The Incredible Hulk (2006)

The Incredible Hulk is a 2006 American superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is a sequel to 2003's Hulk. It was directed by Tony Scott and written by Zak Penn. It stars Billy Crudup reprising his role as Bruce Banner/Hulk, alongside Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, Julian Richings, Tricia Helfer, and Milo Ventimiglia.

Set five years after the events of the first movie, the film finds Bruce Banner on the run from the military while attempting to cure himself of the Hulk before he is captured by General Thaddeus Ross, who is being aided by Samuel Sterns, also known as The Leader, who has a secret plan that poses a bigger threat.

Principal photography began in July 2005 in Los Angeles and also took place in New Mexico and Rio de Janeiro. The Incredible Hulk premiered at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California, on August 20, 2006, and was released in the United States on August 25, 2006. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $371.2 million worldwide.

Plot
The film opens one year prior to the first film at a chemical plant in Boise, Idaho, where Samuel Sterns works as a janitor. One evening, while moving canisters of waste material, one of the containers cracks open bathing him in gamma radiation. Sterns survives, but his gamma-irradiated body eventually starts to mutate. However, he discovers that his intellect has increased by a milestone. Calling himself "The Leader", it is revealed that Sterns sent a spy ring (Emil Blonsky and Igor Drenkov) to learn the secrets of the Gamma Reacter that was designed by Bruce Banner.

Five years after the events of the first film, Bruce works at a bottling factory in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while searching for a cure for his condition. On the Internet, he anonymously collaborates with Betty Ross. After Bruce cuts his finger, a drop of his blood falls into a bottle, which is eventually ingested by an elderly consumer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, giving him gamma sickness. Using the bottle to track down Bruce, General Ross sends a special forces team, aided by Sterns, to capture him. Banner transforms into the Hulk and defeats Sterns’ team. Sterns suggests to Ross that they use his Humanoids to capture the Hulk.

Bruce visits his cousin, Jennifer Walters, in Los Angeles and tells her about the Hulk. Jennifer agrees to help Bruce, but later that night, she gets shot by a man whose partner she had been prosecuting. Realizing Jennifer was going to die, Bruce gives her a transfusion of his own blood. After she stabilizes, Bruce has her admitted to a local hospital. The police question Bruce and ask who he is. Bruce says that he is a friend of Jennifer. The police say that what he is is a suspect. The police leave to go talk to the district attorney. When they return, Bruce is gone. This comes to the attention of Ross, who sends his forces to Los Angeles, chasing Bruce into a subway station and causing him to again transform into the Hulk. The ensuing battle proves futile for Ross' forces and they retreat. Sterns sends in the Humanoids, but they are destroyed by the Hulk. Meanwhile, the man who shot Jennifer attempts a second hit on her, causing the danger to activate gamma radiation particles in the transfused blood, turning her into the She-Hulk and escaping the hospital.

After the Hulk reverts to Bruce, he contacts Betty, who urges him to meet her and Rick Jones in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bruce contacts Jennifer who tells him about her metamorphosis. Bruce tells Jennifer that they have to stay separated. However, this call is traced and Ross' forces arrive in Albuquerque to take Bruce, Ross, and Rick into custody. They are taken to the desert base, where Sterns is caught by Glenn Talbot stealing missiles. Sterns knocks out Tabolt and launches a missile, nearly striking Ross' helicopter. It turns out that Sterns' real plan was to take over the base.

Bruce gets permission from Ross to fight Sterns and jumps from the helicopter, transforming after hitting the ground. Jennifer arrives unexpectedly and joins forces with the Hulk. The two defeat Sterns and Jennifer decides that she is going to retain her She-Hulk form permanently—preferring the freedom, confidence, and assertiveness that it gives her compared to her more timorous and fragile "normal" form. The Hulk flees from the base once again.

A month later, Bruce is in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Instead of suppressing his transformation, he begins to transform in a controlled manner with a slight smirk. In a post-credits scene, Tony Stark approaches Ross at a local bar and informs him that a team is being put together.

