Incredible Hulk: Why the 2008 Movie Still Matters in the MCU

The 2008 film The Incredible Hulk may not have been a blockbuster hit, but it made back its budget and earned a Metacritic rating that put it in the middle of the pack. Despite this, it was quickly pushed to the sidelines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Mark Ruffalo taking over as Bruce Banner/The Hulk. However, Marvel is now returning to elements from the film, with Tim Roth returning as Emil Blonsky/Abomination in recent MCU properties like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

While Ruffalo’s Hulk character has been a huge success, many fans miss the darker, more animalistic version of the character seen in The Incredible Hulk. Instead of being a superhero, this Hulk is essentially a giant, powerful animal with some degree of sentience, operating on pure animalistic instinct.

The Incredible Hulk resonates with audiences because of its horror or horror-adjacent elements, exploring the trauma and fear experienced by Bruce Banner after his transformations. In contrast, Ruffalo’s Hulk quickly became a more controlled and quippy hero who is always in charge when the action demands it.

However, there is still plenty of potential to explore the animalistic Hulk in the MCU. Instead of trying to make him more marketable as a superhero, Marvel could dive into the ethical questions raised by a character who can’t control his actions and must be aimed at enemies by others.

Though it remains to be seen if Marvel will take this darker direction, fans of The Incredible Hulk can still appreciate the film for its successful exploration of the horror and trauma associated with the Hulk character, as well as its potential for darker storytelling in the future.