History Trivia / Hulk

* WordOfGod:
** Much of the microbiology work seen in the film is accurate, courtesy of Ang Lee's wife.
** According to ILM animators, the Hulk's stats are:
*** He weighs 3,452 pounds (1,565.8 kilograms).
*** He can exert 14 tons (28,000 pounds) of pressure per square inch.
*** His skin is ten times as strong as Kevlar.
*** His chest measures 17 feet and four inches (5.3 meters).
*** His waist is 12 feet and ten inches (3.3 meters).
*** His feet are four feet and three inches (1.3 meters). If he wore shoes, they would be (U.S.) size 87.
*** His neck measures six feet and nine inches (2 meters).
*** He can move at a top speed of 300 miles (483 kilometers) per hour and cross three to four miles (4.8 to 6.4 kilometers) in a single jump.
** The dog fight was achieved through keyframe animation combined with a dog trainer and dogs in mo-cap suits.
** The film uses only a third of Ang Lee's original vision of the dog fight for budgetary reasons. It was trimmed down from 200 to 60 storyboards.
** The amount of CGI in the dog fight sequence made it one of ILM's most difficult scenes at the time.
** Before the shift to CGI, the Hulk would have been animatronic.
** The rat that David mutates is a dog in a rat suit.
** Bruce's second Hulk-Out is one of the film's first shots ILM worked on and the last one they finished since it's an on-screen Hulk-Out.

* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/SamElliott accepted the role of General Ross without reading the script, simply from being excited to work with Creator/AngLee.

* CreatorKiller: The movie's mixed reception nearly killed Ang Lee's career, but that didn't stop him from making ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' and ''Film/LifeOfPi''.

* DoingItForTheArt:
** As with all other Ang Lee films.
** Creator/NickNolte decided to join in all because he considered it to be about a Greek tragedy.

* RelationshipVoiceActor: Creator/PaulDobson and Creator/MichaelDobson voice two brothers.

* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/SamElliott accepted the role of General Ross without reading the script, being simply excited to work with Creator/AngLee.

** A girl named Alice teases Bruce in their school lab by pretending to put the moves on him. Bruce—uncomfortable and confused by Alice's advances—trips and falls over a stool. Then a group of students—some of them friends of Alice—appear and mock Bruce, with Alice joining them. Bringing himself back up, a convulsing and enraged Bruce accidentally knocks down a Bunsen burner and a test tube filled with alcohol that catches fire. While the others flee, Bruce stays behind as his body shakes again.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/StanLee didn't like Ang Lee's interpretation, mainly because he thought this movie's version of Hulk was "too big."

* HeyItsThatPlace: The house used by Betty Ross also appeared in ''Film/ToKillAMockingbird''.

* MissingTrailerScene: Fully original footage made up the 2002 teaser.

* HeAlsoDid: [[http://graigrobertson.com/ Graig Robertson]], the game's composer, also provided voice samples for the Hulk himself, and also composed music for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioStrikers'' and ''Jackie Chan's Stuntmaster''
* RelationshipVoiceActor: Both Creator/PaulDobson and Creator/MichaelDobson voice two brothers.

