All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S04E03.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

Marvel Comics
had sold the movie rights

to their A-list heroes
just to keep the lights on.

So when it came to launching
their own studio...

Marvel didn't have
much to work with.

If you go back to 2005
and you ask people about

Captain America,
Thor, you know, Black Widow,

most people aren't gonna know
who those people are.

Marvel decided
to make Iron Man

the first film in the MCU.

It's really risky.
I mean, they're playing

- with live ammo here.
- If Iron Man...

failed...
there's no MCU.

But it wasn't just
up to Iron Man to save the day.

Marvel was about to learn
how hard it is

to film two movies at once.

Filming at the same time
as Iron Man,

Incredible Hulk gave Marvel
incredible problems.

It's rumored that Norton
angered a lot of people on set.

He essentially takes
the movie over

from Zak Penn who,
uh, is writing a script.

Kevin Feige
had a fight on his hands

in more ways than one.

It's, uh, classic
creative differences.

Usually the studio person
is not

in the edit room
every single day.

And for the first time,

Marvel began to lose control
of the narrative.

Edward Norton finally releases
a statement of his own.

Just as control
of its own ideas

- was in its grasp...
- Edward Norton essentially

- declined to promote the movie.
- It looked like

things in the MCU
were about to get...

Ugly.
That Hulk is ugly

- and that was the trouble.
- And with its first

sequel rushed
into production...

Oh, this ain't
gonna be good.

It was almost
out of control.

Marvel had it all
on the line for real.

If these four movies fail,
Merrill Lynch

will get the rights
to the next six Marvel movies.

The newly formed
Marvel Studios

headed by
Ike Perlmutter, Avi Arad,

and now Arad's
second-in-command,

Kevin Feige, had greenlit
two movies on the same day:

The Incredible Hulk
and the relatively unknown

- Iron Man.
- They were taking

a tremendous risk

with Iron Man.

A risk
that paid off big time.

However, things for Marvel
weren't quite as simple

as just making one hit movie.

There was a deal
with Merrill Lynch

to finance Marvel Studios.

A deal
that funded four films

in exchange
for the filming rights

to ten of Marvel's
remaining characters.

If, that is,
Marvel failed to hold up

their end of the bargain.

But so far so good
'cause not only

had Iron Man
made a lot of money,

the seeds of a much larger
Marvel Cinematic Universe

had been planted
by this man.

- I am Iron Man.
- No, uh...

Kevin Feige,
who had been a coffee boy

up until not that long ago.

He was the guy getting everyone
coffee on the set of X-Men.

And it seemed
like Kevin Feige

knew what he was doing.

Kevin was the one person

that understood the fanbase,

understood the spirit
of the comics,

had a great instinct
for what people wanted to see.

And Kevin knew
that people wanted to see

more than just standalone
Marvel movies.

It was really
important to Kevin to--

to smash the rules
in the superhero world.

Uh, now speaking
of smashing things...

Hulk smash.

Exactly.

This story is about
Kevin Feige's backup plan

because if Iron Man
failed to take off,

Feige had one last trick
up his sleeve.

Out of my way!

Or whatever was left of it.

The Incredible Hulk
was Marvel's backup

if Iron Man
hadn't done so well.

The Incredible Hulk
was their safe bet.

However, in this
intricate web

of filming rights
spread far and wide,

when it came to The Hulk...

There was a lot of affection
for The Hulk character.

Of course, however,

Marvel didn't own
the filming rights.

Universal still had the rights
to make Hulk movies.

But this would change
soon enough

and for this
we can thank Stan Lee...

sorry, Ang Lee.

But before we get into that,

we need to back up
a few decades...

...because before
we can tell the story

of The Hulk on the big screen,

we need to go back
to find out why everybody

knows and loves
this loveable green guy.

The Hulk was my favorite
character as a kid.

And like all

the great characters
that came from Stan Lee's

Marvel Method era,
as odd as it may seem,

The Hulk
is relatable, too.

Every one of us
has a little Hulk inside of us,

but we can't do the things
The Hulk does.

So he releases that inner demon
we have ourselves.

That's what makes
the connection so powerful.

I mean, how can you not
love some big, green dude...

