Bruce? Too gay.
December 5, 2013 2:48 PM   Subscribe

Before Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D, before Blade: The Series or even the execrable Power Pack, the Marvel television universe was populated by few aside from Spider Man and The Incredible Hulk. Until 1990, when NBC and Marvel decided to make a movie that should be admired for its audacity is nothing else, "The Death Of The Incredible Hulk". And true to word, by films end both David Banner and The Incredible Hulk are dead.
posted by mediocre (43 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Boy did I lose it as a kid watching that death scene. I never really thought they would kill him. Sure there may have been tentative plans for a Rebirth telefilm, but when Bill Bixbys health started failing it never cropped up making this the definitive final death of The Incredible Hulk on television.
posted by mediocre at 2:51 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


HAY - SPOILERS!
posted by Cookiebastard at 2:56 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Falling from an airplane kills the Hulk? Puny Hulk.
posted by entropicamericana at 2:56 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]


Was Hulk not invincible in the TV show?
posted by brundlefly at 3:02 PM on December 5, 2013


TIL there is a live-action Blade series. Also a live-action Spider Man TV show existed. Huh.
posted by Hoopo at 3:04 PM on December 5, 2013


Two live-action Spider-Man TV shows. Only one of which featured a giant robot.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 3:06 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]


Let us not forget Dr. Strange (1978).
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:13 PM on December 5, 2013


Oh jesus, let's please forget Dr Strange (1978).
posted by lumpenprole at 3:15 PM on December 5, 2013 [6 favorites]




Two live-action Spider-Man TV shows

Nah, that's Supaida-Man. Different guy.
posted by Hoopo at 3:19 PM on December 5, 2013


Not gonna lie, my throat caught a little bit just now when they started with the sad piano as they zoomed out on Banner's corpse.
posted by KingEdRa at 3:34 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]




Was Hulk not invincible in the TV show?

Not anywhere near close as strong or tough as almost any version that's been in the comics (not sure about the very earliest, gray version) or the movie Hulk. TV Hulk was stronger than humanly possible, but not anywhere near the comic Hulk that could support the weight of a mountain (in Secret Wars).
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:38 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]


Am I crazy, or wasn't there supposed to be two follow-up films to this, one of which featured She-Hulk?
(Also, without watching (because sad title music aside, Hulk has not aged well at all), I think G'Kar from Babylon 5 is the bad guy.)

I had no idea there was a PowerPack film (it seems to be on YouTube) but I did know of the Generation X pilot (it was awful), the 1990s Captain American films (you guessed it, awful), and Roger Corman's Fantastic Four.

I think I may have missed one or two.

Pre-X-men marvel films were awful,
Speaking of which: Days Of Future Past isn't even out yet, but in 2016....
posted by Mezentian at 4:39 PM on December 5, 2013


I know you're all disappointed that the Nick Fury: Agent of Shield TV movie didn't get picked up and turned into a series.

What? That was only 1998? Sure looked older than that.
posted by ckape at 4:53 PM on December 5, 2013


It Fury any good? I have been afraid.
posted by Mezentian at 5:05 PM on December 5, 2013


Bill Bixby was an actor's actor
posted by Renoroc at 5:19 PM on December 5, 2013


CALLED IT.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:28 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]


Hey now... The X-Men doing multiple alternative timeline movies?
That's crazy talk!
posted by Mezentian at 5:33 PM on December 5, 2013


Hurm. There was a storyline in the Hulk books back in, I want to say the late 80's, where they separated Banner and the Hulk. Byrne drew it, I think. It had Doc Sampson leading a bunch of Hulkbusters, and ended with all the Avengers trying to stop...the Rampaging Hulk!
posted by vrakatar at 5:34 PM on December 5, 2013


Wow. I loved The Incredible Hulk as a kid, and I thought I'd seen them all, but I did not see David Banner die!!! I'm not even sure I want to see the whole episode.

I grew up with reruns of Courtship of Eddie's Father, and I've loved Bill Bixby since then.

I remember the Spider-Man series, and I remember wanting to like it much more than I actually liked it.

I had to look up She-Hulk, and that's a pretty damn interesting story and should definitely be made into a movie, or series, or something. I'd watch that. The fact that she can retain her personality as the She-Hulk, and she can control when/if she changes - it's a completely different situation from the Hulk that would be worth exploring (to me, as a viewer).

But She-Hulk? Really? Stan Lee couldn't come up with a better name? Come on, Stan Lee, you're a genius at this, and you went with She-Hulk? (Note: no, I can't think of anything better right at this moment.)
posted by MoxieProxy at 5:47 PM on December 5, 2013


MoxieProxy, I take it you are unfamiliar with Red She-Hulk, and Red Hulk?

Next summer on NBC: The Hulk Family!
(I am pausing for a moment to morn del Toro's Hulk TV series).