* AllThereInTheManual:
** Desert Base is in Nevada.
** Ross goes from a colonel to a general in the prologue.
** Bruce's adoptive mother's full name is Monica Krenzler. She's still alive during the film's main events, revealed to be an agent—presumably for Atheon— who was assigned to raise Bruce. She meets with Talbot early on and briefly reappears near the end, watching Bruce and Betty on CNN after Betty calms the Hulk in San Fransisco.
** Betty's mom died from brain cancer a week after the Desert Base incident.
** The novelization divulges Bruce and Betty's teenage years.
** An adolescent Betty and her father lived at Fort Meade, Maryland, for some time after her mother's death. It's where she first met Talbot while he was visiting his uncle, Colonel Talbot. She and Ross were stationed in Italy two years prior for a few months.
*** Betty and her dad hadn't spoken for over half a decade. They had a heated argument over her break-up with Talbot and getting accepted to Berkeley on scholarship as a high-school sophomore.
** The full name of Bruce's lab assistant is Jake Harper. He once shook hands with a certain [[ComicBook/AntMan Dr. Henry Pym]] when the latter congratulated him for his cellular regeneration doctorate.
** The unfortunate frog subjected to the nanomeds and gammasphere was dubbed "Freddie" by Harper; it's the 11th one lost to the gamma radiation experiment. There's another frog in the gammasphere during the fateful accident, which Harper dubs "Rick."
** Atheon is a nationwide, private research organization that's subcontracted by the government, and has ties to the military. One of the things it does is—as Talbot teases in the film—buy out smaller labs and acquire their assets.
** [[TheChessmaster Talbot]] arranged several things behind the scenes—namely the Berkeley Lab hiring Betty for her to work with Bruce and the mental hospital releasing David Banner. Talbot also has Bruce under constant surveillance.
** A female doctor who tends to Bruce after the accident has the surname "Chandler."
** According to concept art and the animation director Colin Brady in the Official Illustrated Screenplay, David's mastiff, poodle, and pitbull are respectively named Smokey, Lily, and Sammy. Brady also reveals the dogs' respective roles and personality traits: Lily is the antsy leader; Sammy is like a lion, constantly biting; and Smokey wrestles like a bear.
** Bruce tells Betty his belief that [[HaveWeMet he probably saw or knew her when they were both kids]] growing up in the desert. The novelization reveals they did meet during childhood; Bruce saw Betty while looking out his window when Ross arrested David.

* PlotHole:
** The presentation to the review board Betty and Bruce mention early sounds like a big deal, but it never amounts to anything.
** Whatever happened to the original Berkeley lab janitor, Benny? The novelization gives the NightmareFuel answer.
** Whether Betty owns the forest cabin in the woods or rents it is unknown. The novelization reveals Betty does possess it—her father built it, and her mother decorated it. After his wife died, General Ross began avoiding the place since it reminded him of her, so he left it to Betty for her to use as she pleases.
** When David meets Bruce in the hospital and the phone rings, David says it's probably Betty calling 'again,' but she never called beforehand. Betty does call Bruce in an earlier deleted scene.
** Why Betty goes to the cabin in the woods after meeting David instead of her home goes unexplained.
** How does the Hulk know where to find Betty when Bruce didn't even know she'd be at the cabin? The screenplay and novelization explain that the Hulk finds Betty by picking up her scent in the air.
** How does the Hulk find Betty before the mutant dogs do, although they had a vast head start? David sics them on Betty ''after'' calling Bruce in the novelization.
** Talbot expects to get a sample of the Hulk's DNA with an extraction drill, although knowing the Hulk's skin is tougher than kevlar; it'd probably be pointless trying through the Hulk's eye. The illustrated screenplay and novelization have Talbot use a handheld laser drill instead.

** The unfortunate frog subjected to the nanomeds and gammasphere was dubbed "Freddie" by Harper; it's the 11th one lost to the gamma radiation experiment. There's another frog in the gammasphere during the fateful accident, which Harper dubs [[Characters/IncredibleHulkSupportingCharacters "Rick."]]

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/AngLee cast Creator/EricBana after seeing him in ''Film/{{Chopper}}''.
* CreatorKiller: The movie's mixed reception nearly killed Creator/AngLee's career, but that didn't stop him from making ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' and ''Film/LifeOfPi''.

** A girl—named Alice in the novelization—teases Bruce in their school lab by pretending to put the moves on him. Bruce—uncomfortable and confused by Alice's advances—trips and falls over a stool. Then a group of students—some of them friends of Alice—appear and mock Bruce, with Alice joining them. Bringing himself back up, a convulsing and enraged Bruce accidentally knocks down a Bunsen burner and a test tube filled with alcohol that catches fire. While the others flee, Bruce stays behind as his body shakes again.

** The novelization reveals why Betty goes to her cabin after meeting David Banner. She returns home to discover [=MPs=] sent by her father, seizing everything connected to the lab and one parked across the street for her protection. She gets back in her car and drives off, eluding the [=MP=] tailing her along the way.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/StanLee didn't like this interpretation, mainly because he thought this movie's version of Hulk was "too big."