- that's kinda angry?
- Do you live here, too?

...but sweet at the same time.

But not too sweet.

Hulk's origins
are as radioactive as it gets.

Bruce Banner
is an atomic scientist.

He goes out to the test site
at the last minute.

He goes out to rescue a kid...

but he gets a massive
dose of gamma radiation

and when he gets angry,
that turns him into The Hulk.

But there was
much more to The Hulk

than just angry energy.

I love The Hulk.
It was always a love story

and it was definitely
a Beauty and the Beast kind of story

that you could get behind.

But the influences
don't stop there.

Stan wanted both
a Jekyll and Hyde,

but a Frankenstein's monster
in the sense that

the monster itself
is not evil,

but when he got mad,
he tore stuff up.

It didn't take long
for The Hulk to find his way

from the page...

Banner, it's a miracle
that you're still alive.

...to the screen featuring in

the Marvel Super Heroes
TV show.

There was an animated show

- in 1966...
- What's happening?

It was the first time
The Hulk had been adapted.

Although, adapted might be
a generous term

as most of the animation
was Xeroxed art

- straight from the comics.
- Then in the 1970s,

we get a live-action Hulk.

He has metamorphosized
into some...

extraordinary creature.

- It ran for five seasons.
- Take it easy.

The Lou Ferrigno
television show

popularized The Hulk.

Just the image of him
is very much

in the cultural consciousness
beyond the comic books.

But it was far
from comic book accurate.

Stan tried
to get the producers

to be faithful
to the source material.

- They didn't want to hear it.
- In the comics,

The Hulk's enemies included...

The Abomination, General Ross,

- The Leader.
- TV Hulk

faced off against
more economical foes.

- Such as... football players...
- He's crossing

- the 20, the 15.
- ...cowboys...

...zoo animals...

Sometimes TV Hulk
didn't even fight

against anyone.
He just had to navigate

frustrating situations.

- Like traffic.
- I've got to be there by five!

And, of course,
flying a plane.

Hit the brakes!

You've got to slow down!

In its five-season run,

the TV series
pushed the boundaries

of Hulk's relatability,
but there was more to come.

- All in good time.
- In a series

of made-for-TV movies,
there would be

Marvel crossovers aplenty.

This will send you
back to hell, you ugly troll!

That's the first time
you see The Hulk

and a different character together.

In 1989's
The Trial of the Incredible Hulk...

That's a very noisy knife.

...Daredevil would make
his first appearance on television.

I could do it
with my eyes closed.

To me, that was like
the icing on the cake.

That was kind of more like
what I wanted The Hulk

to be like because the fact
that you had Thor,

you had the Daredevil,
it gave him more of a stretch

- as an actor.
- In addition

to The Man Without Fear,
another Marvel icon

would make
their of many appearances.

That's Stan Lee's first cameo.

A generation grew up
with Lou Ferrigno's Hulk,

but it didn't stop there.

There was also a Hulk
animated Fox Kids show.

Well, of course.
Margaret Loesch

was in charge of Fox Kids
and she did promise...

I'm gonna be a buyer.
I can buy Marvel shows.

But The Hulk was
too big for the small screen

and it just so happened
that Universal Pictures

had acquired the movie rights
to The Hulk

quite cheaply during the Marvel
bankruptcy in the mid-'90s.

Universal ended up getting
The Hulk.

The Hulk became
synonymous with Universal,

becoming an early staple
of the Universal Backlot Tour.

But Universal had bigger plans

and finally a major Hollywood
studio would give The Hulk

all of the incredible resources
at their disposal,

greenlighting, so to speak,
The Incredible Hulk.

So you have
this writer named Zak Penn.

He had written a draft
of The Hulk movie in the '90s.

The film was to be produced

by action icon Gale Anne Hurd.

Fantastic woman.
Knows her stuff.

She most certainly did,

as Gale Anne Hurd's resume
reads like a checklist

of the greatest action films
of all time.

Industrial Light & Magic
were set to bring

The Hulk to life.

Practical animation effects
would be key

as the first
fully CGI character...

Meesa Jar Jar Binks.

...was still a decade away.

