citizens of the reject Nation we are back with more KO comic corner and that is thanks to you so
before we get into it thank you thank you thank you we read your comments we saw how much you
wanted this show to be back and now it is thanks to you so thank you very much I appreciate it and
please if you're excited it's back leave a like you know how that's so YouTube does and that's
how I know you're excited we're back so leave a like there and today we're going to be talking
about something very near and dear to my heart and that is the most underappreciated MCU film leave
a comment below and let me know what yours is I want this comment section to be like the back of a
comic store where it's a bunch of well-intentioned nerds having very well-intentioned discourse I
want to read what you think I want you guys to argue politely I love conversations like this so
please let me know what your most underappreciated MCU film is this does well we might expand out to
all of Marvel but for now keeping it to MCU what is yours mine is the Incredible Hulk let's Dive In
the most underappreciated MCU film mine is the Incredible Hulk I'm going to talk about it and
why it's underappreciated and then it's me so at the end I'm going to talk about why I think
this is going to tie so much into the future of the MCU but I think it's going to happen sooner
than later I think in the next 2 to three years the Incredible Hulk is going to be like Thor the
Dark World was an endgame where a movie or two or three are about to make it an essential part
of the greater MCU tapestry I think this movie is about to be a very important part of the greater
MCU but first let's talk about the movie The Incredible Hulk The Incredible Hulk stands out
amongst the greater MCU because it does everything we miss about the early MCU correctly it is a
movie that is its own movie that has Easter eggs that aren't homework it is something that exists
as itself and grows World building expands the universe but doesn't feel like you missed a
reading assignment to get there I think the MCU being this great tapestry of comics is amazing I
selfishly so excited about that but I watch each and every one of these and I read every single
comic book so I've got more information than not just the average person but almost any other comic
fan because I'm in all of it that's not fair to the average viewer what the Incredible Hulk does
is it makes you feel like you're in on the joke it makes you feel like you get every reference it
opens with a montage that summarizes an entire anglee movie brings you up to date with almost
an entire run of a show and then sets a tone all before diving into an adventure already in
progress this movie doesn't need an origin this movie doesn't need Martha Wayne's pearls to fall
it doesn't need the spider to bite it does what we want superhero movies to do which is trust the
audience but it also grows a world and I think it is one of the better examples of being unique in
its tone and I think a big reason it's been left behind in its own unique way is that became a
problem I think the Incredible Hulk is its own own really good contained movie especially in
pertaining to Ed Norton himself that doesn't quite fit into the world that the Marvel Universe became
I think the biggest flaw this movie has is it's its own unique thing you've got the Cameo from
Downey Jr you've got the the Easter eggs which now are very important with Thunderbolt Ross and
the leader and things I'm going to talk about near the end of the video but what it does itself is it
gives you a movie that stays tense it gives you a movie that is an Espionage Thriller that is a man
on the Run story that feels like it could have been a Harrison Ford joint in the70s and ' 80s
but it's also a love story and I think the thing it does best for me is it establishes one of the
best love stories in the MCU if you look at the MCU it is full of incredible action it's full of
incredible commentary it's full of a lot of things that we want in our movies but something I think a
lot of Blockbusters are lacking in modern American Cinema is love hate is good for action and
spectacle and why we want people to punch but love is what makes us feel the punch twice because we
care about the people getting punched if you don't care about the character there's no point except
the spectacle and if you care about the characters you get to keep the spectacle but you get to care
and I honestly think that Betty and Bruce are as important as Bruce and Hulk Bruce and Hulk are are
one incredible Duo of characters but Bruce doesn't work without Betty and I think a huge reason we
don't have as much attachment to Bruce is they needed to do all the Black Widow stuff later to
make it feel like there was another Love Story We didn't care about that relationship all that
much and a lot of the MCU relationships don't feel as fleshed out as they can in the comics
that's not always their fault some sometimes it's the fact that it's a movie versus long
form Like Comics and TV shows are but sometimes it feels like it's a working relationship I love
Tony Stark I love the character of pepper Poots I think they feel like co-workers and I really
want to feel like they love each other there's moments of Love sure I'm not disparaging the whole
relationship but I felt like the biggest moment of love between them was an endgame when Tony was
dying I love the friction and tension between them at Stark Tower but I got all of that with
Bruce and Betty in a lot less scenes and I would have rather seen the Bruce and Betty story go
W because of this first movie showing what a love story can be so it's a man fighting with
his demons and also fighting with loving someone that happens to be the daughter of his big enemy
and I think that's almost Shakespearean in its story I love the idea of the relationships being
the Cornerstone of this movie and I think that's why it excels where other movies don't quite get
the superhero Dynamic now this is a movie with a lot of criticism and I think a lot of it comes
down to the recasting of Ed Norton I think that Ed Norton getting recast with Mark Ruffo
had more to do with as I mentioned a little while ago the MCU becoming what it did I don't think Ed
Norton's Hulk fits in the MCU I don't think the Incredible Hulk Works where the Hulk succeeds
