Since the 1960s, the Marvel Comicssuperhero the Hulk has appeared in many types of various media other than the comics, such as animated and live-action TV series, films, books, video games, comic strips, and stage shows.
Television
Animation
1960s
Hulk debuted in television in 1966 as part of The Marvel Super Heroes animated series. It was produced by Grantray-Lawrence Animation, which was headed by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson and Robert Lawrence. The series is in stop-motion comic book form, with radio personality Max Ferguson voicing both the Hulk and Bruce Banner.[1] The 39 seven-minute segment episodes were shown along with those featuring other characters from the series, including Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Sub-Mariner.[2] They were all based on the early stories from The Incredible Hulk and Tales to Astonish comic book series from Marvel. The series shows Bruce Banner's origin of becoming the Hulk and struggling to keep his dual identity a secret from everyone, as well as trying to maintain his romance with Betty Ross, friendship with Rick Jones—the only one knowing that Banner and the Hulk are the same—and battling super-villains such as the Leader, Metal Master, Ringmaster, Chameleon, Boomerang, and Tyrannus. At the same time, he must avoid capture by the military headed by Betty's father Thunderbolt Ross with his right-hand man Glenn Talbot.
1980s
Hulk returns to television with the animated series The Incredible Hulk (1982–1983), voiced by Bob Holt as Hulk and Michael Bell as Bruce Banner. The series once again shows Bruce Banner transformed into Hulk by accident and struggling to keep it a secret from Betty Ross, and everyone else around him. Rick Jones is the one who shares his secret and helps control it while Bruce uses his new powers to battle supervillains such as the Leader, Spymaster, Doctor Octopus, Hydra and the Puppet Master; while fighting the military at the same time led by Betty's father General Thunderbolt Ross with Major Glenn Talbot whose first name had been changed to "Ned". This series features the first animated appearance of Bruce's cousin Jennifer who becomes She-Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk (1996–1997): Marvel Studios and Saban Entertainment made another animated series for the Hulk, with Neal McDonough voicing Bruce Banner, Lou Ferrigno voicing Hulk, Michael Donovan voicing Gray Hulk, and Kevin Michael Richardson voicing Dark Hulk.[3][4] In 1997, the series became The Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk, when She-Hulk was given full-time status. Like the previous animated series, the show focused on his origin to Bruce's turmoil being the Hulk and his romance with Betty Ross as well as his friendship with Rick Jones (voiced by Luke Perry) who followed Hulk around to help look out for him while Hulk/Bruce was being hunted by the military led by Betty's father General Thunderbolt Ross, with Glenn Talbot helping, but eventually sees the error of his ways. The series also had Doc Samson in his first animated appearance who helped out Hulk, while at the same time battling him, and featured Hulk facing off against his archenemy the Leader with his Gamma mutated army including Abomination, Gargoyle, Ogress, and the Gamma Warriors; Hulk also dealt with other villains like Zzzax, Absorbing Man, and Doctor Doom.
The Hulk appears in Iron Man: Armored Adventures, voiced again by Mark Gibbon. In his most notable appearance in the episode "Rage of the Hulk", Bruce enlists Iron Man and Howard Stark in an attempt to cure him with a machine that will siphon his gamma energy. However, this transforms him into the Gray Hulk after Thunderbolt Ross modifies it.