* PromotedFanboy: Creator/EricBana decided to join because he is a Hulk fan, like Creator/SamElliott and Creator/NickNolte.
* SavedFromDevelopmentHell:
** Avi Arad and Gale Anne Hurd began developing a Hulk film in 1990, setting up the property at Creator/{{Universal}} in 1992. In 1993, Creator/StanLee and Michael France were invited into Universal's offices, with France writing the script. Universal wanted to have the Hulk battle terrorists, an idea France disliked. John Turman, a Hulk comic book fan, was brought to write the script in 1994, getting Lee's approval. Heavily influenced by the ''Tales to Astonish'' issues, Turman wrote ten drafts and pitted the Hulk against General Ross and the military and the Leader, also including Rick Jones and the atomic explosion origin from the comics, along with Brian Banner as the explanation for Bruce's inner anger. Universal had mixed feelings over this script, but future screenwriters would use many elements.
** Hurd brought her husband Jonathan Hensleigh as co-producer the following year, and Universal hired Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic to create the Hulk with CGI. Universal was courting France once more to write the screenplay, but changed their minds when Creator/JoeJohnston became the director in April 1997, based on the success of ''Film/{{Jumanji}}''. France was fired before he wrote a single page but gave him a buy-off and Johnston dropped out to direct ''Film/OctoberSky''. Hensleigh convinced Universal to make this be his directorial debut. Turman was brought back a second time to write two more drafts. Creator/ZakPenn then re-wrote the script. His version featured a fight between the Hulk and a school of sharks, Bruce Banner realizing that he can't have sex without Hulking out and triggering a transformation while falling out of a helicopter.
** Hensleigh the re-wrote from scratch, coming up with a brand new storyline featuring Banner, who, before the accident which turns him into The Hulk, experiments with gamma-irradiated insect DNA on three convicts, transforming them into "insect men" that cause havoc.
** Filming was to start in December 1997 in Arizona for a summer 1999 release date, but filming was pushed back for four months. Hensleigh subsequently rewrote the script with Creator/JJ.Abrams. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were also brought on board to rewrite, with Hensleigh still attached as director. In October that year, the film entered pre-production with the creation of prosthetic makeup and computer animation already underway. Gregory Sporleder was cast as the villain "Novak", while Lynn "Red" Williams was cast as a convict who transforms into a combination of human, ant, and beetle.
** In March 1998, Universal put the film on hiatus due to its escalating $100 million budget and worries of Hensleigh directing his first film. $20 million was already spent on script development, computer animation, and prosthetics work. Hensleigh immediately went to rewrite the script to lower the budget. Hensleigh, finding the re-writing process too complicated, dropped out of the project, feeling he "wasted nine months in pre-production". It took another eight months for France to convince Universal and the producers to let him try to write a script for the third time. He was writing the script on the fast track from July—September 1999 and filming was to start in April 2000. France turned in his final drafts in late 1999-January 2000.
** Despite the positive reaction to France's script, Michael Tolkin and David Hayter were brought in to re-write it. Hayter's draft featured The Leader, Zzzax, and the Absorbing Man as the villains, who are depicted as Banner's colleagues and get caught in the same accident that creates the Hulk. Creator/AngLee and his producing partner James Schamus came aboard in January 2001. Lee was dissatisfied with Hayter's script and commissioned Schamus for a re-write. Filming finally began in March 2002 and finished in 2003.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/BillyCrudup was offered the role of Bruce Banner, turned it down. Creator/SteveBuscemi and Creator/JohnnyDepp were considered and Creator/DavidDuchovny and Creator/JeffGoldblum auditioned. Creator/EdwardNorton was offered the role, but despite being a fan of the character, turned it down due to not liking the script. He would later star in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008''.
* WorkingTitle: ''The Hulk''.

