Home
Superhero Store
Members Area
Learn How
Media
Community
Classifieds
CBM Master List
joshw24 Home : News : Videos : Pictures : Polls : Contact

Louis Letterier Reminisces About The Incredible Hulk

The director shares his thoughts on what it was like to make the movie and what he would have done with more time...

Follow Josh:
View CBM Profile Follow on Facebook Follow on Twitter Follow on Google
By Josh Wilding - 3/30/2010
This from MTV's Splash Page:



"You come in as a director and you have ideas, and it's tough," Leterrier told MTV News. "What Edward and I understand, but have a problem accepting because I'm passionate about it and so is Edward, is when a producer says no to an idea we have that is expensive or time-consuming and might not end up in the movie because it's really a member-driven business."

"If we'd had more time with Edward and hadn't been pushed, 'Hulk' could have been a little... fatter — but it was just fast, fast, fast, fast. Next time, I'll take my time, I'll workshop, get all the actors in the room, get in the studio, do my thing, so at least the movie that is on the screen is what we actually want."

"Norton really likes 'Hulk,' and I love 'Hulk,'" he said. "I think it's a great movie."
Source: MTV Splash Page
DISCLAIMER: This article was submitted by a volunteer contributor who has agreed to our code of conduct. ComicBookMovie.com is protected from liability under "safe harbor" provisions and will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. For expeditious removal, contact us HERE.
11
LIKE!
47 Comments
DCMarvelFreshman - 3/30/2010, 8:47 AM
Awesome find josh. Wow Marvel has to give Louis either another Hulk or The Avengers, with all this talking hes been doing lately. Him & Edward
JoshWilding - 3/30/2010, 8:58 AM
MF: Thanks man! :) I loved The Incredible Hulk so it would be great to see what he could do with even more time! Fingers crossed he gets The Avengers first though!

Guys, check out my STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED Fan Cast!!! Just click the link!!!
DCMarvelFreshman - 3/30/2010, 9:00 AM
@josh You and me both.
BmanHall - 3/30/2010, 9:01 AM
"Next time"

Gasp! The Incredible Hulk... 2!?!? XD
WolvieCBM - 3/30/2010, 9:03 AM
Nice find @Josh! I would really like to see another Marvel film directed by Louis.
FateSucks - 3/30/2010, 9:07 AM
I really like this guy. He has a great attitude, passion and he's humble.
OdinsBeard - 3/30/2010, 9:07 AM
IMO The Incredible Hulk is better than Iron Man.

it had better action scenes/fights and built up to a great crescendo unlike Iron Man. which i think was very anti-climactic. don't get me wrong i love IM but just think the fact that "HULK" left a bad taste in people's mouths coupled with the other CBM releases of that summer made people look down upon it for some reason.

i think TIH was a great movie!
Paulley - 3/30/2010, 9:09 AM
"Next time"

yayayayayayayayayayayayayahahahahahha
MrSuperheromoviefan - 3/30/2010, 9:29 AM
Louis Letterier is great director.
BmanHall - 3/30/2010, 9:33 AM
@ OdinsBeard: I agree. Iron Man was good. The Incredible Hulk was awesome. But I think Iron Man 2 will be better than both.
OdinsBeard - 3/30/2010, 9:35 AM
Bman@ Absolutely!
Paulley - 3/30/2010, 9:40 AM
im still hoping they release a directors cut of The Incredible Hulk... that would be nice way to promote a second movie.
rolanddeschain - 3/30/2010, 9:47 AM
bman,& odinsbeard@ I agree with both of you, I would only say that, imo, Thor is gonna blow the doors off all of them when it comes out, and I mean that in an all cbm fanboys win kind of way. this years lineup is gonna be sick!
BIGBMH - 3/30/2010, 9:47 AM
I really liked Incredible Hulk. It was on about the same level as Ironman IMO. I really feel like if the Ang Lee Hulk never happened, this one would have done better numbers.
Hulk Opening Weekend:$62.1
Incredible Hulk Opening Weekend:$55.4 million
Incredible Hulk had a smaller opening number, but went on to outgross its predecessor. I think that people said "Another Hulk movie? But the last one sucked." and just didn't give it as much of a chance. Whereas Ironman was more of a "Hey, what's this? That looks pretty cool!"
I'm really curious about these ideas that Norton and Letterier had that didn't make it into the movie.
OdinsBeard - 3/30/2010, 9:55 AM
princenamor@ Thor is going to blow the doors off of every movie ever made.

comparing it only to CBMs is just unfair to all CBMs.

