Debuting in his own comic in 1962, the Incredible Hulk has made numerous appearances in movies, television, and video games. For the Many Intros series we’re only interested in television, where he has appeared in animation and one live-action series since 1966. That’s four years from comic to TV.
Some of these shows ended up with multiple intros due to season changes, but it’s still enough for one article. Note that I am not including various team-up appearances like Avengers shows or cameos in other series. This is Hulk shows starring Bruce Banner (unless they call him David because he’s supposed to be Bruce) as the main Hulk. Mostly this is a way to look at all the various Hulk shows, no movies or games. So grab your asbestos outfits and stay out of bomb range because we’re going to look at the various TV incarnations of the Jade Giant.
I can’t pad this out any further, homepage readers. Sorry.
The Marvel Superheroes Hulk cartoon
Released as part of the anthology series The Marvel Superheroes, this series simply adapted stories from the comics, even using the actual art from those stories at times. It was very low budget and he didn’t do the show alone. He simply had his own segment along with other characters like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. Iron Man would be the only other one to have any shows beyond this one…and it turns out I never did one of these for ol’ Shellhead. With a new Iron Man cartoon coming out I’ll have to fix that.
The theme song is rather weak compared to the rest of this list. That forced rhyme was really bad, but it really didn’t push the monster fighting other monsters like we’ll see later. The budget showed in the limited animation (you think Filmation was bad?) and I’m not so sure of Hulk’s voice, but I think I was spoiled by what came next. But before we get to that cartoon we need to look at the one live-action Hulk that wasn’t CG.
The Incredible Hulk (1977)
Probably the most liberties taken with the Hulk, even with Mark Ruffalo’s more recent performances, this is the Hulk that a lot of people think of, the one with a man painted green. When the Ang Lee movie came out I had to explain to my cousin that in the comics he grew bigger when he grew angrier and while he borrowed from this show a bit more than he should have, Lee also took the comics into consideration. Remember when Marvel Studios did that? The show didn’t have the budget under 1977 TV-level special effects, but it solidified what Bruce David Bruce Banner was in the minds of many non-comic readers. I’ve heard the change was due to someone at CBS thinking “Bruce” sounded gay but I can’t confirm that, so they made it his middle name and went with the more manly sounding David, though he was still the quieter persona, seeking a cure for his condition while running from the reporter convinced Hulk killed Banner and his girlfriend lab partner. McGee showed up again in The Incredible Hulk Returns and disappeared for the other two TV movies despite vowing to hunt the Hulk again. You’d think having him there for the Hulk’s death would be a nice addition to the sendoff, and Jack Colvin did survive until 2005.
This isn’t the last time Lou Ferrigno will be tied to this character. Since we aren’t counting the TV movies (the first of which was a Thor crossover and the only one to reuse this intro, the second with a Daredevil that could have worked with the right costume), including the final one where Bill Bixby decided to kill his David Banner off, that’s not what I’m referring to. I guess Bixby got tired of playing the character. It’s not a bad send-off but it required a fall that comics Hulk wouldn’t blink at. Luckily the cartoons all went back to the comics…speaking of things Marvel Studios no longer does.
The Incredible Hulk (1982)
Sharing an hour long program block with fellow hero show Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, where he would actually cameo in the episode “Spidey Goes Hollywood” the previous season, THIS is a Hulk intro. The theme song is strong, filled with power and a sense of dread. Most of the visuals are Hulk battling all kinds of menaces, we get a glimpse of Banner’s origin, which would be shown further in a flashback story, and you know there’s going to be a lot of action.
Less impressive is the combined intro for the block.
You can see the proper Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends intro as part of the Many, MANY Intros Of Spider-Man series.
This show gave Rick Jones a cowboy hat for some reason, and since I grew up with this version it’s how I think of Rick despite him never having one in the comics. Otherwise, it was very faithful, from Bruce’s origin to the first appearance of She-Hulk and her origin story. (Stick that in your twerking tushy, Disney+!) I thought it was the greatest interpretation of the Hulk. And then UPN happened.
The Incredible Hulk (1996)
From 1966 to 1996, this was the best interpretation of the Hulk, although the 1980s show had the better theme song. This just doesn’t hit as hard, but the visuals make up for it, playing in a nightmare of Bruce’s that tells the audience all they need to know if they want to check the show out. And you DO want to check the show out. Trust me!
