The Avengers: Hulk's TV History

With Marvel's The Avengers about to hit theaters, we're taking a look back at the members of the team featured in the film and their many appearances on TV through the years. Today we're looking at the strongest one there is - the Hulk!

The Hulk has arguably made the biggest TV impact of any Marvel Comics character in history. He's been a mainstay on television, starring in several of his own series and guest starring on many others. Meanwhile, he clearly has had the most success when it comes to Marvel characters in live-action television, via a series that continues to resonate today, and to echo in other incarnations of the Hulk. In this piece, we're also going to look forward as well, as there are two different new Hulk TV series in development...

Keep in mind this list is focused on television appearances, not feature films or direct-to-video projects.

Along with fellow Marvel characters Captain America, Iron Man, Sub-Mariner and Thor, the Hulk got his first TV exposure via this late '60s cartoon series.

The Marvel Super Heroes was not a very good show, mostly because of its infamous animation, which was about as loose a use of that word as you can get, since it was comprised of taking actual comic book panels and moving them a bit. The show did however deliver some wonderfully silly theme songs for each of the characters it featured, including Hulk – check out the poetry at work in lyrics like, "Doc Bruce Banner, belted by gamma rays, turned into the Hulk. Ain't he unglamorays!"

Whatever unglamorays is, we're sure the Hulk is just that. We were also told in his theme song that the Hulk was "lovable." Aww.

The Hulk's next TV foray was not only much stronger, it also became an important part of the history of superhero adaptations. Up to this point the most successful adaptations had been either juvenile (Adventures of Superman) or purposely campy (Batman). By the mid-'70s, a show like Wonder Woman had its own silly charm, but only served to reinforce to the mainstream public that comic book characters were not to be taken seriously. And Richard Donner's great Superman film was still a year away when the Incredible Hulk TV-Movie pilot aired.

Viewed now, there's plenty to laugh at about this series, much of it thanks to dated aspects of the series and the fact that there was a ton of melodrama and heart on sleeve sentimentality. And yes, this version of the Hulk (played by bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno) was drastically different from the comics, from his first name being David, not Bruce, to the fact that the Hulk himself was much smaller and far less strong than his comic book counterpart.

But what needs to be remembered was that this was also a big leap for comic book adaptations for one simple reason: it took its characters and situations seriously. There was no campy or winking aspect to the series and David Banner's plight was treated as just that – a plight. The show had a huge ace in the hole via Bill Bixby's great performance as Banner, who gave the character a believable sense of intelligence and sadness that was unlike anything George Reeves, Adam West or Linda Carter had been asked to portray as their respective superhero alter-egos.

Overall, the show was formulaic to be sure – each week David went to a new town and helped a down on his luck person, Hulking out a couple of times while managing to stay one step ahead of the reporter tracking him, and there was almost no supervillains in sight - minus a weird old man version of the Hulk. But despite this, the show managed the neat track of grabbing a large audience of both kids -- thanks to the simple visual of a big green guy breaking things -- and adults, thank to the gravitas Bixby provided.

The 2008 Incredible Hulk movie was strongly influenced by this TV show including both visual references and a nod to the very memorable main musical theme to the show, "The Lonely Man." That piece of music is what sticks with many most about the series for a strong reason – it was a "superhero" theme that dared to be sad and melancholy, conveying that the main character was far from the joyous and triumphant type other superhero themes paint their characters as. Joss Whedon and Mark Ruffalo have said they also took inspiration from this show and Bill Bixby's performance as Banner while creating their Hulk for the Avengers film.



While his live-action series was still airing on CBS, Hulk also showed up on this popular NBC animated show. This episode's set up is a doozy – Spider-Man is hired to play himself in a movie, not realizing his enemy Mysterio is manipulating a filmmaker named Sam Blockbuster (yes, really). Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar take a bus to Los Angeles, in full costume of course, and who should happen to come on board but Bruce Banner. What's awesome is that A: Banner is wearing torn purple pants and nothing else, yet no one says anything. And B: When Bruce acts like he doesn't believe that Spider-Man is going to make a movie, Spider-Man decides he will prove he is (to a shirtless stranger!) by getting him a job on the movie.

Wouldn't you know it, but Mysterio has just so happened to make a robot Hulk as one of his many ways to attack Spidey on the film. Of course Bruce hulks out, and we get a quick Hulk vs. Hulk battle, which the real deal ends by stomping his robot counterpart. Hulk's final line of dialogue before he leaps away says it all – "Who needs dumb town where everything fall down?" Just as the live-action Incredible Hulk show ended, the Hulk got a new animated series, which was paired with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends on Saturday mornings. The show incorporated several elements that are a key part of the Hulk's comics history, including large roles for Rick Jones, Betty Ross and General "Thunderbolt" Ross, which were all absent from the live-action series. We also got a full "Hulk smash!" type Hulk here, even if he had such dark circles around his eyes he appeared to be wearing mascara.

On the other hand, considering it was clearly an attempt at a more direct adaptation, there were some needless changes from the comics – Why does Rick Jones have long blond hair and a cowboy hat exactly? And considering this show didn't have the budget limitations of the live-action series, the threat level Hulk faced was still pretty poor, with too many episodes involving generics monsters and aliens. Only The Leader showed up when it came to the comic book Hulk villains, with a couple of episodes even somewhat oddly borrowing villains from other Marvel comics, including Dr. Octopus and the Puppet Master, while skimping on any other Marvel hero appearances except for an episode with She-Hulk.

This show can be singled out however for being the first incarnation of the Hulk story to elevate love interest Betty from a gal randomly hanging around her father at a military base to an actual scientist working with Bruce, something the movies would eventually copy. Also of note is an incredible power Bruce has, in which his clothes manage to completely return and repair themselves after he changes back from the Hulk to his human self. Pretty handy, huh?

But I must say… the opening credit sequence to this show was pretty bad ass.