Spoilers Marvel Cinematic Universe spoiler-heavy speculation thread
- Thread starter bbjeg
- Start date
Most did, but the Captain America pilot movies didn't. And Filmation's Shazam! featured no comics characters other than Billy Batson/Captain Marvel. So TIH wasn't quite unique in that respect.
I do agree that it might've been interesting to have General Ross as a recurring antagonist, though the show's budget wouldn't have allowed for a lot in the way of military confrontations. It was an expensive show as it was, what with the location filming and all the stunt work and strength gags. So it made more sense to have a civilian adversary like Jack McGee. Ross might have worked only as an occasional guest star, maybe showing up a couple of times per season. (Maybe he could even have been played by John Vernon, who voiced Ross in the '90s animated series opposite Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk.)
Betty wouldn't have worked as an ongoing love interest, probably, since David Banner's love interests had a tendency to die dramatically in the rain. And having Rick Jones tagging along wouldn't have fit very well with the whole "Lonely Man" approach.
I think there was actually an attempt by the network to convince Kenneth Johnson to add Rick Jones or an equivalent sidekick character, along with an RV that could provide a standing set and ease the budget demands somewhat, but Johnson stood firmly against changing the format.
Nah. J'onn is one of the most powerful characters in the DCU and has been in almost every JL. I consider him more McCartney.
Actually, that made me think of Melvin from the Daredevil show (and comics).
I barely remember it, but I know I loved the show and (back then) knew nothing of the comic. I should watch them again and see how they hold up.
Again, I don't remember much, but I remember liking Rex Smith as Daredevil and wishing they'd done that show. I vaguely remember thinking Thor was goofy.
Excellent! Does anyone know if the Bixby show is available online anywhere?
Let's not forget that Diana Muldaur played David Banner's sister in at least one episode of The Incredible Hulk so there's a Star Trek connection right there. 
https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-incredible-hulk-1977
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Let's not forget that Diana Muldaur played David Banner's sister in at least one episode of The Incredible Hulk so there's a Star Trek connection right there.
She also played another "sister," a nun, in a different episode.
A more direct Trek connection: The title narration and the Hulk's growls were done by Ted Cassidy, and when Cassidy died, Charles Napier took over as the Hulk's voice. Napier also appeared in two or three episodes, as did plenty of other Trek guests, some of the most memorable ones including Mariette Hartley as David's wife in the "Married" 2-parter, Harry Townes & Dick Durock as the human and creature forms of "The First" Hulk, Whit Bissell as a scientist in the "Prometheus" 2-parter, Kim Cattrall as a supposedly Native American archaeologist who recognizes David Banner in "Kindred Spirits," and Ray Walston (Bixby's former My Favorite Martian co-star) as the title character in "My Favorite Magician."
Yep to all of those! Harry Townes as the other Hulk in "The First" always reminds me of "The Return of the Archons(TOS)" and Landru and helps make that two-parter even creepier when you think back on Townes' similarly on-edge role in the Trek episode. I enjoy those actor crossovers.
I wonder if it's on Peacock, since that's now the NBC streaming service. Thanks for checking!
Thought the same and checked but no.
Ah, well.
I was wondering what Hulk, a CBS show, was doing on NBC's service, but I guess it must be because NBC owns Universal now.
Along the same lines, I’m a big fan of this article by Den of Geek arguing in favour of a proper release for the 1970s Spider-Man live-action show https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-amazing-spider-man-tv-series-deserves-an-official-release/?amp
Good article. I'd certainly like to see it get a release. I'd also love a release of Dana Kaproff's soundtrack for season 2, which I always loved.
Well they merged to form NBCUniveral and then were bought by Comcast.
Yeah, I figured I was probably getting it wrong, but I was too lazy to check. It's all just a mess of mergers and buyouts and it's hard to keep it all straight. (And we all know it's only a matter of time before the Disney Collective assimilates all other entertainment. Resistance is futile!)
Don't forget Wonder Girl.
Well, a wonder girl. Not the Wonder Girl.
Yes. She was Diana's kid sister Drusilla, who was not a character from the comics. That's why I didn't include her.
(Although by comics logic, a superhero character is apparently defined more by their hero identity than their civilian identity. For instance, the character-creator credits in the animated Young Justice list Marv Wolfman and George Perez as the creators of Nightwing, rather than Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, who created Dick Grayson.)
Agreed.
Series creator/producer Kenneth Johnson wanted to stress Banner's lonely existence by not having supporting characters to rely on such as Rick Jones. Regarding Ross, there was no recurring military presence, but in three episodes, we were treated to the Hulk facing off against the military and/or a government organization: in season three's "Blind Rage", Banner is helping a friend who was suffering from exposure of dumped materials at a chemical warfare research facility; eventually, the Hulk stops an attacking tank in its tracks, disables it, then pushed it down a hill, which is not too far off from what his four-color version was doing--
In season four's two-part opener "Prometheus," the Hulk is captured by Project Prometheus' metal "Alpha Chamber" which the Hulk punches large dents into, and later wrecks parts of the base hosting the Prometheus crew. Being a man-on-the-run series more than comic had been (and comic Hulk has a number of superheroic allies he worked with), keeping his encounters with the military far and few between made sense, and were special when they occurred.
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