By the early '90s,
the stuff that ILM is doing

is starting to get
really advanced,

but the technology
just wasn't there yet.

Soon the budget ballooned

to well over
$100 million dollars,

leading Universal
to delay production

until 2003 when
computer generated technology

had caught up with Universal's
computer generated

vision of The Hulk.

There was the Ang Lee movie

that starred Eric Bana.

And in this version,

which still pre-dates
the success of Iron Man

by five years,
instead of Stan Lee's vision

for The Hulk as
one of Jekyll and Hyde

meets Frankenstein's monster.

Ang Lee tried to make The Hulk

a Shakespearian tragedy
and succeeded.

It's my mother.

I don't even know her name.

People didn't want that.

They wanted to see
The Hulk smash stuff.

Hey, I'm not
gonna explode, okay?

And the box office
didn't explode, either.

That was seen as a sort of
noble creative failure.

Ang Lee's Hulk,
was a leap too far literally.

"Leaping miles is probably...

not going to feel real."

Is something people did say.

The film was met
with scathing reviews

and a lackluster
box office performance.

It just didn't resonate
with audiences.

And the message to Universal

and acclaimed action producer
Gale Anne Hurd was clear...

...what they wanted was...

- More action.
- Action.

- Action.
- Action.

Superhero action...

- ...car chase action.
- I think everybody wanted--

- Hulk smash.
- And hearing the call

when it came to the sequel,
Universal passed.

Which, for Marvel, was
a very consequential decision.

You know,
the rights to these characters

are always an issue because

these production companies
have to option the rights

to use these characters

and if they don't start
production within,

you know,
a certain window of time,

then they lose the rights
to these characters.

Because it meant
the filming rights

would revert back to them with
some conditions, of course.

The rights reverted
to Marvel, but Universal

still had distribution rights.

Which at that time,

wasn't necessarily a bad thing
for Marvel.

Marvel Studios was not
a full-fledged studio.

They did not have
a distribution arm.

They did not have
a marketing division.

With Marvel having one

of its prized properties back,
could it be that

Universal and Marvel
teaming up

might lead
to a much needed box office?

Hulk smash!

Or would Hulk flop?

Marvel had regained the rights

to one of their
biggest characters.

Around the same time,
they made an incredibly risky

financial deal
with Merrill Lynch

and so now it was the fledgling
Marvel Studios' turn

to greenlight The Hulk,
announcing that there

would be a movie
on the same day

they'd announced Iron Man,
except this time,

Hulk wouldn't be done
the Universal way.

It would be done...

The Marvel way.

Which, by 2006,
was also the Kevin Feige way.

Kevin Feige always looked
to the comics for inspiration.

It's one thing
for people to say, like,

"Oh, yeah, you know,
they really know their comics."

No, Kevin knows his comics

- and loves them.
- The comics are an incredible

source of inspiration.

But one comic, by design,

was a particular inspiration

and it was, of course,
The Ultimates

of which Mark Millar
had been writing and plotting

- since 2002.
- We essentially

planned an Avengers movie, um...

We thought, "Okay, how do we
start this thing from scratch

and introduce it
for a modern audience?"

Took the essentials
of what these things were

and actually made them
very mainstream

and understandable
for people who didn't have

5,000 comics in their attic.

The Ultimates
helped define Iron Man,

as it would
The Incredible Hulk and beyond.

The Ultimates comics
had already started to tie in

a lot of what we would be doing
on the live-action side.

So it felt like, "Okay. Great.
We can also draw from that."

And, so, in part,
thanks to The Ultimates,

Kevin Feige
had the direction he wanted

to take
the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But before he took it anywhere,
he would need

a director
for The Incredible Hulk.

Ang Lee was out
and Louis Leterrier was in,

best known for directing
The Transporter films.

Louis Leterrier
had wanted to direct Iron Man.

He was in the running,
but that job went to Jon Favreau

and so they offered him
The Incredible Hulk instead.

And despite not
adding much in the way of...

- Action.
- Action.

Action.

Action producer

Gale Anne Hurd would be back

along with script writer
Zak Penn.

But this time, Kevin Feige
was able to show them...

The Marvel way.

