I totally get why people want She Hulk to have more “Hulk” in her design, personally I’m fine with how she looks in the trailer (the CG though is just awful). Something I feel a lot of more casual comic readers probably won’t know a lot is that in-universe, Gamma rays don't just make you big, green and stupid (or at least they shouldn't) They unleash a form and personality befitting whatever your subconscious normally suppresses or hides.
Bruce Banner is emotionally and physically abused. Scared, timid, all that traumatized mess. So his Hulk unleashes all the rage he’s bottled up, making him the Strongest There Is, but ultimately he just wants to be left alone.
Emil Blonsky always thought he was a monster. His dose of Gamma turned him into one.
Samuel Sterns felt that his intellect was never acknowledged, so when he became The Leader, he got the biggest brain in the world so everyone knows it.
Betty Ross doesn’t have an easy life pursuing a relationship with Bruce. And after years of a roller coaster of a relationship (and a little help from MODOK) Harpy is her Gamma-powered defense mechanism to shield Betty both physically and emotionally.
Doc Samson doesn’t have any emotional baggage whatsoever, but he does want to help other people. So he just becomes a green-haired Superman.
Jen doesn’t have the same emotional issues that Bruce has. She wanted to be less underestimated, more confident and more outspoken, so She-Hulk is all of that and more.
I like Shulkie with a good amount of beef, but acting like She-Hulk should be a clone of Bruce in design is just a huge reduction.
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Justice For MCU Hulk: Everything cut from The Incredible Hulk (2009) that saves its characters
After She-Hulk renewed criticism of Bruce Banner’s characterisation in the MCU, I looked back at The Incredible Hulk. It’s the shortest MCU movie (1hr 52 mins) so this extra 25 minutes of footage would bring it to about the same length as The Winter Soldier, vastly improving Bruce’s characterisation, his romance with Betty, and General Ross as the villain.
Alternate Opening in the Arctic (2:16)
The most famous cut, Bruce’s attempted s*icide referenced in The Avengers. Strong, shocking character beat to open the film
Hulk’s origin
The film’s 3-minute title-sequence condenses “40 minutes” of Hulk’s origin & its aftermath. This was mostly unscripted (Norton contributed a lot) with “points of entry” for flashbacks throughout the film that unravelled the mystery of what happened..
In an interview, director Louis Leterrie explained:
“[the Arctic was] a few months after the incident … afterwards we were flash forwarding to Brazil … a few years later ... then afterward you were getting flashbacks—that’s the way the script was structured—to tell you the story … everything you saw in the credit sequence. People hated it … what the hell is this? Is this a sequel? Is this a re-boot? We don’t understand anything.”
Building the Lab (1:07)
Most of the cut Brazil footage is filler, but I like Bruce dumpster-diving to make DIY lab equipment
General Greller (2:28)
Ross’ motivation. He’s the true villain!
I’d cut the 1st exchange between Ross & Greller, moving straight from the plane to Blonsky entering the office.
Nice character-building (‘is there any medal you haven’t won?’)
Greller criticizing Ross’ supersoldier program ties into the wider MCU (Hulk as a supersoldier attempt was only later established in The Avengers) & makes Ross more culpable
Bruce Delivers Pizzas (0:36)
The girls’ dorm should stay cut, but Bruce helping students with an experiment at his old university is a lovely character beat
Betty and Leonard (0:30)
Doc Sampson!
So the love triangle doesn’t seem quite as lopsided
Bruce and Betty Talk (3:18)
Sets a clear timeline for Bruce
Sets up an ‘ethics cloud’ around Sterns/The Leader, and suggests he turned Bruce over to Ross in Brazil
Betty is proactive. Her arc becoming disillusioned with Ross starts here. Her keeping their data in an ornate jewelry box builds the Bruce/Betty romance
“Hope comes back so quickly” is a strong character beat
Dinner with Bruce (1:30)
“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt a light” is a nice character beat: Betty’s house is the eye of the storm in Bruce’s journey
Leonard characterisation!
The Orchid (1:27)
Betty is proactive again!
