Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Avengers Assemble!: The Incredible Hulk (1996)

The Incredible Hulk returned to television in 1996, this time in a Sunday morning series airing on UPN. The series lasted two seasons, and the second put more emphasis on the She-Hulk, aka Bruce Banner's cousin, Jennifer Walters.

A bit about Jennifer before we continue. She was introduced in 1980 in her own series, without so much as a backdoor pilot in cousin Bruce's own book. By the time she made it to television in the 1982 Incredible Hulk series, she already had been established as one of the hottest heroines in comics. By the mid-90's, she'd grown pretty comfortable in her emerald skin, such that she was locked into it, rather than change back to her mousy self. Jen was a lawyer by trade, and according to the comics, it was ol' Brucie that gave her a transfusion of his gamma-irradiated blood, which led to Jennifer becoming She-Hulk. She's logged time with both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, just like Hulk himself.

Following is the intro:



Talk about eclectic casting. Neal McDonough voiced Banner, while Lou Ferrigno reprised his live-action role as Hulk. Cree Summer was the voice of Jennifer Walters. Shadoe Stevens (Dave's World, ex-Fender Bender 500, American Top 40, Hollywood Squares) was cast as Dr. Leonard Samson.

Rating: B.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

I caught a few eps of this show and it wasn't half bad. I thought it was hilarious when Jennifer would become She Hulk and act so devil may care!

The one thing that did bug me about her and Bruce's relationship was when Bruce mentioned that he considered Jennifer his soulmate and it made me think he kind of had a crush on his cousin. I know kissin' cousins are not unheard of even today, but it still squicked me out!

I thought it was fitting that Lou Ferrigno was Hulk's voice in this version. Talk about coming full circle!

hobbyfan said...

A flaw in the writing, considering that a part of the show's dynamic was Bruce's relationship with on-again-off-again girlfriend (and wife in the comics) Betty Ross.

It'll be interesting to see if Hulk gets spun into a new solo series this time in the wake of the Avengers movie......