No Surrender Cinema: The Incredible Hulk Returns

I’ve covered Chucky and Halloween Kills already this month, but this edition of No Surrender Cinema is rolling out the welcome mat for a different kind of monster! This one’s mean, green, misunderstood, and he just so happens to be my favorite superhero of all time. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry, so stay on my good side by reading my review of The Incredible Hulk Returns!

Debuting as the NBC Movie Of The Week on May 22, 1988, this two hour television movie brings the Hulk back to broadcast TV for the first time in six years, since the end of the original The Incredible Hulk series on CBS. Since the original TV series simply ended without any type of finality, Returns starts off just as many of the original episodes did: Dr. David Banner is living under an assumed identity (David Bannion) and has gone several years without a Hulkout. He’s also in a serious relationship with a fellow doctor named Maggie Shaw, who clearly loves him even though he remains hesitant to truly open up to her. Despite the new lady in his life and a lack of clothes shredding transformations, Banner is still seeking a permanent cure for his “condition”, and is using his employment at the Joshua-Lambert Research Institute to put the finishing touches on a Gamma Transponder that can finally give him what he desires. 

Before Banner can achieve what he’s been attempting for so long, he’s paid an after hours visit by an old friend named Donald Blake. Blake isn’t sure why David has been in hiding all these years, but he’s glad he found him because he has something weird that he needs to share with him. It turns out that Blake was involved in an expedition that led him to a magical hammer, one that grants him the ability to call down the God of Thunder himself. Thor here is played as a boisterous, rowdy type… the kind of guy that would knock someone out at the bar then turn around and have a laugh about it over a beer. Unfortunately for David, Thor’s brash attitude sends things south in a hurry, and deep breaths or counting to ten can’t help David this time. For the first time in two years (in movie time; six if you’re going by real time), Dr. David Banner’s eyes start glowing, his skin starts turning green, and he becomes the Incredible Hulk once again! The Hulk is not happy with Thor, and the two heroes engage in a smash mouth brawl that sees the mythical warrior manhandled by the not-so-jolly green giant. Sirens in the distance cause our heroes to end their first encounter rather quickly, but not before Thor attempts to call a truce with the “troll” that Banner has become.

The next morning, Blake and Thor track Banner down, and David reveals the extent of his Hulk dilemma to Blake. Blake agrees to hang around and help David, and in turn David helps Don come to terms with why fate led him to Thor. Unfortunately for David, Don isn’t the only face from his past that’s popped up, because nosy reporter Jack McGee, whose persistence in uncovering the truth behind The Hulk was a recurring theme in the television series, has heard about “monsters fighting giants” in LA, and thinks that this may finally be a break in his long-running quest to get to the bottom of the story that’s haunted him for over a decade.

While it’s inconvenient for McGee to be snooping around, it’s not long before some real trouble finds David Banner. It turns out that the Gamma Transponder is coveted by a group of shady characters, with the major players being portrayed by beloved character actors Tim Thomerson and Charles Napier, the latter of whom previously co-starred in several episodes of the original Incredible Hulk series. Thomerson’s Jack LeBeau is the leader of a crime ring that is planning to take the Transponder and use it for nefarious means. They’re in cahoots with Zack Lambert, a member of the family that owns the institute, which gives them the inside track on who to target. Their first attempt fails when an assault on the institute causes Banner to transform again and scare them off, so they’re forced to regroup and try again. This time they attack Banner at Maggie’s residence in a thrilling scene that features a run-in from Thor and our heroes teaming up to take on the bad crew. Their combined might isn’t enough to save Maggie from their clutches, but it’s all to build up to the final act where Banner/The Hulk, Blake, and Thor are out to settle the score and save Maggie from LeBeau and his crew.

I can vividly remember the anticipation I had for The Incredible Hulk Returns back when commercials were airing for it’s premiere, and all these years later it still makes me feel like a kid again. As I mentioned earlier, The Incredible Hulk is my favorite superhero of all time, and although we’ve had several different live action incarnations since Lou Ferrigno’s portrayal, the original Hulk maintains a certain charm that the other versions can’t touch. Maybe it’s the simplistic nature of how it was handled, or maybe it’s purely nostalgia, but to me The Incredible Hulk Returns is one of the most enjoyable entries in Marvel’s long list of live action output. The scene where Maggie’s house is under siege and Thor comes running to the rescue still gets my blood pumping 33 years later. Sure, certain liberties are taken (such as Blake and Thor being two separate people as opposed to Blake being Thor’s civilian alter ego), but it’s evident just by watching that everyone involved here had a blast. Bixby is a fantastic dramatic actor, and when he’s in David Banner’s shoes you can feel his desperation as he strives for normalcy. It is unfortunate that even though two great actors in Thomerson and Napier were involved, the whole crew of bad guys are merely fodder for Hulk and Thor to toss around. And while The Hulk’s return was the focus, it should be said that Eric Allen Kramer’s Thor outshines everyone in this film. This depiction of Thor is like a Viking frat boy just loving life and letting loose, and he steals nearly every scene he’s in.

Don’t limit yourself to Marvel’s mega-blockbusters; there’s some fantastic stuff out there from the days before the House of Mouse had control of our favorite heroes, and The Incredible Hulk Returns is high up on that list. It brought the Hulk back to prime time television after a long layoff, gave us the first ever live action Marvel Team-Up, and is full of enough Hulk-outs and heroics to keep the action fans satisfied. So instead of turning to Disney+ for your next Hulk fix; cue up the Tubi app where this film is currently streaming and kick it old school with a classic superhero story from way back when.