Tom Tataranowicz (I swear every time I try to find this guy’s last name to spell it right is a pain!) was in charge of season one, after making the superior version of Iron Man and Fantastic Four in syndication (though sadly Marvel Action Hour/Universe didn’t get past season two because season one was so lame). There’s even a guest-appearance by Iron Man, with Robert Hayes reprising his role and Tony maintaining his long hair from Iron Man season two. Rick also got long hair again, but not his hat if memory serves.
The UPN series, as they tried to avoid the Saturday Morning battles by opting for Sunday mornings (not understanding WHY kids weren’t watching on Sundays but they gave it a darn good try), would bring back Lou Ferrigno. This time he would be the voice of Hulk, something he wasn’t allowed to do in the live-action series. What could have been just a gimmick hire turned out to be the best Hulk I’ve heard. Sorry, Fred Tatasciore, I know you’re the go-to Hulk voice for a good reason, but Lou’s my Hulk. You also didn’t get a cool catch phrase like “eat green” before punching something. It also had a serialized storyline that ended on an amazing cliffhanger that was sure to bring kids back for another season. And then season two happened, Tom was out, and She-Hulk was in.
The Incredible Hulk & She-Hulk (1997)
On it’s own this show would have been okay. As a follow-up to the previous season, it really doesn’t hold up. The story arcs were abandoned in favor of done in one stories, though there was a mild sense of continuity. The tone was lightened enough to chase off the fans for season one without replacing them. (Sound familiar, Disney?) Rick being turned into a Hulk last season was resolved quickly while General Ross was in a coma and Betty stayed by his side, pulling all three of them out of the show outside of brief appearances. If this had come out at any other time, it would of worked, and I did like this take on Jennifer Walters and her story of personal growth as well as Bruce now bouncing between grey and green Hulk forms. It just wasn’t as good as what came before and it ultimately killed the series. Should have kept Tom on board.
What’s more depressing is the intro. It’s the same theme, and I expect that since it’s continuing from the previous season. However, it’s all clips. Clips of the first intro, clips from this season’s stories…I expect that from the live-action show (and even that gave us the split view of David and the Hulk), but with a cartoon it always feels like a cop out. Even the title is just the one from the previous intro with “and She-Hulk” dropped on there. The quality drop was obvious and from this point Hulk would only show up on team-up shows or guest-appearing in other hero’s shows. Then he’d get his own team-up show of just Hulks.
Hulk & The Agents Of S.M.A.S.H.
If you were trying to prove the intro could be lazier, congratulations! You win!
All the Disney XD Marvel shows had this level of lacking commitment in their intros. Just title cards was the “in thing” at the time, and it wasn’t limited to Disney. 2013 was very anti-intro. There’s not even anything else to say about it, and not having watched the show I can’t even talk about that much. Apparently the acronym stands for “Supreme Military Agency of Super Humans” according to the show’s Fandom wiki. It had Bannerless Hulk leading a team including She-Hulk, General Ross’s Red Hulk (who was a real jerk from clips I’ve seen), Skarr, Devil Dinosaur for some reason since he was still in the other timeline with Moon Boy at that point rather than being abducted by Moon Girl for stupid comic reasons, and some character called A-Bomb who the wiki says was Rick Jones. Can’t blame the previous show. Even if this shared continuity, and it doesn’t, Rick was purged of his Hulk form in the cliffhanger’s rushed conclusion that also led to Bruce having two Hulks in his head for the price of one.
I didn’t bother watching this one because it sounded like too many Hulks for my interest. I wasn’t a huge Hulk fan in the comics but I really enjoyed the show. UPN’s version, even the weaker second season, is my favorite take on Hulk and She-Hulk, with the 80s show having the best theme song. The cartoons stayed true to the comics, something I don’t expect any new cartoon to do after that recent Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man junk. The live-action series back then couldn’t have David fight comic foes due to the budget and even the TV movies trying to bring in Thor and Daredevil did so rather questionably. For the most part though, Hulk has gotten a good showing on TV, and most of the intros (ignoring the 1966 and non-intro S.M.A.S.H.) set the stage for what was coming. I’ve never been into the comics, but I do enjoy the shows.
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