Incredible Hulk Movie Franchise Facing Slow Death
July 10, 2008 by Susan Gunelius
Filed under Marketing
News from Reuters today suggests that Marvel’s (NYSE: MVL) Incredible Hulk brand is nearing its demise, at least as far as big screen adaptations are concerned. Universal remains confused as to why the current Hulk movie and the one released several years ago have struggled at the box office and not become the blockbusters of the Spider-Man franchise.
I can give my perspective on it as a consumer. Where is the Lou Ferrigno type actor to play the green Hulk? Lou Ferrigno did the voice of the Hulk and played a security guard in the most recent Hulk movie, but let’s face it, movie viewers are tired of lame CGI. The gigantic Incredible Hulk that I’ve seen in the commercials for the latest adaptation looks ridiculous. The draw of superheroes is that they’re normal people with extraordinary powers. Turning Bruce Banner into a Godzilla-like CGI monster is not what fans want.
Of course, that’s just my take on the Hulk brand on the big screen. What do you think? Why are the Hulk movies not as popular as Spider-Man? What does Universal need to change to make to help the brand meet customer expectations in movie form?
Image: Flickr
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. The CGI is awful. Here’s my speculation:
No sex appeal. I find nothing sexy about this character. You’ve lost the chick audience, like me, right there.
Superhero joy. There’s got to be some joy that comes with superpowers. The audience gets to have that joy vicariously. The Hulk has no joy, and therefore, neither do we.
To add to Suze’s comment, I don’t know if the Hulk is (or ever has been) as popular a character in the Marvel Universe as Spiderman, The X-Men, Iron Man, etc. and therefore you won’t have a ready audience of potential fans waiting to see the movies.
If you’re going to make a movie based on a book, rebooting an old television show or remaking a movie; carefully selecting those that are/were popular and translate well to the big screen is key.