The Incredible Hulk especially how Ed Norton portrays him is a loner very consciously it's
a man fighting his demons it's a man on the run that doesn't really work with a team Dynamic and
they do play with that well with Mark Ruffalo especially in the first Avengers film playing
with those levels but by the time we get to where he is in endgame he's a team player and yes that
is an Arc I love to see if successful but I think that the way Ed Norton plays the Hulk
wouldn't have been as quippy wouldn't have been able to land some of the genius Hulk stuff we get
to later I think there would have been more of a a man on a spiritual journey story that might
not be as team Dynamic that might not be as what Disney wanted the character to become what Disney
has made the character is a version of The Hulk and he's so archetypal of a character it's not
inauthentic to some comic storylines but a lot of people myself included do miss the rageful Hulk
we just watched the Hulk versus Wolverine the animated series and it was astounding how much
watch that video by the way it was astounding how much I missed that Hulk and and the jacqulyn Hyde
element to the character that we really saw here in The Incredible Hulk and then a bit in Avengers
and then Through Time a scene in Age of Ultron a kind of a tease here and there but they've had to
remove that element of the character in order to tell the story they're telling overall and I think
a big reason there's criticisms for this Hulk is it feels easy to deny the outlier if there's one
story that has a recast lead and really just the supporting characters carry on and it came
out within 4 months of the universe starting billion dollar Titan Iron Man this feels like
the Forgotten child of the MCU so I don't know if the criticisms are even about the movie as much as
they're about what it became because a lot of the criticisms are it's not an engaging story patently
disagree of described many ways I think this story is very engaging a lot of people complain about
the visual effects I think it's a style of visual effect that isn't the modern style the movie
visual paletes actually really interesting because there's a lot of really poppy colors
in the day-to-day opening and then it gets more and more subdued and dark as the Rage of the Hulk
comes out and I feel like people just looked at it went uh muddy uh too dark and it's it's a lot
of chosen art it's a lot of very intentional choices but when you're living in an early
age of superheroes we're not having those kind of conversations about these movies we're just
saying like oh it's a superhero movie now I mean like this we're having these conversations and I
think if you go back and rewatch The Incredible Hulk you you'll see a lot of those things that
people had criticisms about are very intentional and I'd argue the story especially now that we've
lived through 15 years of superhero culture is so much stronger than people gave it credit for much
less the actual characterization of the Hulk some of the most important memorable iconic scenes of
The Incredible Hulk are for me the ultimates drop from the plane now I I know Captain America gets
all the credit for that iconic like uh he's not even wearing a parachute great Frank gillo you
know line back and forth and when Soldier but Hulk did it first in the MCU and it's straight out of
the ultimates Comics now I talk all the time about the ultimates Comics Ultimate Spider-Man came out
in 2000 it very much set the tone for the MCU by the time we got to 2008 and this whole started
ultimates came out in like 2003 2004 and it is so cinematic ultimates is uh malar or Mark Miller and
Brian hitch and Brian hitch Drew this cinematic it's very widescreen it's very visually a movie
and I think that influenced a ton of Avengers but before we even got to Avengers it influenced a ton
of the Incredible Hulk the scene in The Incredible Hulk where Bruce Banner not only has the Arc of
I'm accepting the Hulk I've accepted my demons I know I'm not just my good side everyone is more
than just their good side you have to accept who you are as a person you have to realize that you
have flaws you have to overcome the idea that you can reach Perfection no one can be perfect
no one can embody only what they try to be they have to accept there are things in them they've
got to work on and I love that we see Bruce's acceptance by way of jumping out of a plane and
accepting that Hulk is a part of who he is now and I love that that's right out of the comics
so that that imagery is is huge for me I also love anytime there's a split not split screen but like
a down the center Bruce and Betty moment because that just looks like a comic panel there's like
moments in the rain there's so many moments like on the campus there's a lot of very strong imagery
and then another moment for me that I've always thought of is is the moment that Hulk has his
delivery of Ark when it when it lands cuz Bruce always gets uh you know a journey a Arc but for
me Hulk getting a personality in that last fight and Hulk accepting what he is when he's fighting
blowky and when Abomination is forming basically when Abomination is just Emil Blonsky but he's
blansky but he's accepted that he's willing to do anything take on this guy the fight between
Emil blansky and Hulk when you have that giant hulking figure that's like 12 feet tall and this
little guy that's just somewhat gamma Juiced up is so beautifully comic books because it does the
thing that Batman movies I think sometimes succeed at where it's like I'm just a guy I'm fighting
these Gods you've got a visual demon in the Hulk fighting just a guy but he's got the beginning of
what he's going to become as the Abomination and he's just a super soldier and that is so important
to where I think we need to be discussing super soldiers we've got so many super soldiers in the
MCU blansky was doing this way before and it mutated and turned them and that's one of the
things I want to talk about with Captain America 4 now before we get to the the future though I do
want to talk about that fight because that fight I feel like not only encapsulates what it would be
like to see The Hulk fight in a way that we don't see as much I think Age of Ultron is a really good
example of like the The Hulk untethered but I think seeing not quite smart Hulk but not