* AllThereInTheManual:
** Desert Base is in Nevada.
** Ross goes from a colonel to a general in the prologue.
** Bruce's adoptive mother's full name is Monica Krenzler. She's still alive during the film's main events, revealed to be an agent—presumably for Atheon— who was assigned to raise Bruce. She meets with Talbot early on and briefly reappears near the end, watching Bruce and Betty on CNN after Betty calms the Hulk in San Fransisco.
** Betty's mom died from brain cancer a week after the Desert Base incident.
** The novelization divulges Bruce and Betty's teenage years.
** An adolescent Betty and her father lived at Fort Meade, Maryland, for some time after her mother's death. It's where she first met Talbot while he was visiting his uncle, Colonel Talbot. She and Ross were stationed in Italy two years prior for a few months.
*** Betty and her dad hadn't spoken for over half a decade. They had a heated argument over her break-up with Talbot and getting accepted to Berkeley on scholarship as a high-school sophomore.
** The novelization reveals the full name of Bruce's lab assistant is Jake Harper. It mentions Harper once shook hands with a certain [[ComicBook/AntMan Dr. Henry Pym]] when the latter congratulated him for his cellular regeneration doctorate.
** The unfortunate frog subjected to the nanomeds and gammasphere was dubbed "Freddie" by Harper; it's the 11th one lost to the gamma radiation experiment. There's another frog in the gammasphere during the fateful accident, which Harper dubs [[Characters/IncredibleHulkSupportingCharacters "Rick."]]
** [[TheChessmaster Talbot]] arranged several things behind the scenes—namely the Berkeley Lab hiring Betty for her to work with Bruce and the mental hospital releasing David Banner. Talbot also has Bruce under constant surveillance.
** A female doctor who tends to Bruce after the accident has the surname "Chandler."
** According to concept art and the animation director Colin Brady in the Official Illustrated Screenplay, David's mastiff, poodle, and pitbull are respectively named Smokey, Lily, and Sammy. Brady also reveals the dogs' respective roles and personality traits: Lily is the antsy leader; Sammy is like a lion, constantly biting; and Smokey wrestles like a bear.
** Bruce tells Betty his belief that [[HaveWeMet he probably saw or knew her when they were both kids]] growing up in the desert. The novelization reveals they did meet during childhood; Bruce saw Betty while looking out his window when Ross arrested David.

* CreatorChosenCasting: Ang Lee cast Creator/EricBana after seeing him in ''Film/{{Chopper}}''.
* CreatorKiller: The movie's mixed reception nearly killed Ang Lee's career, but that didn't stop him from making ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' and ''Film/LifeOfPi''.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/StanLee didn't like Ang Lee's interpretation, mainly because he thought this movie's version of Hulk was "too big."

* PlotHole:
** The presentation to the review board Betty and Bruce mention early sounds like a big deal, but it never amounts to anything.
** Whatever happened to the original Berkeley lab janitor, Benny? The novelization gives the NightmareFuel answer.
** Whether Betty owns the forest cabin in the woods or rents it is unknown. The novelization reveals Betty does possess it—her father built it, and her mother decorated it. After his wife died, General Ross began avoiding the place since it reminded him of her, so he left it to Betty for her to use as she pleases.
** When David meets Bruce in the hospital and the phone rings, David says it's probably Betty calling 'again,' but she never called beforehand. Betty does call Bruce in an earlier deleted scene.
** Why Betty goes to the cabin in the woods after meeting David instead of her home goes unexplained.
** How does the Hulk know where to find Betty when Bruce didn't even know she'd be at the cabin? The screenplay and novelization explain that the Hulk finds Betty by picking up her scent in the air.
** How does the Hulk find Betty before the mutant dogs do, although they had a vast head start? David sics them on Betty ''after'' calling Bruce in the novelization.
** Talbot expects to get a sample of the Hulk's DNA with an extraction drill, although knowing the Hulk's skin is tougher than Kevlar; it'd probably be pointless trying through the Hulk's eye. The illustrated screenplay and novelization have Talbot use a handheld laser drill instead.
* PromotedFanboy: Eric Bana decided to join because he is a Hulk fan, like Sam Elliott and Nick Nolte.
* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The film was in development for 12 years, sufficient time for CGI to become sophisticated enough to render the visual effects needed.

