Not so much a review as a discussion of what’s to come…
As I sat watching the “Incredible Hulk” Thursday night, between the tittering teenagers and the guy kicking the back of my seat (this is why I love DVD & home theaters), I kept thinking; oh man, movie Iron Man will kick your movie Hulk @$$! And I’ll gladly pay my $10.00 to see that!!!
Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios have created a third Marvel Universe, the Movie-verse?, Studio-verse maybe? Anyway, after seeing Ultimate Nick Fury show up at the end of "Iron Man" and then Movie Tony Stark approaching Thunderbolt Ross in "Incredible Hulk", you know there is gonna be a throwdown in tinseltown. But who’s gonna be throwin’ down whom? Will it be the Marvel U., The Ultimate U. or this newly born Movie U.? Obviously it’s the Movie U. with its own happy gathering of Marvel’s Merry Marching Society, charging full steam ahead into an Avengers franchise.
I mean c’mon, Marvel Studio’s slate of future films is a who’s who of the Avengers roster; "Iron Man 2" (2010), "Thor" (2010), "The First Avenger: Captain America" (2011) & "The Avengers" (2011). So there you have it, four of the original six Avengers, assembled on celluloid, heading for the cineplex nearest you. Who’s missing? Ant-Man & Wasp. But I’m guessing they’ll show up in the Avengers movie, to what degree I don’t know.
"Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk" both weave the Marvel U. and Ultimate U. into their storylines and with crossover appearances by other Marvel characters it sets you to speculating on plots, and highlights. Who will Thor interact with? SHIELD, Tony Stark, Dr. Banner? Will we meet Cap in WWII before the Avengers are born? Or do we see the Avengers raise him from the ice and re-introduce the world to the Star-Spangled Avenger? Or will that be the end of the Captain America movie leading directly into the Avengers movie, as the newly formed Avengers Initiative, working for Nick Fury, are unleashed on some unsuspecting bad guys in the Middle East or a resurging Soviet military threat?
And speaking of who meets who in the Marvel-Verse; Did anyone else think that, hey the Hulk is in Canada now, he’ll be fighting Wendigo in the next movie. OR – even better - what about running into everyones’ favorite Canucklehead and Wendigo, thereby renacting the events of The Incredible Hulk #181?
And don’t forget Iron Man’s Hulk Buster Armor, the Ultimates or World War Hulk. "Iron Man 2" or "The Avengers" could see a renegade (or just pissed off) Hulk on the loose and Stark and Company dispatched to bring him in.
"Incredible Hulk" was definitely propaganda for the Marvel machine. But it was also a nifty bit of homage to the television series. From opening credits to final fade director Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter") and star Edward Norton ("The Illusionist") give us geeky fanboys plenty of inside jokes to spot. Lou Ferigno, Bill Bixby and Stan Lee all make cameo appearances.
For a full review of Incredible Hulk, surf on over to LAFilmcutter.
OK, so in review, I still give "Incredible Hulk" a B (The CGI bugged me sometimes.) and I predict an A- for the new Marvel Movieverse and its dominance of the summer box office.
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And for Marvel Studios news go here: MARVEL STUDIOS
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