Avi Arad talks upcoming Marvel movies

[AndrewTS 0]

Thank you.

 

People who think that the Hulk character is just supposed to be about a big green guy tearing shit up, well, you have absolutel NO understanding of the character.

 

Ahem.

 

I love how the folks who defend The Hulk literally have no valid points, just fluffy generalizations ("PLOT! CHARACTER! DRA-MUH!") so they completely ignore the criticisms and build the same straw-man over and over ("UWANTED2hrHULKSMASH!").

 

3 in one page.

[SuperJerk 0]

"IRON MAN is at the level of X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN and HULK"

 

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.

 

That's a moronic comment. No one fucking read Iron Man for decades. For God's sake, they were so out of ideas that they ripped off Green Lantern and made the new Iron Man (technically the same Tony) a Kyle Rayner lookalike to freshen things up.

 

That was 10 years ago.

[Rendclaw 0]

I agree about Iron Man, since I was reading my brother's comics before most of you were even born, and Tony Stark was a hell of a lot more than just a rich man with a high-tech suit of armor.

 

For what it was, I liked the Hulk. As soon as I heard Ang Lee was directing it, I knew it was going to be poignant and tragic almost to excess, like several of his other films; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon being the obvious example. People thought that movie was just about martial arts action, wire-fu, and little else, imagine the surprise when it was basically a classic Chinese tragedy. People who obviously went in with certain expectations were the ones that shit all over the movie, and the same thing happened with the Hulk. While I liked it, I do think that a better job could have been done, a better balance between the drama and action.

[randomguy 0]

Wow, this thread really brings out the stupid in people.

 

How many more of you retards are going to jump on the "puny humans just want to see Hulk smash!" bandwagon!

 

There is some sort of lesson in reading comprehension buried here - maybe it's try reading what people are saying instead of inventing random shit.

[Black Lushus 0]

with the exception of the final battle, Hulk was a fine movie...I didn't think we'd get HULK SMASH until a sequel...I knew the first movie would be mostly setup so I wasn't let down.

[SuperJerk 0]

Wow, this thread really brings out the stupid in people.

 

How many more of you retards are going to jump on the "puny humans just want to see Hulk smash!" bandwagon!

 

There is some sort of lesson in reading comprehension buried here - maybe it's try reading what people are saying instead of inventing random shit.

I suggest you work on your own writing skills before criticizing others' reading skills.

[Special K 0]

Kyle Rayner lookalike to freshen things up.

 

Huh? Not being a dick, just don't know what you're talking about.

 

If they cast a ten-years-younger Cary Elwes, I'd be there in a second.

 

 

I didn't like Hulk too much, a 2, 2.5 star movie /4. I liked the premise of a completely emotionally shut-off man with rage buried within as a metaphor, and I thought it was well directed, and the leads did the best they could, but it had problems.

 

It really did have pacing issues. I wish Connelly's character was a little less withdrawn. This isn't a comedy of manners like Sense & Sensibility. There was only one good action scene. As has been mentioned before, Nolte and The guy from Stealth chewed the scenery like crazy. (to be fair, Nolte was entirely enjoyable doing so, it just didn't fit.) I thought Sam Elliott was very good.

[SuperJerk 0]

Yeah, Sam Elliot was perfect.

 

I hated Nolte, though.

[AndrewTS 0]

I feel the other way around. Elliot came off as an all-out dick to me, not just a slightly-overprotective father. Toss up whether it was just the writing to blame, but he seemed to really overplay it. Nolte I loved because he was supposed to be a loon and played it as such and then some, and him replicating his DUI mugshot was a cool bit of self-deprecating humor.

 

Bana and Connelly's dullness really made it noticable too, although maybe Elliot/Nolte were unconsciously doing it to keep the film from being an utter snooze.

 

I'm grant that the "HULKSMASH" strawman-builders may be blaming casual moviegoers and not other posters here. However, they don't make that clear, and frankly everyone from movie critics, to comic fans, to casual moviegoers have ripped The Hulk a new asshole for many varied and valid reasons.

