Comic book legend Stan Lee talks about the Hulk, his place among Marvel’s characters and seeing his heroes come to life on the movie screen.
Where do you think The Hulk falls in your pantheon of characters?
Stan Lee: Of course, to me, they all fall right at the top, which isn’t a fall at all, but The Hulk was one of my favorites. I think he was possibly the second one that I came up with after the Fantastic Four. I like the idea of a monster being the hero. So, I have always had a warm spot in my heart for him. To me, he’s right up there with the best of them.
In original comic, Hulk character has gone through evolutions in the comic from a tough angry guy to a more childlike Hulk – which the movie is more like. Why did the character change?
Stan Lee: You know, the funny thing is the character has had more changes probably than any character we’ve had. And it really depended on who was writing the stories. I wrote most of the ones in the beginning, and then I gave it up to gone on to do other things. Different writers took over, and, as with most stories and comics, whoever is writing and then editing the book, they make decisions. Well, he had been pretty dumb for a while; let’s make him smarter. He had been too smart; let’s dumb him up. Or, he had been too strong – let’s weaken him. Whatever they decide to do. Because they always want to keep the readers on their toes. If you can make these subtle changes, it sometimes renews the readers’ interest.
How did you like computer-generated Hulk in the new film?
Stan Lee: I just thought it was great. I even liked the way he looked in the first Hulk movie. But then the second one – oh, man, I think that’s so much better. More real looking. I got a big kick out of this movie; I’ve got to tell you, even if my cameo was so brief.
How do you feel about the homages to the TV show in the film?
Stan Lee: Oh yes – Lou Ferrigno who played The Hulk in the TV series! And he was really great in this one. That son-of-a-gun would be 500 years old, and he still looks as good as ever. He’s incredible. I’m only kidding about his age.
Many of your characters are inspired by classical literature – there is a touch of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the The Hulk.
Stan Lee: With The Hulk, I really based him on two properties: on Frankenstein, monster.
Because I always thought that the monster in Frankenstein was really the good guy. He didn’t want to hurt anybody. Those idiots with torches kept chasing him up and down the hills. I thought it would be fun to have a monster who was basically good but nobody realized it. But then to make it more interesting, I figured if I could use the Jekyll and Hyde angle and have him be somebody who was a normal human being who turned into that monster and turned back – and the monster hated his weaker self, and the normal human being hated the monster, and they were always in conflict, but they were the same guy – I figured this could be legend.
It seems like we are in a book period of Marvel popularity. Is there a possibility of The Hulk going on?
Stan Lee: It’s not a possibility – it’s a probability. There is no way that there won’t be more Hulk movies, and more Fantastic Four, and more Spider-Man, and more Iron Man. Everything. Because these characters, they lend themselves to being a franchise. Everybody who sees one can’t wait to see the next one, I’m happy to say.
Why are these movies so popular now, 40 years after the comics, which might have sold a quarter of a million copies, reaching billions of people today?
Stan Lee: I believe it happened now, because now, or for the past decade or so, we are able to get the kind of special effects that can make these things look real. You know, twenty-five to thirty years ago, you couldn’t have had SpiderMan swinging the way he did. You couldn’t have had The Hulk looking as realistic as he looks. You couldn’t have had Iron Man doing what he did. I was talking with a director the other day. He said, “Stan, there is nothing you can imagine that we can’t put on the screen. It doesn’t matter how fantastic.” And that’s one of the reasons that these things are so popular. It’s like eye candy. You are watching things that are fantastic and yet they seem real. It’s great. I love it.
They are setting up an Avengers movie – do you think that The Hulk is part of the Avengers like he was in the original comic?
Stan Lee: I’m not privy to all of the secrets, but let me say that I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. He was part of the Avengers in the comic book – for only two issues. Maybe The Hulk will only be in two Avengers movies.
Is there a chance for more comic book movies based on your characters?
Stan Lee: There is a chance for everything. As soon as somebody comes up with the right story with the right angle, of course. Marvel has every intention of granting the public this boon – these wonderful characters. We don’t want to deprive one single moviegoer of the thrills and excitement that we have to offer.
Are you still doing anything creative in terms of writing?
Stan Lee: I have a little company called POW! Entertainment, and we are doing movies and television shows. It’s not Marvel things – it’s other things. But my heart still belongs to Marvel, and I still do what I can to help promote them and advise them and not bother them when they don’t want to be bothered.
What is your overall reaction to the new Hulk film?
Stan Lee: When you think about it, here’s a big green monster. At first blush, it would be, how could you make a successful movie out of that? Even the first one was successful? The second one is highly successful. The public has come to love The Hulk, as well they should. I could just imagine how great the third one will be because we have the first two under our belt. We know what we did wrong, which was very little. We know everything we did right – a ton of stuff. We could use all that knowledge. And I figured the third Hulk movie will be one of the biggest movies of the year or the decade when it comes out. I can’t wait to see it.
Since the mid-1980s, Scott Essman has been writing and producing projects about motion picture craftsmanship. He has published over 350 articles as a freelancer and has produced over twenty publicity projects for Universal Studios Home Entertainment where he made video documentaries and wrote publicity materials. He published his first book, “Freelance Writing for Hollywood,” for Michael Wiese in 2000, and has a book about Tim Burton due in 2009.
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