003 film. And I like it. All of them gave a different version of the Hulk as writer brought different aspect of the character. I say take it or leave it or hell do what you want with it. I'm gonna see the movie. If you like it good, if you hate it, still good. we can't please everyone in the world. If some believe the directors-producers-writers-actors and everyone who will work on the material will not do justice to the character, do the damn job yourself. If you are millions who think they will hate it, gave a certain amount of your money and produce the movie as you want it. Then you will see for yourself it is not easy as it is. There so many material it's hard to make a movie and appealing those who know the character(or at least think they know him) and the rest of the world. Don't just judge a book by it's cover. read it then give your opinion, even if you find it to really suck or should have never been brought to life. anyway, thanks for reading it, sorry for this long comment and have yourself a nice day.
Mike

I completely agree with the comments about wanting to see a film version of the comic. I personally thought the old TV series suffered by diverting from the comic but accepted it because the technology back then didn't really allow a close adaptation of the comic. Now, there's no excuse as far as I'm concerned. In my view, the closer the move is to the comic, the better it'll be. They should take a lesson from Spiderman, Batman, and the other successful films. The further away from the comic this film is, the worse it'll probably be.
willie

yes the 1st hulk movie was too drawn out and not enough action. but anyone must admit the fight scenes in the desert and the hulk dogs fight were pure hulk power . the escape from the military base had too much of ang lee's movements and silly looking stances. the cgi character was outstanding. hulk looked real he just needed an american familiar w the hulk etc.
http://3d-cad-graphics.blogspot.com/ keleric

Ang Lee's version was awesome. This version will be awesome too. I would even like Ang Lee to continue adding on to the Hulk franchise. I was amazed, excited and satisfied when I saw the 2003 version on the big screen. Although I know I will enjoy this new version of the Hulk, I do disagree with the timing and ethics of the release of this. Too soon after Ang Lee's version. It's almost insulting in some ways. They should of timed it and gave at least a decade to see where Ang Lee can further take his amazing direction and story telling. Timing in my humble opinion is disgusting. Ang Lee deserves a little more respect. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Norton fan, and I know this will be a great film. But seriously, think about it, it's like remaking Spiderman.... (all of the sudden) ....it would just be too soon and downgrade the Spiderman team from the rear (which includes actors, directors, the tech guys....etc). The least they could have done was classify it as a sequel....and show some decency. Otherwise, give it some time for pete's sake. No morality. I blame the guy who came up with the idea....whoever it may truly be. The rest are just doing their jobs. But the guy who conceived the release date...this is the sort of ***hole that needs to be taught a lesson about decency and respect. Otherwise, great film. Glad Norton is involved in the project! Go Hulk team. I would also like to applaud Ang Lee and his version of the Hulk.
http://firstshowing.net junior hulk-a-manical

first hulk was depressingly bad. second one will follow suit. disappointed, will return to my comics.
http://www.anothercoilgunsite.com Anothercoilgun

This is the sequel but there is no indication of this. Nothing in the movie title nor even in the movie tells you whats going on or where they left off from in part 1. Part 1 is far better. Part 2 had 0 plot and was vague. Only the military father had some likeness from part 1 and only by his tenacity to get new weapons. Neither the Hulk or the DR were like the people from part 1.
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