Which was the Kevin Feige way

- and the Mark Millar way.
- The screenwriter

Zak Penn said he was using
The Ultimates as his template.

But Zak Penn also
turned to classic Hulk comics.

Specifically,
the work of Joe Casey.

Maybe they went to
my run 'cause my run dealt with

The Hulk versus The Abomination,
who's kind of

the arch enemy of The Hulk.

The Abomination would be in

and so would Tim Roth.

In the original comics,
Emil Blonsky turns himself

- into The Abomination.
- The mixture could be...

an abomination.

He's sort of
the opposite of The Hulk

in the sense that
he wants to change.

I can... fix this.

And is pretty much
in control when he does change.

It's about manifesting
his dark side.

- It's always there.
- Give me a real fight!

It's a Hulk
that wants to be evil

and wants to be out of control
and revels in it.

And as for The Hulk himself?

Louis Leterrier, at this point,
his choice to play

The Hulk is Mark Ruffalo
and Marvel Studios

really wants Edward Norton
and, so, there's this

kind of tug-of-war
a little bit over casting.

- It has to be me.
- Ultimately

it's Edward Norton
who comes on.

Marvel Studios
had got their way.

I think Ed was the right Banner
at the time.

They're looking to bring
some prestige to the project.

He exudes brains
and that's part of what

you need with Bruce Banner.
He's a genius scientist.

It is too dangerous.
It cannot be controlled.

Ed Norton's a great actor

which, at that time,
was the smart play.

Other smart plays
at that time?

We're giving you
a very low dose only.

So William Hurt was cast

as General Thaddeus
"Thunderbird" Ross.

He is the sort of
quasi-antagonist of the movie.

And rounding out the cast...

Liv Tyler
was cast as Betty Ross.

Bruce...

It was an almost
ultimate cast and crew

and along with Mark Millar's
The Ultimates,

things were looking up.

Throwing Bruce Banner
out of the helicopter

in the hope
that The Hulk lands...

Oh, sh...

Ed Norton
jumps out of the plane

being Banner and lands...

...and then emerges
as Hulk.

That was the first taste
of one of my things

starting to appear
in a film

and I was so excited
about that.

But, ultimately,
Edward Norton thought

the script needed some...
punch-ups.

Like, you're seeing
Banner and Hulk

- starting to fuse a little.
- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Edward Norton
starts to get more and more

involved in the screenplay.

He essentially takes the movie
over from Zak Penn.

You know what I mean?

Like, you actually see him--

You see Banner
fight for control.

There was this scene
where he comes to the door

with the pizza.
We had dressed the set

and the background.
It was a biology class

and I had written
a formula up on the chalkboard.

The temperature's too high.

What?

And literally
I got a phone call

and he gets on the phone
with me.

He says, "What's the answer
to the formula

on the chalkboard?
Because I thought it'd be really funny

when I'm talking,
I give them the answer

to the formula."
And I'm like, "Hold, please."

That third thermocouple,

you're running it hot.
That should be, like,

165, not 185.

He's right.

And while everybody
loves a bit of math action,

that wasn't exactly
what Kevin Feige had in mind.

- Action.
- Action.

Action.

Edward Norton

wanted the character to be

much more angsty
and for there not to be

as much Hulk screen time.

Norton wanted this to be
a showcase for his talents.

But if they
learned one lesson

from the Ang Lee Hulk,
it was that for this movie...

The real star is The Hulk,

- not Edward Norton.
- It was clear

the battle between
Kevin Feige and Edward Norton

was just getting started.

Marvel was looking
to avoid past mistakes...

I should've killed you.

I wish you had.

...and make
The Incredible Hulk

- an action-packed extravaganza.
- Look at me.

You have to go far away
from me as you can.

Don't argue with me.
Just go.

Can people go for the ride

- on action movies?
- Let him have all of it.

Of course they can.
Why? 'Cause we've got

an entire databank saying
that people have been going

to these kinds of movies...

...forever.
They're spectacles

and you can do more
of a spectacle with The Hulk

which is a fun ride.

But Edward Norton
believed the best version

of The Hulk
wasn't about the monster...

Wait, we can't do this.

...but about the man.

I can't get too excited.

