Jun 17 2008Nasally Shouts of a Sweaty Crowd will Determine 'Hulk 2' Plot
The comic book community doesn't always know what's best for it. There's a reason so many comic fans die alone, crushed under boxes of stiffly bagged and boarded first issues, their final moments filled with thoughts of Psylocke's full thighs, quiet prayers that they never somehow return from the dead with new powers (because it was really stupid when that happened with Superman), and the tragic realization that maybe the life decisions leading up to this untimely demise weren't necessarily the best. But regardless of their decision-making talents, Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier says it might be the fans who decide the villain in his superhero sequel. (That's us!) From MTV:
“I think that if we get to ‘Hulk 2′ I would go to Comic-Con and ask the crowd of people that actually love the movies, which one would you prefer to see, Samson or the Leader?” Leterrier told MTV News.For his part, Leterrier said that he would prefer The Leader, on the grounds that a face-off between him and the Hulk would be a different sort of smash-fest than the climactic battle of the first film.
“Both are very interesting. [But] there’s something unstoppable about [Leader] and it’s just not the same thing. It’s just different,” he said of the super-brilliant character played in the film by Tim Blake Nelson. “The fact that he controls stuff with his mind, I just like that.”
Has Leterrier never seen a superhero sequel before? Clearly the next movie should have every villain crammed into it, with a dense program handed out beforehand providing the sole explanation of who anyone is because there is absolutely no time for characterization through all the CGI punching. That mode of thought seems to have worked brilliantly so far; let's stick with it.
Reader Comments
1. Jumpin_J - June 17, 2008 1:56 PM
Okay, I'm pretty sure we had Ang Lee's "The Hulk" and now this movie released last week. Now they're talking about making "The Hulk 2"? Uh, that would count as one, two, uh.... two...uh... HULK CAN'T COUNT!!! HULK SMASH! AAAAAHHHHHHHH!
2. Leap - June 17, 2008 2:27 PM
Dumb. Stupid. No. Dammit, NO!
3. Pat - June 17, 2008 2:30 PM
SPOILER!
Uh, I saw Incredible Hulk last night and The Leader is more or less "born" toward the end of the film. If The Leader isn't in the sequel, it'll be the strangest/worst comic movie-sequel decision since Billy Dee didn't show up as Two Face in Batman Returns.
And assuming the end of The Dark Knight has to do with the creation of Two Face, wouldn't it be weird if Christopher Nolan started going, "I wonder who the bad guy will be in the next one . . . "? What the hell is Leterrier talking about?
4. mac - June 17, 2008 3:08 PM
I'm pretty sure having one of them in there wouldn't eliminate having the other. The origin story for the Leader was pretty much shown in this movie so there's not much need to have it in the second one(they could do what they did for the Hulk's origin in this one).
It would be weird(but kind of cool) to have Samson seeing as he had like 5 minutes of screen time and you had to guess who the hell he was. Plus, who is Hulk going to fight if its just Samson?
5. Peter - June 17, 2008 8:23 PM
This movie was dumb.
"How dumb was it?"
Dumb enough that, on top of Ed Norton not doing any publicity for it, it was created/marketed for 13-year-old boys who play video games for 18 hours a day.
6. Mithel - June 17, 2008 11:42 PM
See, you rag on the comic dork lifestyle but you name drop Psylocke. Someone has inner conflict.
7. Annearchist - June 18, 2008 8:21 PM
As far as Doc Samson vs. Leader, why is this even an issue? Samson's one of the good guys when he's not being controlled by evil geniuses... like the Leader... Well, there you go. Samson is created, long green mid-90's ponytail and all, and begins to help Bruce learn to further control his rage/blood pressure. Leader shows up with his power hungry evil genius mutated green brain and gains control of Samson's mind, turning Samson into his personal wrecking ball and sending him out to destroy Bruce, and thereby the Hulk. Betty his harboring Bruce, and gets out her hair scissors from the first movie. Samson's hair gets cut, draining him of his strength and making him useless to The Leader. Samson helps Bruce tap into his inner Hulk in a controlled way, creating a Banner-smart, Hulk-strong hybrid. The uber-hulk goes out and defeats the leader with lots of carefully calculated trajectories for throwing tanks and thinking all clever-like. The end of the movie reveals that in merging the Banner/Hulk personas, a third one had developed. The reveal is the post-credits scene where it is alluded to that this third persona is dominant, grey , and headed for Vegas.
You're welcome, Mr. Leterrier. My payment can come in the form of dinner with Ed Norton, and an opening credit.
8. Annearchist - June 18, 2008 8:32 PM
@ Pat - Obviously Two-Face will be back for 3. Of course, there's gotta be an additional villian if the standard "increase the number of villians for each sequel" theory of traditional comic movies applies.
My vote is for The Mad Hatter, but only if he's played by Austin Pendleton.