Ang Lee's Hulk Is Marvel's Batman Returns (Which Makes It Good)
Hulk is the Marvel movie equivalent of Batman Returns, and that shows its strengths despite its mixed reception. Directed by Ang Lee, hot of the success of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hulk was released to divisive reviews in the summer of 2003. It's $245.5m worldwide haul, while respectable, also made Hulk a moderate financial disappointment, leading to the Hulk being rebooted in 2008 with The Incredible Hulk as the second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, thanks this apparent attempt to eradicate its legacy, the movie shares an unlikely relationship with Tim Burton's Batman sequel.
Nearly two decades after its release, Hulk's place among superhero movies is, in a word, different. Hulk isn't simply a dark movie, but also an extremely surreal one, often literally becoming a cinematic comic book – highlighted by scenes such as the fight between the titular green protagonist and actor Nick Nolte's David Banner. Many of these bold stylistic choices have been attributed to Lee's status as a more artistic, rather than stereotypically action-focused filmmaker. However, Hulk is far from the only comic book movie directed by someone with a very distinct style to face a polarized reception. Indeed, Tim Burton's Batman Returns shows that it wasn't even the first project to attempt such a bold and visionary approach.
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Batman Returns is surprisingly similar to Hulk not just in how it used an iconic superhero, but also in how it was received by the general public. The Christmas-set Batman Returns is more favorably regarded today than it was during its contemporaneous reception, but Hulk has never had any noticeable modern reappraisal itself. While the two movies
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