Hulk and Punisher: Better Suited for Prime Time

A week ago Marvel Television announced that they would be working with ABC Television to produce a new Hulk series for the network and a Cloak and Dagger series for ABC Family. Additionally, Marvel is also looking into bringing other properties of theirs to the small screen: Agents of Atlas, The Eternals, Heroes for Hire, Moon Knight, and The Punisher.

While the two Hulk films released in the past decade have not been turkeys, they have not performed as well as their blockbuster comic book counterparts. You could argue that 2003’s Hulk (by Director Ang Lee) did not have the essence of the source material and 2008’s The Incredible Hulk (by Director Louis Letterier) was a vast improvement but not an incredible film.

I think there is not a lot that can be done with the Hulk character on film. Marvel is choosing wisely to move the tale of a man who becomes a monster back to the small screen where he has seen greater success. In a film, the director is challenged with the limits of time and what audiences will accept in a two-hour story.

In a series we can follow Bruce Banner as he struggles with becoming a Gamma-irradiated creature, and watch as he deals with it as General “Thunderbolt” Ross follows close on Banner’s heals (if the producers go that route). The character is able to transform and progress on an episodic program in a way that a film’s constraints does not allow; on television Banner can eventually gain control of Hulk as he has done over the years. A Hulk series has the potential of melding into what people loved about the 1978 original and something that holds true to the source material.

The same is true, perhaps even more so, of a Punisher television series. As a film The Punisher can come off as a Death Wish knock off, but as a series there is so much more that can be explored. First, to stay true to how Frank Castle has been written over the last decade, a Punisher series belongs on cable or possibly in the 10 p.m. hour. The creators have the ability to set up story arcs and have the “hero” take on crimes that might not be as attractive to movie audiences.

Finally, and this may not be a popular opinion, but I believe Wolverine may also suffer similar big-screen limitations as the Hulk and the Punisher. Logan doesn’t exactly have powers or character which are custom suited to a feature film; we’ll see what Darren Aronofsky and Christopher McQuarrie have planned for the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2.