* ThoseTwoActors: Creator/JenniferConnelly and Nick Nolte previously collaborated in ''Film/MulhollandFalls''.

** Talbot arranged several things behind the scenes—namely the Berkeley Lab hiring Betty for her to work with Bruce and the mental hospital releasing David Banner. Talbot also has Bruce under constant surveillance.

** Bruce tells Betty his belief that he probably saw or knew her when they were both kids growing up in the desert. The novelization reveals they did meet during childhood; Bruce saw Betty while looking out his window when Ross arrested David.

** According to concept art and the animation director Colin Brady in the Official Illustrated Screenplay, David's mastiff, poodle, and pit bull are respectively named Smokey, Lily, and Sammy. Brady also reveals the dogs' respective roles and personality traits: Lily is the antsy leader; Sammy is like a lion, constantly biting; and Smokey wrestles like a bear.
** Bruce tells Betty that he feels he probably saw or knew Betty when they were both kids growing up in the desert. The novelization reveals they did meet during childhood; Bruce saw Betty while looking out his window when Ross arrested David.

** Betty returns home after meeting David Banner to discover [=MPs=] sent by her father, seizing everything connected to the lab and one parked across the street for her protection. The novelization reveals this is why Betty goes to her cabin, eluding the [=MP=] tailing her along the way.
* DescendedCreator: Ang Lee did the motion capture of the Hulk.

** Whatever happened to the original Berkeley janitor, Benny? The novelization gives the NightmareFuel answer.
** Whether Betty owns the forest cabin in the woods or rents it is unknown. The novelization reveals Betty does own it; her father built it, and her mother decorated it. After his wife died, General Ross began avoiding the place since it reminded him of her, so he left it to Betty for her to use as she pleases.

* StillbornFranchise: As the quote atop that trope's page shows, they had to follow this with a reboot. However, there was a video game that continued the movie's events; [[EvenBetterSequel the video game itself was better received than the film.]] There is also a limited series comic in 2004 that took place after the game.

* SequelInAnotherMedium: Even though the game came out a month before the film, it continued its events. It's also the only direct follow-up to the film's story since whatever planned film sequels were scrapped for a ContinuityReboot in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''.

* StillbornFranchise: As the quote atop that trope's page shows, they had to follow this with a reboot. However, there was a video game that continued the movie's events; [[EvenBetterSequel the video game itself was better received than the film.]]

[[WMG:The 2003 Film]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/BillyCrudup and Creator/EdwardNorton were initially approached for Bruce Banner. Norton turned down the offer due to his dislike of the script. Norton would get cast as the character in [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk the MCU reboot]].
*** Creator/TomCruise, Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/DavidDuchovny, and Creator/SteveBuscemi were also considered.
** In an early version of the script, Talbot became the Abomination and fought the Hulk at the movie's end.
** In the script's first two versions, David was called Brian like in the comics.
** The animation studio originally made Hulk with a shade of green similar to what he has in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. But Ang Lee wanted Hulk greener to resemble his comic book counterpart better, as shown in the final film.
** An earlier screenplay had slightly more physical interaction between Betty and the Hulk during their two scenes together.
** As storyboarded and shown in concept art, the dog fight would've had the Hulk naked throughout the scene. To keep a PG-13 rating, they kept trying to find ways to [[SceneryCensor "cover up" his modesty with the trees and branches]], but Ang Lee thought it was reaching ''Film/AustinPowers''-levels of silliness.
*** The dog fight would've been more violent, with the Hulk killing the hounds more gruesomely, like crushing one's head in his hands. Betty would've also gotten minor injuries from the fight.
*** Concept art shows the Hulk Dogs as slightly larger than in the film.
** James Schamus began work on the script for the sequel before the release of ''Hulk'', and early drafts featured the Gray Hulk. Schamus also considered the Leader and the Abomination (who was still Talbot) as the main villains. The Leader eventually became the BigBad of the video game sequel.
** Talbot suffered a grislier death in an early script, getting himself riddled with bullets after shooting at the Hulk.

