James Schamus Discusses The Sequel To Ang Lee's HULK That Never Happened

James Schamus Discusses The Sequel To Ang Lee's HULK That Never Happened

James Schamus, the co-writer on Ang Lee's Hulk, briefly discussed the sequel that never got the greenlight. Hit the jump to check it out!

By BobbyDrakeApproaches - Sep 19, 2014 09:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Hulk
Source: FilmDivider.com

Hulk, directed by Ang Lee, was not well received by fans, and it was also a box office flop. Nevertheless, a sequel was in the works at one point, and one of the writers of the original film, James Schamus, recently sat down with Film Divider to talk about it. "I started on Hulk 2, and then quickly decided before anybody made the phone call that I’d make the phone call and say, “You know what, I’m actually working on a little something something and I’ve got to think about studying for my Bar Mitzvah so we’ll move on.”" Schamus does not explain why he did not want to work on the film, but he went on to add, "And so that was fine, but I had a really cool idea and it was on like a Native American reservation and it was all about radioactivity and it was really political and like, that would have been awesome." What do you think of Schamus' brief description? Is this a movie you would like to see? Sound off in the comments!

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Pasto
Pasto - 9/19/2014, 9:52 AM
Ata' boy Bobby, ata' boy.
BobbyDrakeApproaches
BobbyDrakeApproaches - 9/19/2014, 9:53 AM
Thanks, @Pasto! If you don't mind me asking, why do you keep changing your name?
GinjaNinja
GinjaNinja - 9/19/2014, 9:54 AM
that would be horrible...
Pasto
Pasto - 9/19/2014, 9:56 AM
@BobbyDrakeApproaches
.............

Never ask the impossible....
KilledHal9000
KilledHal9000 - 9/19/2014, 9:57 AM
Does anyone remember the first Incredible Hulk teaser trailer were just panned over a forest?
SoundWave
SoundWave - 9/19/2014, 10:00 AM
This movie was totaly awesome and have the best COMIC BOOK style in it's visual: picture separating, picture in picture and etc. One of the most amazing and exellent comic book movies ever made! Brilliant masterpiece!
Highflyer
Highflyer - 9/19/2014, 10:03 AM
I still prefer The Incredible Hulk. Turned me into a hardcore hulk fan.
SuperCat
SuperCat - 9/19/2014, 10:07 AM
Movie wasn't that bad. Wasn't the worst CBM I've seen.

Bekss
Bekss - 9/19/2014, 10:10 AM
@SoundWave
Agree, the style of the movie was amazing.

Also the Hulk's portrayal was great, they showed that he was good and had real feelings.
The scene were he jumps in the jet to save it is great IMO.
I don't like it that much but it has some good parts.
Brainiac13
Brainiac13 - 9/19/2014, 10:10 AM
Sound crap...

I'm glad we got TIH.....one of my favourites from the McU.
Brainiac13
Brainiac13 - 9/19/2014, 10:11 AM
#Sounds
yossarian
yossarian - 9/19/2014, 10:13 AM
I don't remember anything about this movie other than Hulk using a tank turret as a hammer, which is probably the single most badass thing in the history of badass things.
GinjaNinja
GinjaNinja - 9/19/2014, 10:14 AM
movie was so bad... this sequel sounds even worse
Bekss
Bekss - 9/19/2014, 10:18 AM
ALegendaryPanda
ALegendaryPanda - 9/19/2014, 10:27 AM
Such a boring, piece of shit movie. Thank god it never got a sequel
sKeemAn
sKeemAn - 9/19/2014, 10:39 AM
I thought visually it was awesome. The screen panels scenes were great IMO. For its time Hulk didnt look too bad. He was cartoony but the scene with him in the desert is one of the best.
DrKinsolving
DrKinsolving - 9/19/2014, 10:51 AM
Happy it never got made.

I liked TIH and I want more.... @GliderMan I definitely agree, I'm really want to see a Ruffalo-Hulk stand alone movie
DrKinsolving
DrKinsolving - 9/19/2014, 10:53 AM
@Scorpion8125

YES to a Iron Man/HULK team-up movie, that would be awesome
TheBeard
TheBeard - 9/19/2014, 11:50 AM
this movie is right up there with green lantern and fox-men origins for being complete shit
TheRationalNerd
TheRationalNerd - 9/19/2014, 12:24 PM
Hulk gets way too much hate man, it's an innocent pleasure of mines. I appreciated it for what it was at the time when it was made. Bana would have been a great Bruce Banner in the MCU.
AlternateNo4
AlternateNo4 - 9/19/2014, 12:56 PM
love HULK articles because they help me figure out who the idiots are on this site. such as anyone that says it sucked.
Snotzo
Snotzo - 9/19/2014, 5:17 PM
James "Scam-us" huh? Sound like a charlatan. You spelled it right everywhere but in the title heading.
MediaMan
MediaMan - 9/19/2014, 5:20 PM
The fight scene in the desert was great. It was Jack Kirby comic book come to life. And the transformation scene back to Banner in San Francisco was also great.

