Remember that, originally, The Incredible Hulk was meant to be a direct sequel to Hulk, so there was never any back-story or "origin" written in. When Edward Norton came on-board and made changes to the script--including distancing "his" film from Ang Lee's--there wasn't time to do much of an origin.
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Sometimes You Plant Seeds For Trees You Will Never Sit Under
This movie was trying to be something that people were not expecting it to be - an abstract, modern take on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide mythos (which is how Ang Lee described this movie on the commentary). I, much like the vast majority of audience, went into this movie with the wrong expectations. When I was a kid, I was completely lost with this movie. I knew that this movie was specifically based on Hulk's origin created by Bill Mantlo from the early 80's, which have explored tough childhood of Bruce and his relationship with his father, but even knowing the comics I still couldn't get it. Bill Mantlo showcased that the Hulk wasn't created by gamma explosion. Hulk was always living inside the Bruce. He was his primeval side that lived inside his subconscious for all those years; because Bruce was raised so insecure and anxious, all those negative emotions have been building up inside him for majority of his life, until gamma explosion didn't released the Hulk, turning him from a subconscious entity into materialistic one. Now, after looking back at the movie, I kinda appreciate it more. The reason why this movie was panned is because everybody were expecting brainless, senseless actin flick that's all style over substance, but instead they got an antithesis of that. The movie that is more abstract than literal. The movie that decides to dive deeper into the psychology of its character instead of putting him against some powerful super-villain who is evil for the sake of evil. I guess if this movie was, like I said, a modern take on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and wasn't related to Hulk, people would appreciate it more.
Man i so agree with you. This film is so underrated and unappreciated because of audience expectations. People were expecting some smashing and just a popcorn movie. But instead they got a challenging film with a heart and soul that explores the tragic psycho dramatic abstracts of the character of Bruce Banner. It is a comic book with Greek tragedy elements that treated its source material with respects. In my opinion this is the most underrated comic book movie. So much better than movies like ant man and iron man sequels.
Kinda panned because it and the comic book are nothing like the TV show which is the version that most people love, nostalgia kinda ruined it in people's minds like with Superman and Batman. Problem with the Hulk is that you can't structure it or market it as a superhero film.
You are aware in the original comics Bruce's father had been dead for years at the time he became the Hulk, right? So his dad being alive and a villain to Hulk is not accurate. Also no Rick Jones which sucks for this and the MCU. Rick Jones is hated by Hollywood.