:)
rolanddeschain - 3/30/2010, 9:56 AM
totally agree, bro
slimybug - 3/30/2010, 9:57 AM
So is this him basically admitting that Incredible Hulk totally went lax on character development and denoument?
Ryden - 3/30/2010, 10:02 AM
NEXT TIME?1?!!? Hellz Yeah!!! :D

Incredible Hulk 2 damn-it!!

Incredible Hulk is one of the greatest CBM's out there, make a [frick]ing sequel already! After Avengers is perfect!
gtrman - 3/30/2010, 10:05 AM
Sounds to me like him basically admitting that if there weren't time and budget constraints, the movie would have been better and longer.
MSJuggalo - 3/30/2010, 10:30 AM
@OdinsBeard and those who agree.

I can understand why some would say they like TIH better than IM. but here is what you have to keep in mind folks. IM had to actually tell the story from the beginning. TIH was able to skip the foundation of the story cause it was done with HULK. they were able to set aside the explanation of how Bruce ended up where he was. They just picked up and coninued with the next part of the story. IM2 may be better than both as it too can now set aside more of the story's foundation and move on same as TIH did.

I have personally avoided as much IM2 previews as I can. I've learned that watching too many trailers and etc cause me to have too high of expectations of a movie and I end up being mire dissappointed in the end.
ATOMbomb - 3/30/2010, 10:33 AM
Loved Hulk..it would be awesome to have a sequel. This guy should do The Avengers. I think he would do a great job.
Ryden - 3/30/2010, 10:35 AM
@MSJuggalo- Um no. Nothing in the Incredibe Hulk was estabished in HULK because those movies have nothing to do with each other. TIH decided to just begin with Hulk already established, it's not a sequel to HULK in any way.

Ed Norton and Louis Letterier both said that if it was a sequel they wouldn;t have done it, it's a reboot. Kevin Fiege said Ang Lee's HULK is a stand-alone story, TIH is the mainstream Hulk from the Marvel comics. Nothing to do with each other.
marvel72 - 3/30/2010, 10:46 AM
i want to see another two hulk films,his my second favorite marvel charactor.
second film HULK VS THE LEADER & THE ABOMINATION.
third film HULK VS WOLVERINE
simple.
Wadey09 - 3/30/2010, 10:46 AM
love the fact that he is confident on doing a sequel!
can't wait to hear more about this!!!!
great find @JOSHW!
MSJuggalo - 3/30/2010, 10:48 AM
Yes, you are correct Ryden. But my case still stands pretty firm (I think). With HULK getting way too drawn out, they decided to just touch up VERY breifly on how Bruce actually becomes the hulk and just went to the next stage in the story. But yes, it's more of a reboot rather than a sequel but they were able to approach it differently than IM, thus why I say it was better.
InTylerWeTrust - 3/30/2010, 11:03 AM
Give him TIH 2. Not Avengers, he is not the right guy for that job.
EpicMan - 3/30/2010, 11:13 AM
I still feal like hulk should have fought the army in a much broader specter.
supermarioworldE - 3/30/2010, 11:21 AM
Marvel cut so much out of TIH ,that the unused footage could make another whole movie.

It's sad. Ed and Louis were not given as much control over the final product as Favreau was given over Iron Man. TIH was a good movie, but it could have been much better. The one word that always comes to mind when I see TIH is "THIN". The movie had little feeling or depth to it. And the editing is just plain bad at times.

I think it's safe to say that Ed and Louis were screwed. It's no wonder why Lois wants to get another shot at doing a CBM so badly. He didn't get a chance to do it right the first time. And Ed is outright pissed about the whole matter. I don't blame him



Talontd - 3/30/2010, 11:24 AM
It's kinda dissapointing to hear MARVEL rushed him....especially with a property that was in jeopardy like THE HULK was!
Spock - 3/30/2010, 1:06 PM
That is so true, don't rush the movie.
Lycan10 - 3/30/2010, 1:07 PM
bring back Edward Norton for Hulk 2
LEEE777 - 3/30/2010, 1:30 PM
Great find @ JOSH!!!
GeekSexy - 3/30/2010, 1:36 PM
'The Incredible Hulk' was great, except for the design of the Abomination. That bugged the Hell out of me. I think it's going to bug me just as much seeing tiny little Cheadle in the War Machine armor. In the Senate hearings he looks a kid at the adults table, but he's supposed to be the same size as Stark to fit into the same armor. Terrance Howard's presence will be missed.
1chris2 - 3/30/2010, 2:04 PM
i hope he does a sequel to the hulk with leader in it ryker,and more abomination,and maybe even she-hulk. and if he favrue does not do the avengers he lettier should and have hulk in that to.
canadianturd - 3/30/2010, 2:30 PM
I bet Marvel recognizes his enthusiasm with Edward Norton and Sam Worthington behind him. Jon Favreau is producing and I think they would love to work together on this.

Go Louis!
Maculis - 3/30/2010, 4:21 PM
if it were up to me, I say let them re-release TIH this summer. The unedited version. I'd pay to go see that. It's similar to what james cameron is doing with avatar or george lucas with the star wars trilogy. Just bring it back to select theaters may in imax as well. and let's see it they way letterier and ENJ wanted it.
BillyBlack - 3/30/2010, 4:29 PM
Only one on the thread that thought Incredible Hulk was an absolute mess? I guess so. The way everyone is gushing over that dimp is rather surprising. Absolutely no character development, mostly bland acting, and quite frankly not a big fan of his directing style. Say what you want about Ang Lee's movie. All the characters were deeply laid out and the performances reflected that. Character by character, every performance was better in Lee's movie. Liv Tyler was an embarrassment and should return the money she got for her "acting" in that tripe. Letterier is over-hyped. Let's hope he doesn't fk up Clash. Not hopeful when I see his name attached to anything.

BTW this is like the 15th article I've seen on here with him talking about his experiences on Hulk. Seriously, move on dude. It was 2 damn years ago, and it wasn't that good. Make a decent movie and maybe someone will trust you with a sequel.
OdinsBeard - 3/30/2010, 5:54 PM
Billy@ yeah man i see what you are saying about the character development. contrasting it with iron man you can really see tony change as the movie progresses. they didn't really make room for that in TIH. but that could just be because the story of The Hulk and Bruce Banner really doesn't lend itself very well to character growth. i'm not trying to refute your argument - just pointing out why it's true. i was trying to think about if i were to make a hulk movie what kind of journey would i have Banner go on? and i really couldn't come up with one. short of killing himself or the getting rid of the hulk for good where can he really go? he'll always be on the run, he'll always be trying to suppress the hulk, eventually he could learn to "control" the hulk, but then it's not really "hulk". everyone watched the old tv series - everyone saw ang lee's movie - so there's no need to tell the origin. so the question is: where does banner go from here? not the hulk, mind you - his story is easy and fun - but what the f do you do with bruce banner?