But overall... lame movie. The whole plot with "dad & mom" was beyond horrible, and utterly unnecessary.
BloodyHell
BloodyHell - 9/19/2014, 5:24 PM
IMO this is better than TIH and Bana is a better Bruce than Norton
BobbyDrakeApproaches
BobbyDrakeApproaches - 9/19/2014, 6:58 PM
@Snotzo That was typo, but it's pretty funny when you put it like that. Anyway, I fixed it.
Optimist18
Optimist18 - 9/20/2014, 12:02 AM
@SoundWave,

You couldn't be more RIGHT. :)

As for the description, it's simultaneously terrible and intriguing. Terrible because Jimmy here has an ADD vagueness, let's get it over with kinda attitude going on. Intriguing because of "Native American reservation", "radioactivity", and "political". All tantalizing pieces of info if you remember the style of the first film, but these parts don't really add up to a clear whole.
Optimist18
Optimist18 - 9/20/2014, 12:17 AM
@MediaMan,

"The whole plot with "dad & mom" was beyond horrible, and utterly unnecessary."

I guess you're selective with your comic book reading, because I did some research, and aside from a tweak here and there, Lee basically told the Brian Banner story from the comics beat for beat.

Ultimately, the problem with Lee's "Hulk" is a little bit of being ahead of its time, and being too serious. I say ahead of its time because, despite the overhaul in the special effects seen in comic book movies (and the exception of Bryan Singer's first "X-Men"), audiences at the time still thought of CBMs as popcorn fluff. Still do, if you really think about it. And I also say too serious, because, as wonderfully layered, and dramatic as the story with David Banner is, it's a type of character relationship that is largely foreign to CBMs, which are largely perceived as fun.

The Hulk is an enormously popular character, but seeing as he's of the Marvel brand, a bit of tongue-in-cheek lightness is expected of him. While Lee's film, and select comic books, have shown how a serious, psychological take on the Green Goliath can work, at the end of the day, the Hulk is a large green man who's best known for smashing crap when he's pissed. While people really dig the idea, they still realize that it's totally ridiculous. Which is why Hulk will probably spend the remainder of his current cinematic career as the muscle of "The Avengers".
EarOne
EarOne - 9/20/2014, 12:37 AM
thank God THAT never happened. oh the horror...the horror...
McGee
McGee - 9/20/2014, 12:40 AM
@SuperCat


MediaMan
MediaMan - 9/20/2014, 6:29 AM
@Optimist18,

"I guess you're selective with your comic book reading, because I did some research, and aside from a tweak here and there, Lee basically told the Brian Banner story from the comics beat for beat."

That's nice, but that clearly wasn't the story audiences wanted to see. My guess is a Bruce, not Brian, Banner story would have worked really well.

And it's not that the movie was too far ahead of its time, or that it didn't have enough humor as per a Marvel brand (which did not yet then exist) - it simply isn't a good movie. It has its moments, but overall, it doesn't really work.
Optimist18
Optimist18 - 9/20/2014, 2:17 PM
@MediaMan

All audiences wanted to see was Hulk smash shit, because the vast majority of the general audience are IDIOTS. Also, much like everyone was familiar with the 60's Batman show before Batman 89 came out, most everyone was familiar with the 70's TIH show before Lee's film. We got the ADD, horribly edited TIH with Norton, and it still didn't work, not only because of the fact that it was too soon after Lee's and thought to be a sequel, but because it was also too depressing.

It's fine that you find that the movie doesn't work. You're right, at least when it comes to everyone. But a movie doesn't have to appeal to EVERYONE to be GOOD. And like I said before, CBMs were (and still largely are) perceived as popcorn fluff. Because "Hulk" took itself too seriously in such a climate, that's why it didn't work.
Optimist18
Optimist18 - 9/20/2014, 2:21 PM
@MediaMan,

Also, Marvel was a brand long before they had their own movie studio. ;)
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