dumb brooding broish Hulk it's that sweet spot we want as Hulk fans it's that perfect I know
how to use my power for violent destruction but with a purpose he's not a a whirlwind Tasmanian
Devil he's a grenade launcher and I love in that fight that it's the military complex that in so
many movies and and arguably even in later MCU films is almost propaganda it's obviously not
in Winter Soldier but it is is often the rah rah rah military is right and you're wrong and I think
that when we look at superhero stories there has to be a conversation about right and wrong
superhero stories are a moral compass they're they're showing us ethics and ideas making us
think about our own beliefs they're making us think like what do I believe in this thing and
if everything's black and white it doesn't work and I love that the movie is not anti-military but
it's also not PR military and it's going like hey if there's a rampaging Hulk like I said a grenade
launcher launching thing what does it mean how do we protect ourselves and the answer is not through
Thunderbolt Ross that has nuke everything it's not through blansky who's willing to turn himself into
an abomination in order to do it it's what do we do to have the least casualties what's the least
you know collateral damage but our guy our hero is the collateral damage and that's emotional
that's obviously physical that's so many things and I love the idea of identifying with a grenade
launcher of Destruction like our guy is pointed but he's still causing so much harm and that fight
feels like that that fight feels like there's a lot of stuff happening that shouldn't be like that
town gets merked but it doesn't feel like Superman which I love the Man of Steel but I do think there
are certain flaws in like there's clearly a lot of death and I don't know of Superman because of how
many Powers he has would have done that whereas Hulk would not be thinking about every single
civilian every single moment Superman should Hulk is going to be a Hulk and he's smashing cars and
he's destroying a whole town when destruction needs to be destruction porn it should be with
the Hulk and I feel like this captured all of that while not losing the narrative and
not losing the emotional weight of getting us to that point in the Hulk story before I dive into
the future those are my thoughts on why I think the Incredible Hulk is the most underappreciated
let me know in the comments below do you agree do you think it's underappreciated do you think it's
properly appreci appreci it do you have another you think is more so again happy discourse below
but now why this is about to be phase five's Thor to Dark World I think personally that Thor the
Dark World became more important thanks to endgame because its use of chronology that Natalie Portman
deleted scene it did a lot of heavy lifting to go like no no that Dark Horse really does
matter I think the Incredible Hulk is about to have the exact same treatment because not only
did Deadpool 3 have a very amazing iconic moment of Wolverine meeting Deadpool but in that scene
the bottle that we open with with one of my favorite stanlee cameos from The Incredible
Hulk when he gets poisoned in that soda again great Cameo that bottle is in the background
it's underneath Deadpool it's like just to the side of and he smashes into it and then then
Wolverine comes over and they're about to start that brawl my crazy 10f foil hat Theory save the
tenf foil hat for the end of the episode for all you people that hate them is that he's fighting
a Hulk I think Wolverine is going to get his comic accurate origin I think the Incredible Hulk number
181 is about to come to life and I don't think he's going to be fighting Mark ruffalo's Hulk
I think we're going to get the Incredible Hulk fighting Wolverine showing that the Universe
characters that whole Anchor Point idea is going to tie into this Hulk now I know Incredible Hulk
is MCU Canon I don't think they're going to be erasing that but what I think they're going to do
is just like that line and shehulk acknowledge that he has been another guy that might be a
multiversal scene with another multiversal Hulk and another multiversal Wolverine because I do
think Logan's going to stay dead this wolverine fighting this Hulk I think is going to tie
directly into the Incredible Hulk not to mention we're getting Thunderbolt Ross unfortunately
having to be recast due to the untimely passing of our original Thunderbolt Ross from Incredible
Hulk played by Harrison Ford in a presidential role we're about to get a character from this
movie as the President of the United States that is going to be so formative for registration and
regulation of mutants and superheroes alike going forward might tie into mayor Fisk and
all the Spider-Man storylines of why we need to regulate superheroes will definitely tie into the
X-Men and everything going forward but I think we'll also start kicking off things with the
Thunderbolts themselves now there are room that the name Thunderbolts won't come from Thunderbolt
Ross it'll be like uh the soccer team of yolen B I don't believe it uh it it might be true I hope
not but if it isn't true how great would it be if the Thunderbolts are named after Thunderbolt
Ross and there's like the Thunderbolt registration there's like the Thunderbolt regulation something
that comes through from a presidential decree that makes being a vigilante illegal and that
all started way back in the Incredible Hulk and finally super soldiers if you look at the
cast of Captain America 4 Captain America 4 is going to be huge it's a Fourth of July release
it is our first time seeing Anthony macki as cap on screen it is a big old movie and it is chock
full of being the sequel to The Incredible Hulk we're finally getting the leader we're getting
most likely I think Liv Tyler we're getting a lot of elements from this first movie so I think it's
going to be required viewing for the next three giant MCU films I think Deadpool 3 Thunderbolt
and cap 4 are all going to be sequels in their own way to this very underappreciated MCU film what do
you guys think foil hat theory that I think is the future of how this becomes relevant let me know in
the comments below if you think I'm crazy politely much love reject Nation we'll see you soon thank
you so much for bringing Ko's comic cornerback this is an absolute blast argue politely