So just who is the Incredible Hulk?
Bruce Banner
Or wait. Was it Bob Banner?
Robert Banner
Robert Bruce Banner?
David Banner
Oh man, this could get confusing
Hello everyone, I'm DK and this is Alter Ego
The show that strives to take a deeper look at some of our favorite names in comics
Today, I'll be taking you through the history
of our guy Bruce Banner's name
And going over why he's had so many of them
The year was 1962 and Stan Lee had just created another of his superhero greats
The Hulk
Having taken inspiration from Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Lee found the framework for his character
And for the name
Why not use his favorite tried and true method
Alliteration
We even did a whole video on it right here
It makes it easy to remember right
That's the whole point
Things started off just fine
The first issues were published
with the Hulk's not so jacked version's name being Bruce Banner
We learn his origin story
join him as he flees pursuing troops
and causes young women to faint from shock
and witness with bated breath
as he is mind controlled by and later saves The Gargoyle
However in 1964
readers noticed an odd change
when Bruce became Bob
In Fantastic Four Volume 1 Number 25
Word spread quickly of their perplexion
and Stan Lee realized he had misremembered
this easy to remember name
as Lee recounts, it had been some time since he had last written anything involving the Hulk
and he simply didn't recall the name
when picking up the pen again
So now what?
Here we have a hero with two first name and no easy explanation for it
Well in usual comic book fashion with some creative thinking
Stan Lee addressed this a few issues later
by combining the names
Thus making them both accurate
There's only one thing to do,
we're not going to take the cowardly way out.
From now on his name is Robert Bruce Banner
So we can't go wrong no matter WHAT we call him!
Yes, Bob became Robert
and Bruce became a middle name
turning the Hulk's new official name into Robert Bruce Banner
which is how it has been in the comics
ever since
But, uh, all done
I'm just kidding, we're not, we're not done yet
You see, during Mr Banner's five season foray into television
in the 1978 to 1982 series
The Incredible Hulk, starring Lou Ferrigno
and Bill Bixby
He managed to adopt yet another moniker
David
Which sounds nothing like Bruce or Bob
so how did this mix up happen
well it turns out this was actually an intentional decision
made by one of the show's producers, Kenneth Johnson
Most believe this choice was made because
the network considered the name Bruce to be to
Um
effeminite
for television
but this has mostly been dismissed as conjecture and rumor
despite the fact that Ferrigno actually went on record saying
that it was, in fact true
the official reason for the change is that
the alliterative name was then considered to much of a
comic book thing
because naming a character in a TV series
based on a comic book the same name as the character in the comic book
is just, it's too much
apparently
Alright
Really though Kenneth Johnson just didn't have any respect for the source material
He didn't even want to make the show at first
until he saw the potential parallels
the Hulk could have to Victor Hugo's hero
Jean Valjean in Les Miserables
an abnormally strong man perpetually hunted
as a criminal even when he's just trying to do what's right
in order to make the show more accessible to a wider audience
Johnson toned down the comic bookyness of the story
Hulk's origin was changed significantly
Comic book characters were scrapped in favor of an original cast
and of course
Bruce's name was changed to David
But why David
It turns out it was the name of Johnson's son
and felt apparently more masculine
fortunately, in a small way
balance between comics and televison
tipped a little bit in the other direction
as Stan Lee managed to fit the name Bruce into the series on Banner's gravestone
Banner's gravestone
*sad music*
And there you have it!
Robert David Bruce Banner is all the same guy
with every name there for a different reason
So what do you think?
Is the name Bruce, too effeminate
I'm just kidding
That's absolutely not my question
It's not, it's not to effeminate
That's stupid
But what do you think about the creative license Kenneth Johnson took on the character
or about any other liberties that have been taken with comic book characters in media
Let's talk about it all, in the comments
I have opinions, I'm sure you do to
So hey, if you like this show
Go ahead and click on this link on the left
to check out some more of Alter Ego
You can watch all of them there if you want
I think they're fun
Or maybe you are already caught up on Alter Ego and you want to see some more of my stuff
Well click on the link to my right
to check out the video I did about a certain Game of Thrones character
that is super important to the story
but you haven't actually seen in the show yet
I'm just gonna leave it at that, because spoilers
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When we explore the art, history, science and names behind our favorite comics
Once again guys, this is DK
Thanks for watching
and I will see you next time