- That's powerful.
- Not even a little excited?

That's what people wanna see.

That connection.
Not just about fighting.

Not just about Army tanks,
then smashing planes.

It's that connection.
That human effect.

That's great
storytelling, you know?

Where it's like the expectation
is, you know,

he dared let the monster out.

You don't understand!
Something really bad

- is about to happen here.
- Tensions were

growing between both camps.

You know, sort of classic
creative differences.

You have Leterrier
and Edward Norton

who are trying to make a bit
more of a cerebral thriller...

No.

And Marvel decided
that they needed the movie to be

more action forward.

With the support
of Leterrier,

Edward Norton continued
to push back against Marvel,

taking his dark vision
of The Hulk

to an extreme.

Their version
of the film was to open

with the scene
where Bruce Banner

- is walking in the Artic.
- This is also

throughout the comics,
Bruce Banner

hates being The Hulk and...

wants to get rid
of the monster within.

He puts a gun in his mouth
and tries to kill himself

and The Hulk
shoots it back out.

This is the core concept
that really appealed to me

is this guy who just
wants to stop being The Hulk.

There was a lot of
to-ing and fro-ing about that.

A lot of concern about,
you know, social responsibility.

Kevin Feige

continued to push
against Norton and Leterrier's

increasingly dark take
on The Hulk,

but they did have common ground
with everyone

sharing a love
of the '70s TV show.

Lou Ferrigno
even agreed to return

- as the voice of The Hulk.
- Louis Leterrier,

he wants me
to do the voice

when The Hulk
was talking to Betty.

Be... tty.

It's powerful
because I know how he thinks

and feels
because you can't duplicate that

- with special effects.
- But Lou's

intimate understanding of
The Hulk went beyond the voice

and his cameo scene.

I wanted to do the
motion capture

because I know how The Hulk
should move and run,

but, you know,
it's a different time.

A different situation.
I was disappointed.

I think it was
a mistake on their part.

So, who got the gig?

Edward Norton,

he was pretty into it,
you know?

We did a lot of
facial motion capture

which was pretty advanced
for the time.

Edward Norton's

Hulk face
may have been convincing,

but no one liked him
when he was angry.

It's rumored
that Norton angered

a lot of people
on set and was just generally

- difficult to work with.
- Eventually,

word got out
about Norton, Marvel,

and a troubled production.

In the press,
it's getting out that there are

creative battles happening
on The Incredible Hulk.

Tension was at
an all-time high.

Ed Norton
is a freaking genius actor,

but Marvel, at that point,
was very much

in the mode of "You are not
more important than us."

And after
Ang Lee's disappointing

dialogue-heavy Hulk,
Marvel had far too much

on the line
to repeat those mistakes.

Edward Norton
releases a statement

and it says something to the effect
of "The creative process

is one of push and pull"
and essentially saying,

"Everyone's reading
into these stories too much.

This is how movies are made."
It was meant to put a damper

on reports that are coming out
of, essentially,

a battle over what this movie
is going to be.

Whatever you've heard
about me, it's not true.

Norton had taken the high road,

believing his
conceptual spin

on the psychosomatic antihero
could still happen

and as editing began,

it seemed like
it was happening.

It's getting very long.

Maybe 40 minutes too long.

Louis Leterrier
and Edward Norton,

you know, were lobbying
for a bit of a longer cut.

But it was wasted breath.

Louis and Edward were allowed
to do it their way.

- Now it was time to do it...
- The Marvel way.

Kevin Feige really wants
to bring in

as much input as he can get
and then at the end of the day,

he gets the final say.

Kevin was out of time

and could no longer
indulge Norton.

It was a very hard
release date

and we were quite far behind.

All of it
was a tight deadline.

With the clock ticking,

Kevin grabbed the reins.

Towards the end,
Kevin was very involved,

but the process
of editing the film

became getting rid
of a lot of the weightiness.

It was time
to lighten things up,

which meant no more
time for tears.

Ugh. I'm so sorry.

Then there's the matter of

The Incredible Hulk's
opening sequence.

Starting a movie in which

the hero tries to kill himself
is, you know,

maybe that is
a good thing to avoid.

Kids love that.