 

However, IF The Hulk were a just bad movie with lots of smashing, it probably would have gone down a lot smoother. Instead, it's a thick chowder of failed elements that makes you gag.

 

More formulatic comic-book based films are going to come along, do the same cliche things (Fantastic 4, I'm looking at you), and likely be way more successful and get better WOM than the Hulk did. I think this is what these posters are looking at, but don't lump me in with those moviegoers. Think about it: you see a movie you like, but it's well known that a lot of people saw it and told everyone they knew "that movie sucked, don't bother seeing it." So I can sort of see the bitterness there.

 

Rendclaw, likewise, has a good point about the expectations built up about the movie, too, although I personally didn't have those expectations. I read reviews on The Hulk. I knew what to *expect*, but I was underwhelmed at how pitifully it was executed.

[Rendclaw 0]

Fantastic Four is a prime example about sticking too close to the forumla. It was painfully average at best. The thing that about killed it for me was casting Jessica Alba. That was such an obvious grasp at the male demographic it was pathetic. Everyone else did fine, but the girl is too young and way too fucking hot for a role like that.

 

That's right, I said she was too hot to play Susan Storm-Richards. Hell, Charlize Theron would have been a better choice. She's gorgeous, but she can downplay her beauty to fit the role she plays. The Italian Job was a perfect example.

[Zack Malibu 0]

I've followed Hulk for years in his various forms (comics, TV show/movies, cartoons) so my opinion will always come off as biased. At any rate, while I enjoyed the movie, I didn't like the tweak to Banner's dad having him become The Absorbing Man (and honestly, Zzzax as well when he was in electrical mode). I didn't like the "breakup" elements of Banner and Betty, as they could have shown more sympathy for Bruce by having him pine for her and be the lovestruck bookworm rather than the jaded, broken hearted Bruce.

 

For those who are comic/Hulk fans and complain about lack of action, think back to the TV show. Bixby would only transform at least once, typically twice at most an episode, and no more than that. That show did well to juggle the balance between the drama of Banner's demons and Hulk action.

 

I wish they went the Rick Jones/gamma bomb route rather than "failed experiment as a child resurfaces during adulthood when exposed to more radiation". Bruce's father abused him, he didn't make him The Hulk, although the rage inside Banner stems quite a bit from his bitter childhood memories.

 

I could have lived without the final battle. I could have lived without the ending (if anything, I'd have done a homage to the TV show with Bruce hitching a ride/walking away).

 

The mutant dogs thing was stupid. If they were going to go that route, why not have scent tracking dogs sniff something of Banner's to get his scent, the radiation effects them, and then you've got a few killer dogs with some of Ross' soldiers tracking him down for a fight scene. Not daddy's enhanced pets.

 

I thought the cast was perfect.

[Black Lushus 0]

Fantastic Four is a prime example about sticking too close to the forumla. It was painfully average at best. The thing that about killed it for me was casting Jessica Alba. That was such an obvious grasp at the male demographic it was pathetic. Everyone else did fine, but the girl is too young and way too fucking hot for a role like that.

 

That's right, I said she was too hot to play Susan Storm-Richards. Hell, Charlize Theron would have been a better choice. She's gorgeous, but she can downplay her beauty to fit the role she plays. The Italian Job was a perfect example.

 

I'm going to go ahead and say that Michael Chicklis (sp?), Julian McMahon and even Chris Evans saved this movie.

[Ripper 0]

With the Hulk, I have to say that Bana's performance was great but was turned into crap because Jennifer played the same damn character. Banner was supposed to be a guy with a WHOLE lot of rage bubbling underneath the surface like that. The guy was internalizing everything that happend to him in his entire life. I honestly don't get why Connoly was playing it like that too. It offered no contrast to Bana's underlying rage and intesity that would have been apparent had she not being feeding off it and copying it.