Planet Hulk tho... thats a whooooooole different story:)

but i can tell you that the reason i liked TIH is because i just FELT like i was watching the hulk's story play out. i thought it was one of the best pure adaptations that have come around.
weapon925 - 3/30/2010, 6:39 PM
Not a fan of the casting for Betty or GEN Ross. I liked Ang Lees more primal fighting style for the Hulk. But I liked it over all. Would it have been so bad to have the Hulk resemble Ed a little like he did for Bana.
GUNSMITH - 3/30/2010, 6:41 PM
I SAY GIVE HIM MORE TUME, MORE MONEY AND ALLOW THEM TO GET THEIR IDEAS OUT INSTEAD OF STUDIOS WATERING OR CHANGING UP THINGS TO GET THE DOLLAR BILLS...
Juskool2000 - 3/30/2010, 7:50 PM
I agree, the studios should give him the freedom to create a work of art and not just another movie.
Scorpioxfactor - 3/30/2010, 7:50 PM
Josh--Sounds like Letterier is hoping to get back in the seat for the next Hulk film and make it count.
History has shown that sequels can be great, some examples include "Wrath of Kahn", "Batman, The Dark Knight", "Superman II", "Spidey II" and "ROTF". But then some movie sequels sucked goose eggs ie "Ghostbuster II", "The Mask II",
"Teen Wolf II", "Speed II" "Three men and a little Lady" (Oh wait, that movie was alright in retrospect, but it wasn't a comic book movie.) You never know Josh, you never know.

BillyBlack - 3/30/2010, 8:13 PM
Odins and Rickly

I didn't have any problem with him not doing the origins again, or even the base elements of the story they did. Hunting the Hulk for his blood is a time tested storyline that can be done very well. I thought the acting across the board was very sub par, even Norton was flat IMO. And I place that soley at the director's feet. I guess with all the complaints about the pace of Lee's film I expected to hit the ground running with a nice Hulk smash scene to start off the movie. I mean fk it, that's what it was all supposed to be about this time, right? But they strung it along just as much anyway, even without the burden of telling an origin story. I just think they could've made a better movie. Whether it was the studio or Letterier or both, something went wrong. And it appears, in his 58th statement of the year on the topic, Letterier also believes he could've made a better movie. Directors don't typically come out and say things like that unless they are less than satisfied with the results. I hope you guys are right and he hits Clash out of the park. Nothing would make me happier. What has he done that was really good? Transporter? TIH? He just hasn't earned my support yet.
BillyBlack - 3/30/2010, 9:30 PM
Absolutely Anil

I'm not saying there weren't things to like about TIH. All the Hulk footage was awesome. I loved the final battle with the Abomination, thought that was exactly the thing Lee's movie was missing. I like Norton, I agree he's done some amazing work. But it was obvious he wasn't the old Eddie. Maybe his film would fix what I found lacking in it. Alas, we'll never know. I heard around the campfire Marvel won't do a director's cut. Man everyone has been raving about Marvel studios around here for a while. Seems to me like they dropped the ball on this one, but I could be wrong. I'm interested to see how Thor does. That will be my measuring stick for Marvel Studios.
ub3r - 3/31/2010, 2:53 AM
incredible hulk was awesome. by far one of my favorite cbms. i support this director all the way. this man has vision. go letterier!
Generaldarkside1976 - 3/31/2010, 8:40 AM
I thought the Hulk was a very good movie in its own right, I thought the only problem with it was Iron Man was SOOO good. In fact if any own the special edition Hulk with the deleted scenes its too bad all those parts didn't make it into the movie because it really added a lot of depth to the story, and background to the government side of the story. Made you understand Ross more. (I m talking about the parts other than the alternate opening!)
11viking11 - 3/31/2010, 9:39 AM
Leterrier@ "If we'd had more time with Edward and hadn't been pushed, 'Hulk' could have been a little... fatter — but it was just fast, fast, fast, fast".

that's why I like this guy, he understands the bottom of these problems about running comicbook movies: the noob fingers of Studio's puppeteers, pointing, fussing, snapping and rushing up good works. That's what happened to x-men and F.F (in this case B. Singer and Tim Story where both sellout puppets).

PS: if Joe Johnson is gonna be a sellout puppet too, then forget about who will be playing captain america.

Please log in to post comments.

Don't have an account?
Please Register.

.