Hulk may be one of Marvel's most popular characters, but he's been given very few standalone live-action adaptations. The character was brought to life in the '70s with The Incredible Hulk. Decades later, he received his own feature film with Ang Lee's Hulk, which starred Eric Bana. Five years later, he was the subject of another solo movie, this time starring Edward Norton: The Incredible Hulk, one of the first installments in the MCU.
After that, the MCU's Bruce Banner was recast with Mark Ruffalo, who debuted in 2012's The Avengers and to this day continues playing the character in ensemble films. Indeed, Hulk adaptations are few and far between, but you want to know something cool? Between The Incredible Hulk TV series and Ang Lee's Hulk, there was a short fan film that came out in May of 2003 (Note: The month is not confirmed): Project Gamma.
The film—which recently resurfaced on X—was made in France by director David Sarrio, and it is a mixture of exciting, unnerving and downright disturbing. In short, it is a perfect horror-tinged take on the character. Check it out:
I've been a Hulk fan for a long time, and one aspect I appreciate about the character is how unnerving he can be. The Hulk is, at his core, a beastly figure. Heroic, yes, but his story is perfectly suited for creative and eye-popping body horror. This short delivers all of that. Most impressively, however, is the fact that its horror elements aren't limited to the physical kind. It also features elements of psychological horror, showing Bruce Banner trapped in a virtual reality, as a scientists plays the role of his romantic partner in order to get pivotal information from him.
The effects are, admittedly, quite crude, but we have to put things into perspective for this. Project Gamma was made in 2003—22 years ago. At the time, the filmmakers behind the project did not have the tools that make fan-created content somewhat affordable today. There was no AI and no readily accessible CGI unless you had significant resources.
This is, without exaggeration, a remarkable adaptation of the Hulk. The fact that it wasn't an officiailly licensed project from Marvel and was instead brought to life by fans, at a time when creating something like it was no easy feat, makes it all the more remarkable.
For the past few years, the Hulk has understandably been treated like a blockbuster-headlining superhero rather than a horror creature to be feared. It's a great approach that stays true to many iterations of the character from the comics. However, we've never had an official adaptation that fully embraces his horror roots, which is what ultimately makes Project Gamma such a fascinating take on the character.
Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner and the Hulk will return to live-action in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, swinging into theaters on July 31, 2026.
What did you think about Project Gamma? Do you have a favorite superhero fan film? Drop your thoughts in the comments!