[Special K 0]

Well, considering how fine an actress she is, I think Ang probably directed her to act like that.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

somehow I don't think he meant it literally.

 

Anyways, why do a "do over"? The movie, as uh, questionable as it was, set up the premise just fine. Banner's off as a fugitive, make him angry and he goes Hulk. You can literally do any type of story except for an origin with the setup.

 

The quality of the first film will have no bearing on quality of the 2nd, because they're clearly going in a differnet direction as far as TONE and CONTENT.

[Black Lushus 0]

agreed...it's like X-Men...while the first one was good, it was pretty much setup...it's almost like night and day between that and X2.

[Special K 0]

Definitely agree with the above two posts. He's dealt with his demons, you've already spent an ungodly amount of money on making a Bana-Hulk, just let it ride for another movie.

[Black Lushus 0]

had Bana ever expressed interest in a sequel?

[Special K 0]

Don't they always lock the stars down for two or three movies on these superhero franchises?

[Black Lushus 0]

Don't they always lock the stars down for two or three movies on these superhero franchises?

 

certainly the smart thing to do...but I thought I saw somewhere where he wanted nothing to do with a sequel?

 

On those same lines, and I'm certainly not complaining, but wasn't there talks of having someone else play Daredevil for a possible sequel? Honestly, I didn't mind Ben Affleck in that flick.

[Black Lushus 0]

There have been talks of a sequel, which would expand the character of Hulk and most likely be more action driven than a philosophical drama. In a January 2006 interview, Bana stated that "nobody's talking about any sequel" to the film. However, Ain't It Cool News spoke with Avi Arad on January 18, 2006 and announced that Marvel is moving forward with a sequel and that Marvel Enterprises will produce the film while Universal Studios will distribute it. This deal is outside of the Paramount distribution deal that Marvel finalized with Paramount Pictures late last year. Arad announced that he is talking to various writers that he is interested in having work on the film. Arad also stated that he felt that the Hulk was too big in the first and that he will be smaller for the sequel. At this point, there is no recasting in place or planned. Avi Arad also debunked a few rumors circulating about the film: the film will not star David Duchovny in a straight-to-DVD release. Arad stated, also, that the film will be a direct sequel and not a reboot of the original. [2]. Arad recently (April 26th) stated that the villain in the upcoming Hulk 2 will be the Abomination with the title The Incredible Hulk (movie).

 

On June 9th Arad told iF Magazine regarding the Hulk sequel. "It’s a “do-over”. I loved the Hulk movie, it was just a different approach, and it wasn’t exactly the comic. We want to be much closer to the comic. It’s what we would rather do."

 

from Wikipedia

 

so it sounds like it's a "do over" strictly from the sense of it's what the first film should have been...not unlike Star Wars fans sayinf Episode 2 SHOULD have been Episode 1.

[Guest Felonies!]

ROLL FIZZLEBEEF

[Rendclaw 0]

Don't they always lock the stars down for two or three movies on these superhero franchises?

 

certainly the smart thing to do...but I thought I saw somewhere where he wanted nothing to do with a sequel?

 

On those same lines, and I'm certainly not complaining, but wasn't there talks of having someone else play Daredevil for a possible sequel? Honestly, I didn't mind Ben Affleck in that flick.

 

::stares at Lushus as if he's grown a second head on his shoulder a la Zaphod Beeblebrox::

[SuperJerk 0]

Don't they always lock the stars down for two or three movies on these superhero franchises?

 

certainly the smart thing to do...but I thought I saw somewhere where he wanted nothing to do with a sequel?

 

On those same lines, and I'm certainly not complaining, but wasn't there talks of having someone else play Daredevil for a possible sequel? Honestly, I didn't mind Ben Affleck in that flick.

 

::stares at Lushus as if he's grown a second head on his shoulder a la Zaphod Beeblebrox::

 

The Daredevil Director's Cut was much better than the theaterical version. [/already said this 10,000 times mode]