He's appeared in comic books and on television, both as a live-action and animated series character. But oddly enough, the journey of "The Incredible Hulk" won't actually come full circle until "The Hulk" -- the big screen version of the character borne of the boundless imagination of writer Stan Lee -- hits theaters.
That's because the idea for the Marvel comic book character, which was fleshed out in 1962 by Lee's artistic collaborator, Jack Kirby, actually came from a film itself: the classic 1932 Boris Karloff monster movie, "Frankenstein."
"The whole purpose of 'The Incredible Hulk' was to do a monster who couldn't help being a monster, isn't really that bad and basically, is misunderstood -- just like I felt the Frankenstein monster was in the old Karloff movie," Lee told me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "I wanted to make him more empathetic and more three-dimensional, so it wasn't just a story about a monster running around issue after issue."
So, to add that extra dimension to the character, Lee, who is now 80, drew inspiration from another horror film, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
"I thought it would be fun to let him be somebody like Jekyll and Hyde, who changed from normal identity into the so-called monster and back again," Lee explained. "In the beginning he hates what's happening to him, but later on he almost enjoys being that monster because it's fun to have all that power. There's a little dichotomy there. I was trying to put a little psychology into it, just give the story an extra dimension."
Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen Lee's Hulk in a live-action setting. Over the course of 13 years starting in 1977, the late Bill Bixby played the conflicted hero Dr. Bruce David Banner in the television series (from 1978-1982) and in four television movies --while the ever-imposing Lou Ferrigno assumed the role of Banner's green alter ego. Eric Bana plays the role of Dr. Bruce Banner for the new feature film, while the Hulk will be completely computer-generated.
Letting Go
Following in the footsteps of "X-Men," "Spider-Man" and "Daredevil," "The Hulk" is the latest of Lee's babies -- and a very big one at that -- to be born into the world of feature films over the past three years. And while he's the proud parent of the Marvel family of characters, Lee said he hasn't suffered any sort of separation anxiety as they've each made their leap to the big screen.
"Actually, I let the Hulk and all of them go a long time ago," Lee told me. He said the characters started leaving his nest, essentially, when responsibilities grew at the company years ago.
"After awhile, other writers took over and I just was editing the stories," Lee explained. "Then, years later when I became the publisher and I spent most of my time traveling around promoting Marvel and so forth, I had pretty much let them go. I'm sort of used to it now, and luckily the people who've taken over with the Hulk and all those other characters have been incredibly competent and talented. For the most part, they have done a wonderful job."
Among those people are directors such as Bryan Singer, Sam Raimi and Mark Steven Johnson, who have all captivated audiences with their interpretations of "X-Men," "Spider-Man" and "Daredevil," respectively.
"I'm very lucky in that area," Lee enthused. "Either we have people writing and directing these things who have grown up with them, or we have people who have taken the trouble to learn what has made the characters popular to try to keep that element. Bryan Singer is one of those people -- he was not particularly a big comic book or 'X-Men' fan, but he took the trouble to study the books. I met with him, as did others, and by the time he was ready to do the show, he was pretty much involved in the 'X-Men' and knew all about them."
With "The Hulk," Lee said he was fortunate again to have filmmakers who were invested in the character's comic book history.
"Ang Lee was pretty much into the Hulk, as was the producer, Gale Anne Hurd," Stan Lee said. "James Schamus, who did the script, I believe was an old Hulk fan, too. So, you can't go wrong when you have that kind of situation."
Stan Lee has a great amount of respect for Ang Lee -- not only because of his storytelling prowess (the director's credits include "Sense and Sensibility," "The Ice Storm" and the international hit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), but also for his generosity as a person.
"I've got to tell you, I met Ang and I think we got kind of friendly," Stan Lee gushed. "He's one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. I mean, forget about how talented he is -- he's just a real decent, nice human being. I'm incredibly fond of him and I think we were so lucky to have him do the movie."
Like the previous films based on his comic book characters, Stan Lee said we could expect new twists for "The Hulk."
"We play up Banner's father (Nick Nolte), who's very important in this story," Lee said. "He was added to the history of the Hulk because I had never written about him. And I think it gives it a whole new dimension and you're going to be very surprised when you see what kind of person the father turns out to be."
Stan Lee: Film Star
Because Lee's the creative force in the Marvel universe, he's more than earned the title of executive producer on all of the films based on his characters. Surprisingly, though, when it comes to the actual filmmaking process, He doesn't spend a lot of time on the set.
"I go to the set when I'm asked to do a cameo and I meet the people," Lee said. "Very often, they'll send me the screenplay when they're about to start, so I can read it and be familiar with it, because they know I'll be doing interviews and I should have some idea what I'm talking about."
But other than that, Lee said he's pretty much "hands off " when it comes to the film being made.
"First of all, we have the top A-List writers, and the top A-list directors. And, we have Avi Arad from Marvel, who is producing on all of these things," Lee said. "He knows the characters as well as I do, so there's just no need for me to butt in."
Of course, for fans of the comic book maestro, the movies wouldn't be complete without a cameo. And for this film in particular, lifelong fans of the entire "Hulk" experience are in for treat: Lee said he appears in his cameo along with Ferrigno.
And savor the moment when you see him, folks. That's because Lee's policy is to appear in the initial films based on his characters, and not any of their sequels. After all, he needs the time -- he's got a lot