The Orchid as a metaphor for their love
Bruce and Leonard (4:17)
Leonard: I’ll confess something to you if you clear up some things for me. First, I confess as a man, Betty’s lover, that I’ve always hoped you were dead. Not because I don’t like you but because I love Betty. And I’ve known that unless you were really gone, or she believed that you were… there’d always be three of us in this relationship. I dreaded the thought of you walking through the door. But… now that you’re here, I have to admit I’m very happy about it. Because I’m also a psychiatrist. And I’m very committed to putting light into dark corners, so to speak. Betty has a very dark corner that I’ve never found my way into, despite considerable careful effort. And the only thing that I know about her dark place is that you’re in it. So… Why are you something that she won’t talk about?
Bruce: There are aspects of my personality that I can’t control. And when I lose control it’s very dangerous to be around me. I hurt Betty in a way that I will never forgive myself for.
Leonard: You don’t drop your career and fall off the face of the Earth for 5 years because you have an anger management issue, Bruce. You see a shrink.
Bruce: It’s a little bit more complicated than that.
Leonard: Trust me when I tell you I’ve heard them all.
Bruce: Not like this.
Leonard: Completely honest and yet avoiding the heart of the matter. Exactly like her.
Leonard’s big moment! He’s an actual character! Learning Bruce hurt Betty motivates him turning Bruce in
Chatting to a psychiatrist about the Hulk like a real-world personality disorder is gold
Lots of work on the romance, the ‘Dark Corner’ in Betty’s mind that Bruce inhabits.
Justification for Leonard ratting Bruce out. It's implied Leonard deliberately drains the car battery to discourage Betty going with Bruce
Motel Room Conversation (1:14)
Bruce: I’m sorry.
Betty: It’s okay. It’s so mysterious, this thing inside of you. All the other scars have healed.
Bruce: Not mine. His scars heal but mine don’t
Betty: Yes they do. They leave a mark, but they stop hurting [exposes a scar under her fringe, from the Hulk accident. Bruce turns away.] Look at me. That pain didn’t last. Not knowing was so much worse. I looked for your face everywhere. I never stopped.
Proactive Betty again. Real meat for the romance, addressing their shared trauma & Bruce’s guilt
Nature’s Mystery (3:02)
Ross: Major, a great writer once said, "There are clefts in the rock, where we see the back part of God, and tremble." There's no training for what you saw out there because it's not an enemy that confronts us, it's a new power. Let loose through a crack in the cliff of Nature's mystery. How many times do you think that's happened in all of human history? Fire. The splitting of the atom. The universe unveils a secret and people recoil, cowering in fear and awe. And then comes the person who stops trembling. Who steps forward to face the flame, and seizes the burning stick and says "This will I master and use."
William Hurt gets to act. This monologue is the best dialogue in the film. Ross’ motivation is so well-expressed here
On the Hulk Hunt (1:07)
Builds Blomsky’s frustrations with Ross and motivation to become Abomination
Ross and Sparr (1:40)
Betty: I will never forgive what you've done to him.
Ross: He's a fugitive. He made choices.
Betty: You made him a fugitive. To cover your failures, and protect your career. I know what you said to him after the accident. Before I woke up, what you proposed? That's why he ran away and gave up.
Ross: His work, his blood is the property of the United States Army, and my duty precedes my personal feelings in this matter.
Betty: Freedom, democracy, our way of life.
Ross: Something like that.
Betty: You believe in so much. But we have to start with truth or the rest of it doesn't work. Don't ever speak to me as your daughter again.
“If you took it from me I’m gonna put you in a hole for the rest of your life”. Ross is the villain!
Cut the Major, but Betty confronting Ross re: weaponizing the Hulk is a strong cap for her arc
Bruce Confesses in the Helicopter
In the novelisation:
“on the helicopter, prior to jumping … Banner admits to Betty that because he thought he killed her when he first became the Hulk, he tried to kill himself. The Hulk wouldn’t let him, which is why he thinks the Hulk will save him from the fall.”
Leonard Calls Betty (1:40)
Follow-up on Leonard and Betty. Nice moment for her
Tldr; This extended version still wouldn’t be *great*, but it’s a significant improvement from mediocre to good, especially in hindsight with how Hulk has been treated since AoU.
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