WithHulkstruggling to make as much of a name for himself in theMCUas many of his Avengers cohorts, I’m more fascinated than ever by the live-action Hulk movie that never got made from the 1990s.Bruce Banner’s MCU careerhas largely taken place in Avengers movies or solo projects of other characters like his cousin, Jennifer Walters, or his more fleshed-out Avengers co-founder, Thor. I’m at least hopeful aboutHulk’s MCU futurenow that his son, Skaar, teases another Hulk adventure down the line - but I also won’t hold my breath.
Unfortunately, it is hard to look past the fact that Hulk was the star ofthe MCU’s lowest-grossing moviefor 15 years before that undesirable accolade was awarded toThe Marvelsin 2023. The $266 million worldwide gross was just $20 million more than the last timeHulk was adapted into live-actionin 2003’sHulk. I don’t (or, at least, I refuse to) think for a minute that this is because Hulk is uninteresting to casual audiences, but after learning about the fever dream that was an earlier Hulk adaptation, I now can’t help but wonder if it would have fared better.
There Were Plans For A Different Hulk Movie That Never Came To Pass
It Involved Mutated Insect People
In the late 1990s, Universal Studios pickedArmageddonandThe Rockwriter Jonathan Hensleigh to make his directorial debut with alive-action adaptation of the Hulk. At the time, the superhero genre was dominated by DC’sBatmanfranchise, with 1995’sBatman Foreverand 1997’sBatman & Robinonly helping to sour sentiments surrounding the genre. Nevertheless, for all the criticism received by each for theirostentatious character designs and color palettes, it seemed Universal Studios was willing to follow suit with their Hulk concept.
While such a brazen contradiction of Bruce Banner’s sacrosanct comic book origins would never fly today, Hensleigh and Universal appeared prepared to go all-in on the concept, if the video above is anything to go by.
The project developed far enough for a script to be penned and prosthetics made forwhat was sure to be a wild use of creative license. Running roughshod over Bruce Banner’s comic book origins, the movie would have seen Banner working to send humanity to Mars. When faced with the issue of extreme climate, he decides to experiment on some death row inmates with gamma-irradiated insects, hoping to turn them into Hulk-like beasts that could withstand the trip. Unsurprisingly, this leads to his own transformation into the Hulk and a brawl with the Hulk-like monstrosities he helped to create.
The giant insects in Hensleigh’s scripts may have been based on Marvel Comics' Outcasts, a host of fauna (including bugs) that were also affected by the gamma bomb that created Hulk.
While such a brazen contradiction of Bruce Banner’s sacrosanct comic book origins would never fly today, Hensleigh and Universal appeared prepared to go all-in on the concept, if the video above is anything to go by.The impressive animatronics can be seen depicting Bruce’s transformation into the Hulk in real-time, while a towering robot with giant hands (presumably intended to be covered in prosthetic flesh) would have been quite the spectacle had Universal not ultimately opted for a moreCGI-heavy route in Ang Lee’sHulkseveral years later.
Why The Plans For The Hulk Movie Never Got Used
The Original Hulk Concept Was Ultimately Too Expensive
Ultimately, the original Hulk movie was canned, despite Universal dropping $20 million of the $100 million budget on the project, according toVariety. This was reportedly part of the issue, asUniversal Studios pulled the plug on the project in 1998, citing financial concerns. At the time, a spokesperson insisted that the studio hadn’t given up on the project, but that it was instead being put “on the back-burner for awhile [sic].” Almost three decades later, this doesn’t seem to have held up.
At least, not in the sense that Hensleigh’s script was used. After several years of reworks,Universal’sHulkmovie eventually morphed into the more toned-down, Greek tragedy-inspired story that was released in 2003, starring Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. I’m tentatively happy that this was the result, asHulkis now a prime example of asuperhero movie sleeper hitand focused a lot more on Bruce Banner’s tortured psyche and his fraught relationship with his father. Nevertheless, I can’t help but wonder about what might have been.
Hulk Fighting Giant Insencts Just Sounds Fun
While I am ultimately glad that this more “mad scientist” version of Bruce Banner was never adapted, I am still curious about the giant bugs concept.Avengers: Age of Ultrontackled a version of Bruce Banner who has to wrestle with another destructive creation (outside of the Hulk himself, that is), and it was one of his mostcompelling arcs in the MCU. Abomination was more of an indirect result of his experimentations, but there’s no doubt thatgiant, rampaging bugs would make for a similar, or even greater, spectacle.
Unfortunately, given that this early draft of a Hulk movie isn’t exactly widely publicized or well known within the superhero genre zeitgeist, there is little reason for the MCU to pay homage to the unused concepts within this script. Still, if the MCU does decide to reintroduce the Savage Hulk persona,I see no reason why gamma-infused beasts couldn’t be a part of the agenda, given that Hulk’s blood has already been the root cause of manyHulkswithin the MCU.