The Hulk appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, once again voiced by Fred Tatasciore.[3] Additionally, a Marvel Noir version of Mr. Fixit appears in the episode "Return to the Spider-Verse" as a gang leader and rival of Hammerhead, also voiced by Tatasciore.[5]
The Hulk appears in Avengers Assemble, once again voiced by Fred Tatasciore, with Bruce Banner being voiced by Tatasciore in the first season, Jesse Burch in the third, and Kevin Shinick in the fourth.[3][4][7]
The Hulk appears in Guardians of the Galaxy (2015), once again voiced by Fred Tatasciore, with Bruce Banner again voiced by Jesse Burch in the second season and Kevin Shinick in the third.[3][4]
The Hulk appears in Marvel Future Avengers, again voiced by Kenichirou Matsuda in Japanese and Fred Tatasciore in English.[3]
The Hulk appears in Spider-Man (2017), again voiced by Fred Tatasciore, while Bruce Banner is again voiced by Kevin Shinick.[12][3][4]
The Hulk appears in Lego Marvel Avengers: Climate Conundrum, voiced again by James Blight.[3][4]
The Hulk appears in Lego Marvel Avengers: Loki in Training, voiced again by James Blight.[4]
The Hulk appears in Lego Marvel Avengers: Time Twisted, voiced again by James Blight.[4]
The Hulk appears in Spidey and His Amazing Friends, voiced primarily by Armen Taylor, while Sami Sharkawy voices him as a child in the episode "Lil Hulk".[13][14]
The Hulk appears in Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition, voiced again by Fred Tatasciore.[3]
Live-action
1970s
Hulk appeared in the 1978–1982 live actiontelevision series, The Incredible Hulk, and its subsequent television films. Created by Universal Studios, it starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as Hulk. Furthermore, vocal effects for the Hulk are provided by Ted Cassidy, with Charles Napier replacing him after his death.[15][3] In this series, David Banner becomes Hulk, is assumed dead and goes on the run while being pursued by tabloid investigative reporter Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) who is bent on proving that the creature exists. The two-hour pilot movie, which established the Hulk's origins, aired on November 4, 1977. The series was originally broadcast by CBS from March 10, 1978, to June 2, 1982,[16] with eighty-two episodes in five seasons, and later followed by three television films.
The Return of the Incredible Hulk (1977) – Pilot sequel directed by Alan J. Levi (also shown overseas as a feature film); retitled "Death in the Family" as a two-parter in syndication.
Married (1978) – Two-hour season-two premiere episode directed by Kenneth Johnson (theatrically released outside of the United States as Hulk Returns or The Bride of the Incredible Hulk).[15]
The Hulk appears in a self-titled film (2003), portrayed by director Ang Lee via voice and motion capture,[3] while Bruce Banner is portrayed by Eric Bana. This version initially works at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory before being transformed into the Hulk after saving fellow employee Harper from a malfunctioning gammasphere, which combined with his mutations derived from his father's self-experimentation.
A depiction of the Ultimate Marvel version of Hulk has been featured in Ultimate Avengers: The Movie, an animated direct-to-video adaptation of the Ultimates produced by Marvel Entertainment and Lions Gate Films, with Michael Massee voicing Bruce Banner, and Fred Tatasciore voicing the Hulk.[3][4] Based on the Ultimate Hulk, Bruce Banner is working on recreating the super soldier serum. Banner thinking that the serum could help him control the Hulk, and creates a cure with his own blood. After the fight with the Chitauri, the Hulk becomes out of control and is taken down by the Avengers. In the sequel, Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther, Banner (voiced again by Massee) has been imprisoned due to the previous film's events. At the end, the Hulk (voiced again by Tatasciore) breaks out of the cell and escapes.
An elderly Hulk appears in the alternate universe Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, with Ken Kramer voicing Bruce Banner and Tatasciore reprising the role of the Hulk.[3][4] He has decided to hide and keep away from other people for their own safety. The Young Avengers come up a plan to lure Ultron there so he can cause the Hulk to appear, destroying the robot. This plan worked as Torunn throws Ultron's body into space to prevent him from repairing himself.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013): The Hulk appears in the episode "Pilot" via archival footage from The Avengers.
Daredevil (2015): A framed newspaper clipping showing an image of the Edward Norton portrayal of the Hulk from The Incredible Hulk, accompanied by the headline "Hulk emerges victorious in destructive uptown battle" appears in the background of Ben Urich's office throughout several episodes of the series' first season.
Starting with the Pop Art period and on a continuing basis since the 1960s, many comic book characters, including Hulk, have been "appropriated" by multiple visual artists and incorporated into contemporary artwork, most notably by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Dulce Pinzon, Jeff Koons, and others.[33][34][35][36][37][38]
Novels
Pocket Books published two mass market paperback solo novels starring the character, The Incredible Hulk: Stalker From the Stars in 1978[39] and The Incredible Hulk: Cry of the Beast in 1979.[40][41] The Hulk has appeared in the following novels:
An Old Man Logan version of Hulk appears in Marvel's Wastelanders, voiced by Blake Morris in the "Star-Lord" segment and by Danny Burstein in the "Doom" segment.
