The Incredible Hulk

I've been a huge fan of "The Incredible Hulk" since 1978. When I first started watching "The Incredible Hulk" TV show, I didn't know that it was based on a comic book. I learned that it was based on the comic book when somebody gave me an "Incredible Hulk" comic book at school.

The first "Incredible Hulk" comic book was released in 1962. But in the first comic book, the Hulk was gray instead of green. The printers told Stan Lee that they were having trouble printing the Hulk because he was gray. Stan Lee told them to change him to green. In the beginning, Bruce Banner didn't transform into the Hulk when he got angry. He transformed into the Hulk at night and turned back to Bruce Banner at dawn.   

Let's talk about some differences between the comic book and the TV show. The TV executives changed Bruce Banner's name to David Banner. They told Stan Lee that the name "Bruce" sounded gay. Stan Lee tried to convince them to use the name "Bruce" but they refused. Kenneth Johnson originally wanted to make the Hulk red because red is the color of rage and green is not. But Stan Lee wouldn't allow him to be red. Years later, we did eventually get a red Hulk.

In the comic book, the Hulk is bullet proof but in the TV show, he wasn't. In the TV show, Banner became the Hulk because he gave himself an accidental overdose of gamma radiation. In the comic book, he became the Hulk because a gamma bomb exploded. In the comic book, the Hulk talks. In the TV show, he didn't. Banner was portrayed by Bill Bixby and the Hulk was portrayed by Lou Ferrigno.

The Hulk in the 2003 movie made Ferrigno's Hulk look like Pee Wee Herman. Many people didn't like the CGI Hulk in that movie. They said that the Hulk looked like a pissed off Shrek. I think it was a bad idea to make the Hulk fifteen feet tall in that movie. Eric Bana portrayed Bruce Banner in that movie.

I believe that the 2008 reboot was a better movie than the 2003 film. In this movie, Edward Norton replaced Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. Norton was asked to portray Banner in the 2003 film, but he refused because he hated the script. Mark Ruffalo was hired to portray Bruce Banner in "The Avengers" movies.

Out of all of the versions of the Hulk, Lou Ferrigno is my favorite. I believe that he is many people's favorite because he's real. He wasn't made by a computer. "The Incredible Hulk" TV show ran from 1977 to 1982 and 82 episodes were made. Three "Incredible Hulk" movies were aired on NBC in 1988, 1989, and 1990. "The Incredible Hulk" TV show has always been one of my favorite TV shows and it always will be.