Cast

 * Billy Crudup as Bruce Banner / Hulk
 * Lou Ferrigno provides vocal performance as the Hulk.
 * Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross
 * William Hurt as General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross
 * Julian Richings as Samuel Sterns / The Leader
 * Tricia Helfer as Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk
 * Milo Ventimiglia as Rick Jones
 * Garret Dillahunt as Glenn Talbot
 * Melvyn Hayes as Yuri Topolov / Gargoyle

Daniel Craig and Vladimir Mashkov reprise their roles as Emil Blonsky and Igor Drenkov during a flashback at the beginning of the film. Robert Downey Jr. has an uncredited cameo as Tony Stark in a post-credits scene. Hulk co-creator Stan Lee cameos as a man who becomes ill when drinking the soda poisoned by Banner's blood. Additionally, the late Bill Bixby appears, in a scene on his TV comedy-drama The Courtship of Eddie's Father on a television Banner is watching at the beginning of the film. Rickson Gracie has a small role as Bruce Banner's martial arts instructor; despite Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background, he is credited as an Aikido instructor. Brazilian actress Débora Nascimento makes a cameo as Martina, Banner's colleague at a beverage factory.

Filming
Filming began on June 18, 2005. The first action sequence shot was the train station battle, which was filmed at the 7th Street/Metro Center and Civic Center/Grand Park station. There was also shooting in the Financial District. A factory in Hamilton, Ontario, which was due for demolition, was the interior of the Brazilian factory. The site's underground floors were used for Ross's military command center. Afterward, there was a week-long shoot in Alamogordo, New Mexico and Albuquerque, New Mexico and two weeks in Rio de Janeiro. While there, the crew shot at Rocinha, Lapa, Tijuca Forest, and Santa Teresa. Filming concluded on October 27.

The Incredible Hulk joined Toronto's Green-Screen initiative, to help cut carbon emissions and waste created during filming. Producer Gale Anne Hurd acknowledged the Hulk, being green, was a popular environmental analogy. Hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles were used, with low sulfur diesel as their energy source. The construction department used a sustainably harvested, locally-sourced yellow pine instead of lauan for the sets, and also used zero-or low-VOC paint. The wood was generally recycled or given to environmental organizations, and paint cans were handed to waste management. In addition, they used cloth bags, biodegradable food containers, china and silverware food utensils, a stainless steel mug for each production crew member, a contractor who removed bins, recycled paper, biodegradable soap and cleaners in the trailers and production offices, and the sound department used rechargeable batteries. The Incredible Hulk became the first blockbuster film to receive the Environmental Media Association's Green Seal, which is displayed during the end credits.

Music
Craig Armstrong was brought in to compose the music for the film, replacing Danny Elfman, the composer of the first film (although Elfman's score is reused in some scenes; most notably the opening credits). At Scott's suggestion, the soundtrack was released on a two-disc album, which Armstrong thought was a joke until he compiled the album and Marvel asked him why they were given only one disc. The film's score borrows Joe Harnell's theme "The Lonely Man" from the 1978 Incredible Hulk television series.

Theatrical
The Incredible Hulk premiered on August 20, 2006, at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California, and was released in theaters on August 25 in the United States, where it opened in 3,505 theaters.

Home media
The Incredible Hulk was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD on October 27, 2006. It includes behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, and deleted scenes. There are widescreen and fullscreen single-disc editions; a three-disc special edition; and a two-disc Blu-ray package. The first disc contains an audio commentary by Scott, while the second comes with special features and deleted scenes, and the third with a digital copy of the film. The Blu-ray edition combines the content of the first two DVDs onto a single disc, while the second disc contains the digital copy.

Universal released the film on Ultra HD Blu-ray on April 10, 2018.

Box office
Coming soon

Critical reception
The Incredible Hulk received generally positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 69% based on 232 reviews, with an average rating of 6.73/10, making the film a "Fresh" on the website's rating system. At Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 69/100, based on 38 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews".