The Weekly Planet - Hulk (2003) - Caravan Of Garbage

Episode Date: September 29, 2022

In 2003 Ang Lee made a valiant attempt at bringing the Hulk to life like we'd never seen before. With the casting of Eric Bana and groundbreaking CGI technology the Hulk was both bigger and greener than ever before. And at the end of the day it's pretty weird but also good but also boring but also interesting. Probably other things also. Thanks for listening to our Caravan Of Garbage review!SUBSCRIBE HERE ►► http://goo.gl/pQ39jNVideo Edition ► https://youtu.be/oR2d6UNw0AgHelp support the show and get early episodes ► https://bigsandwich.co/Patreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesJames' Twitter ► http://twitter.com/mrsundaymoviesMaso's Twitter ► http://twitter.com/wikipediabrownPatreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesT-Shirts/Merch ► https://www.teepublic.com/stores/mr-sunday-movies The Weekly Planet iTunes ► https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-weekly-planet/id718158767?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 The Weekly Planet Direct Download ► https://play.acast.com/s/theweeklyplanetAmazon Affiliate Link ► https://amzn.to/2nc12P4 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The other, a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost. FX's The Veil, starring Elizabeth Moss, is now streaming on Disney+. I'll tell you what, Mason. You know this movie came out in 2003. I'm going to give you three big top reasons. Three big top reasons this movie came out in 2003. I'm going to give you three big top reasons. Three big top reasons this movie came out in 2003. Welcome to Caravan of Garbage. Leave a like.

Nanomites. Nanomedes, James. Sorry. It was all nanotechnology, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like, what if a nanomite rebuilt a whatever? What if a nanomite was a virus? Well, again, we're in that era.

We're in that X-Men, the first run of X-Men movies era where nobody could quite commit to the concept of wit. We're taking comic books. We're taking them to the big screen. You can't just go, we're talking about Hulk, by the way, Hulk 2003. Oh, do you think maybe they might know that from the title and thumbnail, Mason? No, some people disassociate in the first five seconds. All right then.

But they can't just go, yeah, he was hit by a gamma bomb explosion and now he's the Hulk. They had to go, okay well there's nanomeds and then there's a gamma exposure and then he was experimented on as a child. Starfish was cut up. That's part of it probably. Yeah, he's actually Bruce Banner's father actually wants to achieve

regeneration and therefore immortality mostly through harvesting starfish milk. He wants to milk a bunch of starfish because that's where the power therefore immortality mostly through harvesting starfish milk. He wants to milk a bunch of starfish because that's where the power of immortality is. But you're right. Number one, nanomeds. You're right, nanomeds. Should I leave that bit of where your voice was bizarre? Yes, what happened there?

Number two, extended comic book opening sequence. Oh my god. But I guess this one, like you mentioned, it tells a story. It's like, what kind of animals is this guy milking? Starfish, mostly. And also dogs and that. and that raccoons are a raccoon in there i don't remember maybe but yeah the excessively long flying through dna slash doing science intro as was the style of the time i.e the sam raimi spider-man movies uh but this one has the addition of like that comic book font so you know i realized also i didn't have a third thing.

But I guess the third thing in this era is like still feeling out what a comic book movie is. Yes, that's right. You know, they were still taking a swing at like how do we put characters like this on screen? And with this direction, it was like we get the guy from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Eric Banner.

Eric Banner, that's right. Terrific choice, by the way, Ang Lee. I think that's that's as good as you're going to get at this era right and also

you know it's a character that in the comics you could do a deep dark kind of exploration of this character's psyche and you know

find out who he was and who he's going to be and whatever and what makes him tick but none of this works for me and I couldn't kind of I couldn't figure out why

interesting until I did figure out why. Interesting. Until I did figure out why. Oh, okay. You're not going to say that until the end? No, I'll do it now. Okay, great. So you know how you don't like the idea of, in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, that it's the decades, like 50 years of, well, not even at that point.

It was like 40 years of Spider-Man history, like crammed into one movie, the first one in particular, but it was mostly the misery. Yeah, so it sort of changes the thrust of the character. It changes the direction of the character, Spider-Man specifically, from like a happy-go-lucky kind of hard luck superhero who occasionally has something tragic happen to him

to a superhero whose tragedy is his absolute bread and butter. It happens to him all the time. So it sort of changes the characterization of that hero, and you're saying a similar thing happens with the Hulk here. Yeah, I think they lean too much into just trauma, just straight up, like, this guy's tortured, this guy, it's just all trauma all the way down. You cut the surface of this guy's brain in any which way.

Starfish blood comes out. Starfish blood comes out. Starfish blood comes out. I think you're probably right in the sense that for many... I mean, there's an element of it I should point out as well. Of course it is, right? A criticism that I had of this Hulk at the time was that the idea of the Hulk's identities being the result of sort of childhood abuse and trauma was a fairly recent addition to his his characterization in the comic books whereas you know for the decades prior it was just

he got hit by some gamma radiation and now he smashes stuff and he hates it and it felt to me like at the time it felt to me like well maybe in a sequel we could address that trauma and abuse, and that's some very heavy stuff. But in the first movie, maybe, I would just like to see a fun movie where he smashes helicopters and tanks and everyone shoots at him and et cetera. I mean, we get that, don't we? You know what?

I'll tell you what, James. I didn't like this at the time, but upon a rewatch, I liked it a lot. There's some good stuff in it. I'll tell you some good stuff about it, James. Okay. Firstly, it's got that same aesthetic as the Raimi Spider-Man movies. This is a negative. Which, when nothing looks sort of truly real or lived in,

like offices are sort of like... The weird military complex with a weird elevator in it. Yeah, like nothing looks kind of like... That's the aesthetic they sort of mastered in the MCU movies where everything does look like... Yeah, and the Dark Knight. Oh, definitely, yeah, yeah. And, you know, it is on purpose.

It's a comic book come to life. We're not, you know... Literally, in a lot of this. Yes, you're looking at this comic book universe, you've translated it to live action. It doesn't have to have every single real-life detail attached to it. And so, you know, I go back and forth

on whether that's a perfect encapsulation of a comic book or it annoys me. But I love the scene transitions in this. I like some of them. Well, I don't like, I don't like. This is transition city, mate. I know. I didn't like the one where the Hulk's arch nemesis, Glenn, is destroyed.

Glenn is destroyed by the hand grenade. That one's a little bit goofy. But I liked a lot of the kind of the, we're looking at multiple characters and they're appearing in multiple panels and there's characters on the phone and there's helicopters, you know helicopters trucking across the desert. I like the idea of it, this panel work put into a film. I understand it. I get the choice.

I understand the aesthetic. But I think it's done so much and I don't really think it adds too much when you see somebody standing somewhere and then you see them from a slightly different angle at the same time. And what is the point of this? You know what?

There's a couple of those that don't work. There's a scene where Sam Elliott's Thunderbolt Ross is talking to his daughter, played by... Liv Tyler. No, wrong one. The Lady from Labyrinth. Jennifer Connelly. Jennifer Connelly, thank you.

That's the most current reference I have. The Lady from Labyrinth. Not Top Gun Maverick. No, no, no. One of the highest grossing movies of all time. There's a scene where they're just having a conversation and some of the cuts are oddly jarring, but I think a lot of it totally works.

I think, though, the fact that we haven't ever really gone back to that proves to me that this is not something that's done effectively in this movie. I think it can be done. Okay. But I don't think this nails it. Here's the thing. I felt more thrilled about a lot of the scene transitions in this movie

than I do about a lot of visuals in current day MCU movies yeah there's some really fun choices and there's some wonderful shots of you know the Hulk and he's jumping you know through some rocky canyons or what have you and they look incredible yeah well that's exactly

I completely agree but apparently there were moments like there's an exchange between Eric Banner and Sam Elliott, and they did 150 takes just to get full coverage of this entire thing. Yeah, right. And I just think in a scenario like that, where it's a man with a moustache talking to a man without a moustache, maybe you don't need to do that.

Yeah, that's some very... That's Kubrick breaking a person. That's right. That's extremelyubrick that's a very person that's right that's extremely kubrick another thing that i i really like that i don't think i appreciate at the time in addition to those scene transitions there were some very incredible hulk tv series visuals just a lot of sudden like negative shots yeah where somebody's just like biting an electrical cable and all of a sudden the shot goes to black and white and then green and purple and negative. And I'm like, oof, that's some good stuff.

That's solid to the 70s slash the 80s. That was good fun. There's a few references to the 70s show. For one, Lou Ferrigno is actually in this with Stan Lee. His father is named David Banner, which is not in the comics, but of course, we've talked about that series before. He's David Banner in that Hulk series

instead of Bruce Banner. I also thought eric bannon was a great choice i mean he was pretty unknown for the time sounds pretty similar to the name that's exactly right and apparently he also said the mood on set during shooting was ridiculously serious and morbid and director angley explained to him that he was shooting a superhero tragedy and that that would be making a whole other movie about the hulk without him and i think one of the reasons that this movie falls down with some of the hulk stuff is because there is a huge disconnect between the nerd who shows up in the bike helmet who just he just feels like a blank-faced mannequin man and i love eric banner yeah and then it's like a guy who he was poiter he was poiter that's right and then it's like a guy who's... He was Poitier. He was Poitier. That's right. And then it's a guy who's... Everybody look up Poitier.

He was Ray Martin. He was Ray Martin. He was Ray Martin. I remember when he was Ray Martin. I remember all of this, Mason. So there's that. And then there's moments where he's like, I'm not very angry. And then he's like, I'm mad.

And then he's the Hulk. And I just think all of these things, they don't feel like one person. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think you're right and i think again you know i enjoy eric banner's work in pretty much everything but i think he was kind of pitched there's a line in it i think where where nick nolte as his father says of bruce he's unique that's why you can't relate to him and i remember thinking that's probably not the

best archetype of character to base a franchise around when you think about it a guy you can't relate to like he did feel and i i understand that the point of this character is that he was meant to be kind of unrelatable and kind of aloof he couldn't keep a relationship and yeah but maybe don't do that that's what i'm saying make a guy we like yeah yeah yeah but again he felt you know, I feel the dilemma here is you want a character who seems distant to those around him, but we can tell has a full inner life and we like him. Yes, and I think that's what's missing in this movie. I think you absolutely nailed that on the head, Mason,

if you don't mind me giving you a compliment for once. I'll take one. Anyway, do you know what it's time for? What's it time for? Hulk stats. Hulk stats. Hulk stats. Hulk stats.

Hulk stats. Yeah. Here's some Hulk stats, Mason. Oh, okay, cool. I want to talk about the look and how he moves and all of that, but this is a good warm-up, just doing Hulk stats. Hulk stats. So he weighs 3,452 pounds.

That's about 1,500 kilograms. That's very specific. For those people who like using the proper system of measurement his skin is 10 times as strong as Kevlar I don't know who that is but he sounds very strong I think that's one of Eric Banner's characters Kevlar

his feet are from Full Frontal James yes I know Full Frontal the sketch comedy TV series Full Frontal it could have also been from his own TV show the Eric Banner experience or whatever it was. His feet are 4 feet and 3 inches, as in 1.3 metres.

So if he wore shoes, that would be a US size 87. That's right. He can move at a top speed of 300 miles or 483 kilometres per hour and cross 3 to 4 miles or 4.8 to 6.4 kilometers in a single jump but i think how'd you get these figures internet movie database okay great so they could be entirely no it's all like behind the scenes yeah right it's interesting that they went with that i feel like there are a lot of a lot of superhero movies where they go you know what he's strong as he needs to be and he's fast as he needs to be and he's whatever size it doesn't matter if we need to make him smaller in a particular scene or bigger, whatever.

Just do it. Who cares? Yeah. I think you're absolutely right. But I think also you can definitely see the limitations of the technology in bringing this character to life. Speaking of, I've got a video on how the Hulk's evolved over time, like how he changes and whatever. I'll link it below if it's finished. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. But I think- Am I on that? Are you in the video? Yes. No. Huh. Do you want to be in it? Have you recorded already? Yes finished. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. But I think... Am I on that? Are you in the video? Yes. No. Huh.

Do you want to be in it? Have you recorded already? Yes. Oh, don't worry about it. I can put a picture in. Yeah, thanks. Or Matt can put a picture of you. Yeah, great.

But I think also, and they scale him down for the next one, which we'll talk about next week, he's too big and he feels too wide, especially in the head. He looks like a jujitsu. I feel like perhaps Ang Lee was going for more of a King Kong kind of sizing because there is a moment where he lifts Betty up and puts her in a car or something like that, and he does feel like just an enormous gorilla character,

and I think he is too big. That being said... He also gets bigger as the movie goes on. He does because he gets angrier. I feel a lot of the effects in this, even though they're not perfect, they still hold up. Yeah, I agree. There's moments where he gets hit with a gamma radiation,

but there's a moment where he goes through a bunch of sprinklers. The water coming off him. That looks really good. And there's a moment where he's been burrowing through the streets of San Francisco. He comes up and he's covered in oil and grime or what have you. That looks good. Yeah, I agree. And I think this is maybe a testament

to not overworking every visual effects production house in the world until they can't do good work anymore. Is that a particular comment on anything that's happening at the moment? No, it's just a random observation. Just bouncing around in your head, was it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree with all of that, but I also think that he doesn't look enough like Eric Bana. Oh, that's just a random observation. Just bouncing around in your head, was it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree with all of that, but I also think that he doesn't look enough like Eric Banner.

No, that's true. And he doesn't move like Eric Banner because Ang Lee did most of the motion capture for this. I talk about this in that video that you're not in. But I think that's a mistake, getting a guy who's not proportioned to like this, recording his movements, and then translating it to something

who looks like the aspect ratio on your TV is wrong. Right, yes. You know, I think now, obviously, you wouldn't do it this way because it doesn't quite gel. Like some of the movements and some of the running don't befit something that is of this size and proportion. Well, I think that's interesting, but I also think two things. Probably one, now they've just perfected that through an increase

and an advancement in the technology. They can make the Hulk look exactly like Mark Ruffalo because they've had two other iterations to kind of burn through and perfect that. And also I wonder if at the time perhaps Ang Lee wouldn't have expected Eric Banner to do any of that motion capture because only he knew, perhaps felt how he knew and wanted the character to move. I guess you're right in that they'd never...

FX's The Veil explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London. One woman has a secret, the other a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost. FX's The Veil, starring Elizabeth Moss, is now streaming on Disney+. Will you rise with the sun to help change mental health care forever? Join the Sunrise Challenge to raise funds for CAMH, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, to support life-saving progress in mental health care. From May 27th to 31st, people across Canada will rise together

and show those living with mental illness and addiction that they're not alone. Help CAMH build a future where no one is left behind. So, who will you rise for? Register today at sunrisechallenge.ca. That's sunrisechallenge.ca. That's sunrisechallenge.ca. I've never really built a character like this before. They'd obviously dabbled in CGI people here and there, but having something front and center using this technology,

it hadn't really been done. We'd obviously got bits of it in the Terminator and we've seen CGI creatures and whatever that Final Fantasy movie was where they made Ben Affleck in it. That's right. But yeah, I think you're right. Yeah, where he kind of he did the bit where he'd like he'd smash his hands on the ground and then turn green and then Eric Banner would go home presumably. Yeah, that's right.

And I mean, maybe that's, you know, a function of Ang Lee is more of an auteur than perhaps like a current crop of of superhero movie directors like a gun for hire yes like which is not a james gunn's not really a gun for hire no that's true but but just like he knows what he wants and he's going to make that happen whereas i think maybe like a you know a present day director would just be like well if he's the hulk get him to the hulk stuff yeah also what am I doing when you come to a project now like a superhero project a lot of those decisions about how that stuff is made and what that thing looks like is already done for you that's true either because the studio decide like designs it and you show up on the day you know and just go action I guess but you know if

you're doing a Hulk movie or show yeah yeah, you've, you've got action, I guess. Oh, it's all right. We already filmed it. You don't really need to be here. We filmed all the, we just,

you're just here to field all the questions and interviews about, about continuity. So I don't need you to film anything. Yeah. But like, if you're doing a Hulk movie or project, you've got the Hulk already. Your,

your creative choices and about what that looks like and how it's done have been decided for you anyways Nick Nolte's in it actually before we do that I was going to say also I forgot his rubbery the Hulk's rubbery I guess they needed

again it's one of those choices of like well we need to translate this to real life how is it the Hulk can how is it the bullets bounce off the Hulk he can jump so high, ah he must be rubbery like these days it'd just be like he can just jump because he's strong he's got big muscles but in this he's rubbery

I'm the director, I'm here to field the questions how does he jump? Ah he's strong, I don't know fuck off get out of here anyway Nick Nolte is Absorbing Man. You might have recognised this, but the infamous Nick Nolte mugshot that was taken during the filming of this, hence the long scraggly hair. So he grew that for this movie.

And now in that mugshot, he looks insane. Sure, yeah. Anyway, I want to get back to the finale and how they use the Absorbing Man. And they have since in other mediums. In the comic book universe, his name is Crusher Creel, I think. Yes. He was in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or something, wasn't he? Yeah, he was, yeah.

Anyway, Hulk dogs turn up and he punches one in the balls. I have written that. I've written he hits one of those Hulk dogs right in their dog nuts. Yeah. So this is why this partnership works so well together, James. We're always on the same page. We're always finishing each other's thoughts about Hulk punching someone in the dog nuts. We finish each other's dog nuts.

I think as mentioned, I think the action sequences are good as in they're clearly well thought out. It's clearly like you do one in the dark at the start where he busts out and he's kind of moving through the scientific facility. You do the Hulk-dog-nuts fight. You do the one in the desert where it's open and bright and it moves out of the facility into the desert and into the city. But I don't think there's enough in this to show that he's heroic or anything other than a force of nature. I think it's important to show more of he is a force for good,

whereas every kind of scenario that he's in, he'll save a pilot occasionally. But he's mostly just like, ha! And then running. What about that time he shook those soldiers out of that tank before he used the tank to kill another man? I just thought, it looked like he was just having fun. Also, I think there was a huge mistake

having his first transformation not be while he's being accosted by some truckers outside a bar. I think that's a classic. Bruce Banner turns into a Hulk and beats up a bunch of people. And I feel there was a missed opportunity there. Whereas in this, he just gets anxious in his lab. Yeah. And he smashes some stuff.

He certainly does, doesn't he? Shit finale, though. I mean... Yeah, I've got a note here. stuff. He certainly does, doesn't he? Shit finale, though. Yeah, I've got a note here. It says endings are hard, aren't they? They certainly are. It says endings are hard. I mean, I love the moment where they, for some reason, let Nick Nolte get close to him.

And Nick Nolte, he just goes off chops, mate. And it's interesting because before he goes in there, General Ross is like, if Eric Bowne is so much as twitches, just shoot him in the head or whatever. Now send in the guy that's guaranteed to make him twitch. Yeah. And he goes in and they're just doing a little stage play together. Yeah, right.

And he bites into the electricity. I think that's fun. You know, and watching him kind of morph into whatever the thing is he's touching. His electricity, his rocks, his water. That's some great effects, I think. But then he's a big cloud with a movie showing inside it. I'm thinking mostly of the point where he absorbs a chair, I think, and the paint turns his hand blue.

Oh, yeah, that's good stuff. He moves his hand across the chair. He's kind of melding into it T-1000 style. You know, I like that, but I'm saying it ends with, you want energy? Here's too much energy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Too much energy.

Yeah. Yeah, I have a note here that just says, oh, I forgot about the Hulk's dad plotline. Yeah. Because, again, I feel it ends pretty satisfactorily when he rampages across San Francisco and then he is lulled back to human form by the power of love. Yep. A song. Of the lady from Labyrinth.

Yeah. And then I'm like, oh, no, I forgot there's more of this. This is... I think we could have cut out most of the dad plot and put it into a sequel, honestly. Yeah, fair enough. Yeah. I mean, it does, of course, also end in the jungle

where Eric Bowne has a big fake beard and he's like, I'm doing good work in the jungle. You don't think that's a real beard? No. Wow. I think it's accurately coloured, though. Don't be naive. I don't think it is.

I think he'd have a darker beard. In addition to that, there's a frog on his hat, and I enjoy that. Sure, yeah. Probably means something. Metamorphosis? Well, I mean, he blew up that frog earlier. Yeah, he did, didn't he? So maybe this is him making amends and being truly heroic

by making that frog his friend. Yeah, he might be right. Overall, what did you think of this? It's interesting. Yes. But it's not great. Okay, what did you think of this? It's interesting. Yes. But it's not great. Okay. I think a lot of the choices, I think like you, I didn't like it at the time at all.

But revisiting it and again, like on that video, looking behind how it was made and the choices behind that and how they were going to go with an animatronic and all of these other things. I kind of like the ideas that they're going for. all of these other things. I kind of like the ideas that they're going for. And I also feel like you couldn't really make something like this now because it's too... Woke? Yeah, well, obviously, Mason, someone would find something woke about it and have a big cry.

But I think it's probably too cerebral for a property that you need to make $500 million with. Yeah, right. Look, for some of this rewatch, I appreciated the slow burn of it. Yeah. But then for some of the rest of it, I'm like, oh good, just a scene where Bruce is floating in a tank

and everybody just silently watches him on a monitor for a really long time. That's good, isn't it? Keep it moving. Some of this could be cut out. But overall, I have a much more positive experience of this movie than when I saw it in cinemas.

I will also say this, Mason. I love the Danny Elfman score. I think from the opening of this, it really feels, Mason, like a comic book score. Oh, yes. It makes me feel like I'm watching The Hulk, the movie, 2003. Nailed it, Danny Elfman. You've done it again.

Yeah. Anyway, it's time for green trivia. Oh. I just want to specify as well, this isn't called green trivia because it's Hulk-related. I already did to specify as well, this isn't called Green Trivia because it's Hulk related. I already did this months ago. Out of spite. It's pure coincidence.

I don't want people to think that this is some kind of section that I've catered specifically to this video. Yeah, what happened is somebody said, can you please stop calling it Green Trivia? And if there's one thing I know is don't tell James to stop doing something because he will never stop doing it. Correct. And vice versa. And vice versa. And vice versa. Anyway, Billy Crudup very nearly took on the role, but he jumped out like a big rubbery Hulk man.

Tom Cruise was offered, and then they looked at Steve Buscemi, David Duchovny, and Jeff Goldblum. They all screen tested, and Edward Norton was even approached. Interesting. Maybe we'll come back and talk about an Edward Norton Hulk film next week, Mason. Nick Nolte, David Banner,

used an oxygen tank throughout the production. Eric Banner recalled a moment where, after taking a hit of oxygen on set, Nolte turned to Banner and confided,

I don't really need this. It just makes them think you're fucking crazy and they pay attention. Oh, interesting. Yeah. He's doing weird Hollywood actor stuff.

There is a moment in the movie where he takes a hit of something and then he switches on the gamma rays. Yeah, that's good stuff. Okay. The working title for this movie was actually Blue Harvest, which was weird because that was also the working title of the original Star Wars. I checked to see whether those things are related. It's actually not.

Huh. Pure coincidence. I think they would have gone with Green Harvest. That's right. But, you know. Lou Ferrign would have gone with Green Harvest. That's right. But, you know. Lou Ferrigno, Stanley. Yes, yes, we saw them. During production of this in San Francisco, California.

California. Yes, thank you. Home of the Raisins. Filming stopped for about two hours because some college students from UC Berkeley played a prank. Uh-oh. And systematically urinated in porta-potties, creating very loud peeing sounds that distracted the cast members on set.

It took about two hours to round up all the students. Wow. I don't know what that is. I just saw it and I went, all right, I'll read that out. Okay. Where are they now is the question. One of those students, Kevin Feige.

One of those other students crippled by debt for life. Wow. You know? Makes you think. There is actually a sequel to this movie, and I'm not talking about the next movie, Mason. Yes, go on. The next movie that was made after this in 2003.

