Interview with Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk

BPD was lucky to land an exclusive interview with Dr. Robert Bruce Banner and his alter-ego, the Incredible Hulk. The upcoming film by Louis Leterrier stars Edward Norton as the gamma-irradiated scientist; Banner assented to doing publicity for the movie as "community service" for the recent World War Hulk debacle.

BPD: Dr. Banner, what did you think of the movie?

BANNER: Oh, you know, they got some things right but this is Hollywood. They couldn't do the real origin, with the gamma bomb and all-- times are different and all that.

HULK: Puny humans afraid of puny human lawyers! =Ahem= That is, gamma bomb testing has been outlawed by international treaty since 1972. Using that as an element of my genesis might be seen as needlessly provocative or, worse, make this movie into a period piece.

BPD: I see. Hulk, what did you think of the movie?

HULK: Deconstructing the classic elements of forgiveness, redemption and the fruitless seeking of power, be it knowledge or brute force... I'd see it again. At full price.

BANNER: He's only saying that because I'm the one who pays for the ticket. Hulk doesn't carry cash.

HULK: You think I need to?

(At this point, the Hulk grew even larger and stronger. Tranquilizing gas was pumped into his cell.)

HULK: RAHRR! Hulk smash puny ticket machine!

(The Hulk's rage subsided after a long, hushed but angry exchange between Hulk and Banner.)

BPD: Moving on... Edward Norton plays you, Dr. Banner, and Liv Tyler plays Betty Ross in the movie. What did you think of their performances?

BANNER: Edward Norton is a tremendous actor, as is Liv Tyler. Meeting them was a real pleasure, albeit one that took place with several inches of bulletproof glass between us. That was an insurance necessity, I've been told.

HULK: Would've been nice to at least get a picture with them.

BANNER: Don't sulk, Hulk. Anyway, I think they captured the struggles Betty and I faced over the years. It was never easy.

HULK: You can say that again. When I think of all the garbage we had to put up with...

BPD: Calm down, Hulk, please.

HULK: I mean it really gets me ticked off, you know?

BPD: What about William Hurt as General Ross?

BANNER (fuming): Thunderbolt Ross is a jerk. And you can quote me in big bold letters.

HULK: No comment. But William Hurt is a wonderful fellow. Loved him in A History of Violence. Heh... what a great pun.

BPD: The movie also features one of your most powerful enemies, the Abomination.

BANNER: Yes. Tim Roth hung out in my incarceration unit a lot before and during filming--even asked for one of his own, for awhile--to "get inside" being a gamma mutate. I guess that's his method.

HULK (snorting): Method. Yeah, right.

BANNER: At least he still writes.

HULK: Whatever. They got the ears wrong. A-bomb has those funky batwing ears. I'm not making that up! Totally left those out of the movie.

BPD: What about the fight scenes? They look pretty good.

BANNER: More fun to watch them than to live them.

HULK: What would YOU know about it, puny Banner? GRAHRR!

Hulk smash Bat-Wing Ears!

=cough cough= That is, I've batttled the Abomination repeatedly and found him a challenging opponent. The movie represents that very adequately.

BPD: Have they discussed making a sequel yet? There are at least two major plot threads left hanging at the end of this movie...

HULK: Nothing has been discussed. Perhaps after the opening returns come in and they see if they have a hit. IRON MAN set a very high bar for us. Did you know Robert Downey Jr. is in this movie as that gold-plated double-crosser? Ooh, thinking about Tony Stark gets me so mad...

(The Hulk reverts to his savage persona once again.)

BANNER: =sigh= I thought we'd worked all this out in therapy...

HULK: Hulk have issues.

And with that, we close this interview. Thanks to the fine folks in the US Army Public Relations Division, Marvel News and Universal Studios for their help with this article.

Artwork copyright Marvel Studios and Universal Studios, all rights reserved.