season 18, episode 8 sketch called "Superman's Funeral", where the Hulk (portrayed by Chris Farley) is one of the speakers.[60]
season 20, episode 9 sketch called "The Incredible Hulk", where the Hulk (portrayed by George Foreman) gets bored at a needlessly repetitive sketch.[61]
season 40, episode 16 sketch called "The Rock Obama", where the Hulk (portrayed by Dwayne Johnson) is called the Rock Obama.[62]
season 44, episode 15 sketch called "The Impossible Hulk", where Dr. Banner (portrayed by Idris Elba) transforms into a raging white woman (portrayed by Cecily Strong) due to a "failed gamma ray experiment" above a Tory Burch.[63]
1990: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes episode – "Tomato from the Black Lagoon", Chad Finletter sees a man getting angry and impatient while waiting for a plane, then the man starts to turn into a green muscular monster as he gets angry.
1991: Taz-Mania – episode "Dr. Wendal and Mr. Taz", Wendal is irradiated in an "Ultra gamma ray testing booth", mistaking it for a tanning booth, causing him to transform into a giant, violent monster whenever he is made upset.
1996: Adventures of Ricardo short – originally seen on MTV's Cartoon Sushi and available on The Animation Show DVD, the title character professes his love of the character, renamed "The Incwedibul Hunk" here due to Ricardo's speech impediment
1996: Dexter's Laboratory – a purple-skinned parody of the Hulk named "The Infraggable Krunk" (voiced by Frank Welker) made a few appearances in season one and shared a segment called "The Justice Friends" with Major Glory (a parody of Captain America voiced by Rob Paulsen) and Valhallen (a parody of Thor voiced by Tom Kenny). Additionally, the episode "Hunger Strikes" has Dexter transform into a Hulk-like monster whenever he does not eat vegetables, complete with a parody of the "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" line.
season 3, episode 17 skit showed a man (portrayed by Will Sasso) becoming a miniature version of the Hulk (portrayed by Alex Borstein), and a
season 9, episode 19 skit has Bruce Banner (portrayed by Ike Barinholtz) attempt to create a serum that will prevent him from becoming the Hulk. The serum, however, backfires and causes him to turn into a homosexual pink colored version of the Hulk (portrayed by Paul C. Vogt).
episode "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" (1999), a part in Peter Griffin's obviously made-up story to Lois Griffin has him turning into the Hulk to attack the devilish manager of the place he is supposed to have Stewie's birthday
The end credits for the episode "Wasted Talent" (2000) are run while Joe Harnell's "The Lonely Man" plays in homage to The Incredible Hulk; it shows Stewie hitchhiking along the side of the freeway á la David Banner
episode "A Fish out of Water" (2001), Peter buys a fishing boat and gives it the name of "S.S. More Powerful Than Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and The Incredible Hulk put it together"
episode "Emission Impossible" (2001), Peter asks Lois's sister if he can have her husband's shirts so that he can imitate Hulk ripping his shirt off throughout; And the 2011
episode: "And I'm Joyce Kinney", replaces the regular Family Guy opening with a spoof of the Hulk TV series opening, placing Stewie as David Banner, Peter as the Hulk and Tom Tucker as Jack McGee
2001: On the song "Some L.A. Niggaz", rapper King T compares the marijuana he smokes to the Hulk, with the line, "Smoke big green, call it Bruce Banner"
2002: Scrubs – episode "My Student", after the medical student assigned to J.D. made numerous mistakes, J.D. gets angry and transforms into the Hulk
2005–13: The character appears in the Robot Chicken episodes: "The Deep End" (2005), "Badunkadunk" (2005), "Two Weeks Without Food" (2009), "Executed by the State" (2012), "Collateral Damage in Gang Turf War" (2012), "Eaten by Cats" (2013)
2010: Castle – episode "Tick, Tick, Tick...", Martha Rodgers (played by Susan Sullivan) watches a video of the pilot episode of The Incredible Hulk, where she plays Dr. Marks
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaa"Hulk Voices". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 2, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^ abcdefghijklmnopqr"Bruce Banner Voices (Hulk)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 2, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^ ab"Grey Hulk Voices (Hulk)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 19, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.