The Incredible Hulk TV series creator Kenneth Johnson shares theory on why the Hulk movies flopped
Kenneth Johnson - the man responsible for 'The Incredible Hulk' TV series, 'V' and 'The Bionic Woman' - has shared his opinion on why Universal's two Hulk movies' flopped, citing a lack of believability with the CGI green brute.
'The Incredible Hulk' creator Kenneth Johnson believes the two Hulk movies flopped because the audiences didn't accept the CGI character in the real world.
The 82-year-old screenwriter-and-producer was responsible for bringing the Marvel Comics character to life on the small screen in the iconic TV series which ran from 1977 to 1982 and starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Bruce Banner and professional bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno as the giant green brute.
Johnson, like audiences, was underwhelmed with Universal's two films; Ang Lee's 2003 'Hulk' and Louis Leterrier's 'The Incredible Hulk', released in 2008, and the reason for both movies box office drop-offs and lukewarm reviews was that it was hard to accept the CGI Hulk acting against the human cast.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he said: "After the first movie came out it opened really big, but the second week it was the historic fall off of 75 or 80 per cent it was the highest fall of from the opening weekend to the next that any movie had ever had. People saw it and said, ‘Oh no, this is not it.’ But Universal came back and did a second one, but this time they had Edward Norton on board and he and his director were down at Comic Con and other places and got into the same sort of humanity and approach that I had taken with my crew and writers and producers back in the ‘70s. I thought it sounded like they were really on the right track.
"When the first trailer came out for the first 20 seconds I thought, ‘Wow!’ Not only had they exactly matched the sets to what I had done in the ‘70s, it also looked like it would be more character driven like I had done in the ‘70s but then this big green hand came up out of the pavement.
"What I liken it too, and why I think both of those movies did fail at the time, was because if you’re watching a 3D animated 'Shrek' movie and suddenly there was a live human being walking around in it, your brain goes, ‘No, it’s not the same genre, you can’t do that.’ That was the problem with the first two Hulk movies."
Johnson says the Hulk only worked on the big screen when he was teamed with the Avengers heroes like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor in Joss Whedon's 2012 ensemble blockbuster and the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe because he was with other fantastical characters.
He added: "When Joss Whedon did the first 'Avengers' movie he was able to take the big green guy and put him among other comic book characters and superheroes, so now he was not all alone in the real world."
Johnson - who is also the creator of 'The Bionic Woman' and the 'V' science-fiction franchise - can recall being at the premiere of Lee's 'Hulk' film and he claims amongst the groans of disapproval was a rumble of enjoyment when an adaptation of the famous line he wrote for 'The Incredible Hulk' TV show was uttered by Eric Bana as Dr. Banner.
He recalled: "I remember being at the premiere of the 'Hulk' movie and it was really groaning time all the way through and the only line that got a rise out of the audience at all was the line that I had written in the 1977 TV pilot as a joke which was, ‘Mr. McGee, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
"I swear after it was over and the lights were coming up and everybody was trying to sneak out the back door one of the guys from Variety snagged me and said, ‘Mr. Johnson don’t make me Ang Lee, you wouldn’t like me when I’m Ang Lee!’"
Johnson has worked with Big Finish Productions to create an audio adventure inspired by his acclaimed 1983 television miniseries 'V'. The plot of the show focuses on an alien race known as the Visitors coming to Earth seemingly in peace before their sinister intentions and true identity are revealed.
'V – UK: Infiltration' - starring Annabel Baldwin, Janie Dee and Jack Myers - is available now.
Go to Bigfinish.com/ranges/v/v-uk for more information and to order.
