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Poster Analysis Introduction Considering that the Hulk has once again become a household name thanks to Mark Ruffalo’s performance it is amazing to believe that many people tend to forget that Edward Norton gave his own spin on Bruce Banner and the green goliath shortly after Iron Man entered the cinema. At the time it was unclear if it was an actual reboot of the franchise or an actual continuation of Ang Lee’s Hulk. Ironically there is a much closer connection between this film and the original TV show by the same name starring Bill Bixby. Still, the marketing department had some very interesting ideas with the posters for this film, which sadly weren’t all used for the actual release.
At the time, the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe was still a concept so each film in Phase 1 were designed individually. Yet there were some thematically similarities between the two franchises. Both Iron Man and Hulk are creations of their respective human counterpart, while one was created in a desperate situation while the other was to uncover the human potential. Both Stark and Banner were directly influencing the existence of these characters, as a contrast to Thor, who was simply born as an Asgardian, and Captain America, who participated in an experiment. Hulk represents Banners inner rage that simply reacts on instinct to protect him from danger, while Iron Man is an actual armor protecting Stark’s fears of the world that not even his ego could deny. Especially in Iron Man 3 this becomes apparent that since the events of New York, as a human he feels vulnerable.
Poster Analysis The original poster is actually one of my personal favorite design choices. Hulk was heavily inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which is pushed into the foreground through this poster. With a strong emphasis on not the Hulk, which would seem to be the main drive for the film it actually pushes Dr. Bruce Banner into the foreground. Further cementing its strong inspiration from the original television show by having him wandering alone down an empty road. It is quite clear that this Banner has been on the run for quite some time but not only from those that seek to harm him but more because he is seeking control over his inner demon. In a way he was forced down this road, but at the very same time there seems to be evidence that he chose to do so as well. The Hulk seems to take over as a shadow behind him, maybe even protecting him from the tanks and helicopters hidden in on the sides. There is a strong duality between these two characters and it was a nice touch to try and keep the complete design of the Hulk a slight mystery as in the film we do not truly get to see him until much later in the film.
And then they decided to sway away from the original concept and simply bank on what would regularly sell the movie, the Hulk. Personally, I loved the mystery angle as it keeps the monster in the shadow and allowing a much stronger focus on how much the life of Bruce Banner has changed since the incident. Even if I personally would have preferred a different direction I do understand why this was the follow up. Ang Lee’s film had quite a lack of action so they are trying to prove that this time around when the Hulk wants to smash, he will smash. The main point to any film is to sell tickets and understandably what people truly wanted to see was some incredible action scenes featuring the green goliath, which it did manage.
Left at the Drawing Board What astounds me is that so many posters seem to have been created but were never published. Even more, these are quite some interesting design choices made that either are quite similar to those of Iron Man, which could show that the original plans were to publish the MCU connection shortly after the film was released. Interesting to think that they had the designs ready but decided against publishing them accordingly. The background design keeps the Hulk in the shadows but interestingly Blonsky seeks past his shoulders. Even comic book veterans would have a hard time recognizing him as the Abomination, but it does finally show us we will get an actual monster on monster battle rather than him fighting mutant dogs as in the original. The other reverses these traits having Abomination more of a central role to further cement the idea of a monster battle. The helicopter further cements how the government is chasing down Bruce and that there is no place he is safe. While both feature Banner prominently in the front, one of them actually shows us the rampage of Hulk with a mass of people behind him. Either this shows the chaos of his existence or the origin tale of an unlikely hero, as people gathers behind the Hulk taking his side for saving them. Also I like the nod of keeping the actual Blonsky apart from his transformation to keep a second secret from the unsuspecting audience.
Lastly, there is a rather interesting poster that references one of the originals Japanese posters from Ang Lee’s original. Considering the theme of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it is a rather simple yet unique choice. The poster is broken down in a few shots of Banner in pain, slowly transforming into the “monster”. What is strange though is that while one of them shows a change of muscles building up and his screen turning a dark green, Norton’s transformation is rather simple. Probably as they didn’t have the costs to fully animate his change, but it still works quite effectively. You feel the pain and dismay he must endure when his body is slowly being taken over by a third party. Why they chose to debunk this poster, as it may be the most effective next to the first one I mentioned. While it does feel a bit cheap it is understandable that it was left on the drawing board and given enough time as well as effort it might have been a great way to catch one’s curiosity.
Conclusion Sadly, of all these posters only two were published while one certainly had caught my attention the day I watched it in the cinema at release. It is always interesting to see what type of designs make it out of the office and which fall behind only to be seen if they accidently are leaked online. Sometimes those that are left behind are the most intriguing or offer quite some intrinsic design ideas. Why only ideas? Well, most of these are dropped either for budgetary reasons or are simply never truly finished before the film is released. Could the discarded posters have boost sales of the film? As it is quite difficult to determine there is always the possibility it could have raised it slightly but it probably wouldn’t have left much of an impact. Posters simply possess a rather specific feature, which functions in two distinct ways. In the beginning it functions to grab attentions towards the existence of a film even before the first teaser is released. Its second function is to remind the audience of its existence, also the reason why some companies tend to publish plenty of posters with slight alterations. The Incredible Hulk seemed rather slim in the marketing department, as the only two published posters I could find were those I reviewed above. I also only heard of the movie shortly before release, which caught me off guard but did not keep me from watching the film in the local cinema. Shows that their main focus was on Iron Man, strangely considering that he was rather unknown at release while Hulk already had some screen presence. It seems that some old wounds were simply avoided before it they would reflect too strongly on the end product.