By: Jonathan Cyfer
I'm sure you're all aware of the latest Incredible Hulk (2008) film and the fact that this character (with a change of actors playing Bruce Banner) will be appearing in the upcoming Avengers (2012) film.
I just found out that a new, live action Incredible Hulk TV show is being developed for ABC. Many Hulk fans fondly remember the Hulk TV series (1978-1982) starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno and I'm sure they are all overjoyed to hear that the emerald titan will be returning to the small screen, but it does bring up a problem. There will be two, more or less unrelated "Hulks" available for "consumption" between the films and television.
You're probably going "so what", but think about it.
Two different Hulks. Two different Bruce Banners. Two different casts, plots, storylines, and perhaps two different fates. The demands of each media form require that events unfold differently. By necessity, there must be different timeline, story, and character development paths between a Hulk that appears in your living room every week (horrors if I were being literal) and one you get to see only once every two or three years in movie theatres. We are used to attaching ourselves to our heroes in only one particular manner at a time.
In 1978, we loved and adored Christopher Reeve's Superman and for a generation, be became "the" Superman. In 2001, Tom Welling stepped into Clark Kent's shoes, if not Superman's boots, and became the "last son of Krypton" for the next generation...but they were two different generations. What will you do when you have to describe the Incredible Hulk to a non-fan? Which Hulk will you talk about?
You think that's bad, what happens if Batman really does become a weekly TV series? Who is Batman then...Christian Bale or...?
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