After sitting through what they felt was a curiously action-deficient Hulk in 2003, some fans of Marvel’s ragin’ green-skinned behemoth have viewed this summer’s Louis Leterrier-directed reboot with skepticism.
Now that the teaser’s out, though, Leterrier has started doing the full-court press for The Incredible Hulk, sitting down with Empire for an in-depth chat about his Edward Norton-led reimagining of the muscled anti-hero. Right off the bat, he promises fans more action, saying “You’ll see Bruce Banner transform in minute three,” referring to his protagonist as “the anti-James Bond, the anti-Jason Bourne,” and laying out the film’s opening act:
We pick him up in the movie when he’s in Brazil and he’s trying to keep the monsters at bay, literally. Both the monster inside and the army chasing after him to harness his monster — to create a supersoldier. So he uses Brazilian jujitsu and yoga and meditation techniques to keep the monster inside of him. And, also, if someone picks a fight with him, he’s using that Brazilian jujitsu because jujitsu and aikido are more elusive martial arts — he’s deflecting the blows so he can run away and not get involved.
Still, even if Leterrier made an effort to hew his film’s arc closer to the spirit of the comics, he still made room for his own vision — particularly where the movie’s main heavy is concerned. As fans of the books have noticed, The Incredible Hulk‘s visualization of the supervillain called Abomination differs significantly from what they’re used to:
I really wanted to justify [Abomination’s] appearance. I really wanted to wrap my head around the original scaley-with-big-ears monster that was in the comic book, but I couldn’t justify it. And the way he gets injected with the serum, he’s shot in the skin and the muscles, and shot inside the spine. That makes his bones grow thicker and bigger and longer, making him a super-weapon. So he’s got that spine that flares out, which becomes a weapon. He’s got elbows that stick out and become these martial arts, Chinese knives — things that can slash back and forth. He’s got this tongue thing and the heel-spikes… so he’s a killing machine.
To read more of Louis Leterrier’s thoughts on The Incredible Hulk, opening June 13, follow the link below!
Source: Empire Online