I'm pretty sure, like SpiderWoman, that She-Hulk was created purely for copyright reasons, and that the reason Bruce's rage is as it is is because he caught a full gamma blast (and also repressed sexual abuse?), whereas Jennifer gets to be awesome because she only got a blood transfusion.
posted by Mezentian at 6:00 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


There actually is a "Hulk family" show airing now, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:34 PM on December 5, 2013


brundlefly: "Was Hulk not invincible in the TV show?"

No, he was INCREDIBLE.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:37 PM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]


Was Hulk not invincible in the TV show?

Not anywhere near close as strong or tough as almost any version that's been in the comics (not sure about the very earliest, gray version)



Yeah, early on Hulk was grey but then they decided to switch to the green ink.

Why? It was Indelible.
 
posted by Herodios at 8:32 PM on December 5, 2013


It Fury any good? I have been afraid.

The thing with David Hasselhoff and Lisa Rina? Guess. It shows up on FX or similar a few weekends a year and I've never made it through more than 5 minutes. And the last 4 are waiting for my wife to come back in the room while I'm shouting, "You gotta see this shit."
posted by yerfatma at 6:12 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm with MoxieProxy in that I grew up watching Bill Bixby in various roles, and each week on the Hulk when he would pick up his backpack, take a deep sigh and stick out his thumb to hitchhike out of town, all while the slow piano played....Man, that got me everytime.

I was also a huge fan of his earlier (?) series, "The Magician".
posted by exparrot at 6:13 AM on December 6, 2013


I watched this TV movie when it aired. I haven't even watched the clip but I remember the song as he falls.

On the one hand, it was sad, especially because he didn't come back. On the other hand, given the entire history of the character on the TV show, there was no other way for it to end.

He's free.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 6:25 AM on December 6, 2013


By and by, the reason for the post's title has to do with a claim by Lou Ferrigno that CBS thought "Bruce" was "too gay-ish" and changed it.
posted by Atreides at 6:41 AM on December 6, 2013


Oh jesus, let's please forget Dr Strange (1978).

I didn't say we should watch it, but if anyone ever decides to make a Dr.Strange movie, the '78 one would be a useful object lesson.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:46 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


if anyone ever decides to make a Dr.Strange movie

What do you mean, if?
posted by mephron at 8:43 AM on December 6, 2013


By and by, the reason for the post's title has to do with a claim by Lou Ferrigno that CBS thought "Bruce" was "too gay-ish" and changed it.

This is an urban legend (not that Ferrigno said it, which he very well may have, but that this was the reason). The reason they changed Bruce to David was that the network thought a classic Marvel-style alliterative name would make the show too much like a comic book, and they wanted to avoid the show going in that direction.

~ the more you know ~
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:59 AM on December 6, 2013


What do you mean, if?

From Your link:
Marvel Pressing Ahead With Doctor Strange Movie
Published 2 years ago
Everything I could find says a movie is "still in development," which means nothing is being made yet, and there's still time for them to learn from that object lesson.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:31 AM on December 6, 2013


I'm really confused. I distinctly remember being inconsolable after watching this movie and straight-up spontaneously bursting into tears on my school bus the next day. I even remember the driver having to stop the bus and hug me because I was so upset and I just couldn't stop wailing.

But if it aired in 1990, I would've been sixteen. And I definitely wasn't riding the school bus in high school. So what the hell did I watch?
posted by eamondaly at 10:55 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]



Marvel Pressing Ahead With Doctor Strange Movie
Published 2 years ago
Everything I could find says a movie is "still in development,"


I have a 1968 paperback copy of Frank Herbert's Dune. There's a blurb on the cover that says "Soon to be a major motion picture!"

Sixteen years in 'development hell'.
 
When I say that now, 16 years doesn't feel like such a long time. On the other hand, the cultural gap between 1968 America and 1984 America feels enormous.

posted by Herodios at 11:12 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


So what the hell did I watch?

You were in fact 16, and your mind is protecting you from the embarrassing moment by wrapping it in contradicting memories.
posted by mediocre at 1:22 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


In that second vid, at about 1:43 one of the cops crosses himself like he's only read about the practice.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:16 PM on December 6, 2013


Crying in public isn't even in the top 100 of The List of Eamon's Embarrassing Moments.
posted by eamondaly at 3:48 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Wait... how did we get this far without mentioning The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (full movie) with the original Daredevil? Or the Incredible Hulk Returns (review) with the original Thor?

I remember being totally pumped to see Thor on screen back in the day.
Man, 1988 was a hard time to be a comic fan, to take such joy from such rubbish.
posted by Mezentian at 5:55 PM on December 6, 2013


Man, 1988 was a hard time to be a comic fan, to take such joy from such rubbish.

Seriously, we're going to sound like the Yorkshiremen when we tell our kids about it.
posted by entropicamericana at 7:15 PM on December 6, 2013


I was actually going to riff on "but we was 'appy" but decided against it.
posted by Mezentian at 8:30 PM on December 6, 2013


Sixteen years in 'development hell'.

We got Alien out of it though.
posted by Artw at 9:10 PM on December 6, 2013




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