Does this one count as part of the MCU, I wonder? Absolutely not, Mason. Absolutely not. So the Hulk tie-in video game for this that came out in 2003 is set after this. Eric Banner reprises his role as Eric Banner. And that also got a sequel in

Hulk Ultimate Destruction, which is a game we've played, of course, before. And probably many others also. Agreed. So, I didn't know that, but that's a trilogy of something. Sure is. If you look at it. So Eric Banner was also asked if he was willing to play Eric Banner again. Bruce Banner, I'm going to stop doing that,

because people will be like, are you actually saying it wrong? You're actually saying Eric Banner twice. If he would do that alongside Mark Ruffalo in the MCU. Sure, but that's some sort of multiversal Secret Wars kind of situation. Exactly. He's like, I'm too busy driving around in a Monaro, he said. Yeah, that's right. I'm too busy hanging out with Jay Leno when we talk about cars. I'm too busy uncovering the secrets of a quiet Australian town.

You think it's perfect on the outside, but then there's a murder probably. I'm too busy doing one of the adaptations of Time Traveler's Wife with Rachel McAdam. So I didn't watch the new series, but I know they cancelled it before they wrapped up the story, Mason. He's talking to you. I'm too busy doing poiter in my own home. Just pretending to be poiter.

Banner responded, the short answer is no. I never felt like it was something I was going to reprise or do again and I still feel, even after all this time, I can't see that happening. I would say never say never though, you know what I mean? Anyway, box office for this time, I can't see that happening. I would say never say never, though. You know what I mean? Anyway, box office for this Mason.

It cost $137 million. That does not include a 32nd Super Bowl commercial from that year, which cost Universal $2.1 million. It only made, of course, $245 million at the box office. This apparently also has a historic second weekend US box office drop. Uh-oh. So it opened at number one and then dropped around 70% in its second week. That was astronomical for the time.

Presumably word got around that it had weird transitions and it was a bit sad at times. Sure, sure, sure. People were looking for Daredevil and they got this, you know. But that, of course, has been beat out by other movies since, including Dark Phoenix, which is one of our favourite movies to not think about. But that's not the only reason the studio feels this didn't do well. So weeks before this film's release,

a New Jersey man named Kenny Gonzalez acquired a copy of its work print from a friend of an ad agency employee and it leaked online. Oh no. As it contains temp music, unfinished CGI, unedited audio and the like, those able to see the leaked work print heavily criticized the movie's incomplete vision. Some studio executives subsequently blamed the movie's box office failure on the leak.

He did three years in prison for doing that as well, for leaking the Hulk. I don't think that's why this didn't do well, though, to be honest. I was around at this time and I was very much on the internet too much, like I am now. I don't even remember this being leaked.

Because if I'd have known that, I would have definitely stolen it at the time. Sure, yeah. And I did not. Anyways, next week, if you do want to see us talk about the Incredible Hulk the real Hulk movie maybe

is it? I don't know you can actually head over to bigsandwich.co where there's early stuff and bonus stuff and whatever whatever

etc and so forth or check out our podcast The Weekly Planet if you like podcasts where we talk movies and comics and TV shows is there ever a hot topic

that we don't cover in Entertainment News Mason? yeah probably if we think maybe like the backlash will be too, you know, we'll have to deal with that. Oh, okay, yeah. Probably skip over it, you know. Like we'd have to deal with a bunch of incels, et cetera. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's not a shot at anybody watching this who's an incel. We're not talking about you. We're talking about a Mason. Uh-oh. And, folks, if you want to continue the Eric Banner superhero trilogy, you can of course watch 2000's Chopper where he portrays

real-life criminal Mark Chopper Reid. Very good. Or the iconic Australian movie, The Castle, where he plays Con Petropolis. If you want to know why Australians are like they are, watch The Castle. Yeah. You won't get it. No. But it's great.

All right. Thanks, everybody. Grab that gem, you guys. We'll see you next week. And goodbye. Oh, the dog's here, Mason. Hello, dog. Do you have any opinions on Eric Banner's Hulk?

Just a big sneeze, huh? Yeah. Great stuff. As women, our life stages come with unique risk factors, like when our estrogen levels drop during menopause, causing the risk of heart disease to go up. Know your risks. Visit heartandstroke.ca. FX's The Veil explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London.

One woman has a secret. The other, a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost. FX's The Veil, starring Elizabeth Moss, is now streaming on Disney+.