Pop Smart - Hulk pens love letter to Bill and Lou

The Incredible Hulk opens Friday, and you may have heard that it’s far more fast-paced and action-oriented than Ang Lee’s intellectually ambitious but sluggish, overthought 2003 treatment of the raging green giant. In 2004 The Onion tweaked the film’s lack of popularity with a faux Op-Ed from the Hulk himself, “Why No One Want Make Hulk 2?

In fact, Marvel Studios (the movie-making division of the venerable comic book company) showed remarkable confidence in the Hulk as a potential screen star (not to mention faith in Transporter 2 director Louis Leterrier as a filmmaker) by buying back the rights to the character and essentially making the film “in-house,” much like it did with Marvel’s other superhero movie of this summer, Iron Man. So far, Marvel’s two-for-two in making films, although Iron Man has more across-the-board appeal, while The Incredible Hulk will please action fans and followers of the comic book.

The surprising thing about the film, however, is that it’s such a love letter to “The Incredible Hulk,” the 1978-1982 TV series that starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Here’s the opening credits, including that famous catch-phrase:

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