[[WMG:The 2003 Tie-In Game]]

* AllThereInTheManual: According to concept art and the animation director Colin Brady in the Official Illustrated Screenplay, David's mastiff, poodle, and pit bull are respectively named Smokey, Lily, and Sammy. Brady also reveals the dogs' respective roles and personality traits: Lily is the antsy leader; Sammy is like a lion, constantly biting; and Smokey wrestles like a bear.

* DeletedScene: Betty and Bruce showed a presentation on the failed nanomed test on frogs.

*** Creator/TomCruise, Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/DavidDuchovny, and Creator/SteveBuscemi were also considered for the role.

* SequelInAnotherMedium: Even though the game came out a month before the film, it continued its events. It's also the only direct follow-up to the film's story that came out, since whatever film sequels that were probably planned were scrapped in favor of a ContinuityReboot in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''.

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/AngLee cast Creator/EricBana after seeing him in ''Film/{{Chopper}}''.
* CreatorKiller: The mixed reception nearly killed Creator/AngLee's career but that did not stop him from making ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' and ''Film/LifeOfPi''.
* DeletedScene: Betty Ross showed a presentation on the failed nanomed test on frogs.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/StanLee didn't like Ang Lee's interpretation, mainly because he thought this movie's version of Hulk was "too big".

** As with all other Creator/AngLee films.

* DVDCommentary: By Creator/AngLee.
* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/NickNolte had his hair grown wildly for this movie when he was arrested on drunk driving charges and photographed for his now infamous mug shot.
* ExecutiveMeddling: Mychael Danna, Ang Lee's longtime composer, originally wrote the score. Unfortunately, Universal felt that the score was non-traditional. As such, their film music president, Kathy Nelson, asked Music/DannyElfman to rewrite the entire score.

* HeyItsThatPlace: The house used by Betty Ross was also used in ''Film/ToKillAMockingbird''.

* MissingTrailerScene: The 2002 teaser was composed of completely original footage.
* PromotedFanboy: Creator/EricBana decided to join because he is a fan of the Hulk, as are Creator/SamElliott and Creator/NickNolte.
* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The film was in development for twelve years, sufficient time for CGI to become sophisticated enough to render the visual effects needed.
* StillbornFranchise: As the quote atop that trope's page shows, they had to follow this with a reboot. However, there was a video game that continued the events of the movie. In fact, [[EvenBetterSequel the video game was better received than the film itself.]]
* ThoseTwoActors: Creator/JenniferConnelly and Creator/NickNolte previously collaborated in ''Film/MulhollandFalls''.

** Creator/BillyCrudup and Creator/EdwardNorton were originally approached for Bruce Banner. Norton turned down the offer due to his dislike of the script. Norton would end up cast as the character in [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk the MCU reboot]].

** In an early version of the script, Talbot became the Abomination and fought the Hulk at the end of the movie.
** In the first two versions of the script, David was called Brian like in the comics.
** The animation studio originally made Hulk with a shade of green similar to what he has in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. But Ang Lee wanted Hulk greener as shown in the final film to better resemble his comic book counterpart.
** As storyboarded, the mutant dog fight would've the Hulk be naked for almost the entire scene. To keep a PG-13 rating, they kept trying to find ways to [[SceneryCensor "cover up" his anatomy with the trees and branches]], but Ang Lee thought it was getting into ''Film/AustinPowers''-levels of silliness.
** James Schamus had begun work on the script for the sequel before the release of ''Hulk'' and early drafts featured the Gray Hulk. Schamus was also considering the Leader and the Abomination (who was still Talbot) as the main villains. The Leader eventually became the BigBad of the video game sequel.

* SequelInAnotherMedium: Even though the game came out a month before the film, it still continued on the film's events. It's also the only direct followup to the film's story that came out, since whatever film sequels that may have been planned were scrapped in favor of a ContinuityReboot in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''.

* FanNickname: "Absorbing Dad" for Bruce's father, due to the character having the powers of Absorbing Man from the comics (who as a side note is not a relative of Bruce Banner, and gained his powers from magic).

* ExecutiveMeddling: Mychael Danna, Ang Lee's longtime composet, originally wrote the score. Unfortunately, Universal felt that the score was non-traditional. As such, their film music president, Kathy Nelson, asked Music/DannyElfman to rewrite the entire score.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/StanLee did not like Ang Lee's interpretation.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Mychael Danna, Ang Lee's longtime composer, originally wrote the score. Unfortunately, Universal felt that the score was non-traditional. As such, their film music president, Kathy Nelson, asked Music/DannyElfman to rewrite the entire score.

** Creator/BillyCrudup and Creator/EdwardNorton were approached for the role of [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] before Creator/EricBana was cast. However, Norton turned down the offer due to his dislike of the script. Norton would eventually go on to portray the titular character in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''.
*** Creator/TomCruise, Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/DavidDuchovny, and Creator/SteveBuscemi were considered for the part of Bruce Banner as well before the casting of Bana. Goldblum would eventually go on to play the Grandmaster in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''.

** James Schamus had begun work on the script for the sequel before the release of ''Hulk'' and early drafts featured the Gray Hulk. Schamus was also considering the Leader and the Abomination (who's still Talbot) as the main villains. The Leader eventually became the villain of the video game sequel.

* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/AngLee cited influences from ''Film/KingKong1933'', ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', ''Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast'', Myth/{{Faust}}, and Greek mythology for his interpretation of the story.

* OldShame: Averted with Ang Lee and Eric Bana who had no regrets doing the film.

* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Some critics like Creator/RogerEbert complained about the film even though it is TruerToTheText. For instance, Ebert didn't like how the film showed the Hulk's [[InASingleBound ability to jump so far on a low angle that it looks like he is flying in mid-arc]], dismissively complaining at how the Hulk had become a green jumping jack, even though the various animated adaptations have depicted it before.

* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Some critics like Creator/RogerEbert complained about the film even though it is TruerToTheText. For instance, Ebert didn't like how the film showed the Hulk's [[InASingleBound ability to jump so far on a low angle that it looks like he is flying in mid-arc]], dismissively complaining at how the Hulk had become a green jumping jack.

*** Creator/TomCruise, Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/DavidDuchovny, and Creator/SteveBuscemi were considered for the part of Bruce Banner as well before the casting of Bana. (Goldblum went on to play the Grandmaster in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse film ''Film/ThorRagnarok''; the Grandmaster's monologue introducing the Hulk at the Contest of Champions includes the line "I feel a special connection with him", which might be a nod to this could-have-been.)

*** Creator/TomCruise, Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/JeffGoldblum, Creator/DavidDuchovny, and Creator/SteveBuscemi were considered for the part of Bruce Banner as well before the casting of Bana.

* ActorAllusion: Betty's first line, "I hate them" is likely a reference to Creator/JenniferConnelly's line from ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}''.

* CastingGag: In the Brazilian dub, Bruce's father, [[AdaptationNameChange here named]] David Banner, was voiced by Newton da Matta, who had voiced ''another'' David Banner: Bruce's counterpart, played by Bill Bixby, in ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'', then emphasizing that MythologyGag to the Brazilian audience.

* DescendedCreator: Ang Lee did the motion capture of the Hulk.

* DyeingForYourArt: Nick Nolte had his hair grown wildly for this movie when he was arrested on drunk driving charges and photographed for his now infamous mug shot.
* ExecutiveMeddling: Mychael Danna, Ang Lee's longtime composer, originally wrote the score to ''Hulk''. Unfortunately, Universal felt that the score was non-traditional. As such, their film music president, Kathy Nelson, asked Music/DannyElfman to rewrite the entire score.
* FakeAmerican: Melbourne-born Eric Bana as the Californian Bruce Banner.

* PromotedFanboy: Creator/EricBana decided to join because he is a fan of the Hulk, Sam Elliott and Nick Nolte.

* SequelInAnotherMedium: Even though the game came out a month before the film, it still continued on the film's events. It's also the only direct followup to the film's story that came out, since whatever film sequels that may have been planned were scrapped in favor of a ContinuityReboot in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''.