The dark opening
was to be replaced

by a decidedly lighter
origin sequence

inspired by
the television show.

One that would also make it
abundantly clear

this was not a sequel
to Ang Lee's Hulk.

The only problem was, time.

It was very quick
additional photography.

Take two.

We kind of cobbled
together a little bit of a laboratory.

And it was very
black box theater kind of...

smoke and mirrors,
not full scenery.

When it came to fixes,

Kevin Feige
was just getting warmed up.

Norton's cut
was a different tone

and a different pace
that had to go.

Including
long, morning jogs...

long yoga workouts.

and long...
whatever is happening here.

Even the pizza scene
got sliced.

You know what?
You don't wanna make me angry.

And the problems
kept coming,

as there were new concerns
about the film's star.

No, not Edward Norton,

there was
a much bigger problem.

That Hulk is ugly.

Edward Norton's
quest for realism...

Three! Two! One! Action!

...was in stark contrast

to the movie's many computer
generated special effects.

We would shoot with a stand-in

with, kind of,
a Hulk face on a pole.

And with the movie's
almost entirely CG third act,

that was a lot of poles

and a lot of work for
VFX supervisor Betsy Paterson

and the movie's editor
Rick Shaine.

This was very difficult.

I was having
to picture something

that would be created.

And even though
much of the third act

was still being worked out
in post-production,

Louis Leterrier had
given them plenty to work with.

He went out there
with the camera himself

running around shooting plates
and saying, "Okay,

he's gonna be up here now and
then he's gonna be down here."

But when The Hulk
finally transformed

from a tennis ball
on the end of a pole,

there were growing fears
that effects team

Rhythm and Hues
were missing the mark.

Ang Lee's Hulk compared
to this Hulk...

really looked
like a great Hulk to me.

I prefer that Hulk, personally.

Hulk shouldn't be ugly.

I mean, he's frightening,
but shouldn't be so bulgy.

It was too far.
Too extreme.

It's okay.

But there were issues
beyond style.

What you're trying
to achieve there

is have
a digitally created Hulk

exist believably
with human characters

and that requires
a level of reality

and detail and sweat
and wind in the hair...

I was never

100% happy with his hair.

Every now and then,
I'm just like... I just wanna...

When Louis made his film,

I don't believe
the technology was there

to let that Hulk breathe
with those people.

So there's ways that they
were handicapped a little bit that way.

Now you can smash and bash!

As the film's
premiere date loomed,

marketing kicked
into high gear,

but when it came
to publicity,

the movie's star
was nowhere to be seen.

Norton essentially declined
to promote the movie.

And then on June 1st, 2008,

Marvel premiered Iron Man.

Which, as we remember,
did very well.

And three weeks after that,
all eyes were on

The Incredible Hulk,
which had a strong start.

I absolutely loved it
when I saw it.

It was really well done.

What happens?
What do you experience?

- The actors are terrific.
- It's like someone's poured

a liter of acid
into my brain.

Ed brings that level
of studiousness,

a little bit of angst
into the character.

It's very exciting.
Especially when

he becomes The Hulk.
The Army tank.

That, to me,
was probably the best one.

The closest to the comic books
I was reading as a kid.

My son loved it.
That counts for something.

We were very proud of it.

Louis did a great job.

I thought it was the best one
done of all The Hulk movies.

While many enjoyed
The Incredible Hulk,

it did have its detractors.

I heard later on that Marvel

wasn't happy with the film
and I was like,

"Oh, I'm a little shocked.
I didn't know."

And after the action
and laugh-packed Iron Man...

There was almost
no humor in The Hulk.

They took themselves
a little too seriously.

It should have been just
a little more fun, probably.

Oh, my God.
What have you done?

Well, it's more
what they didn't do... again.

We want more smashing.

Hulk!

Smash!

There isn't anything
truly that he's trying

actively to do, except not
become The Incredible Hulk.

Everywhere you looked,
someone had an opinion.

I was walking
down an alleyway

and there was a homeless man
on the floor,

and I remember he opened
his eyes as I was walking

and he looked at me.
He said, "I know who you are."

He said, "The original series
was better. Not this crap!"

- "Okay."
- If it seems

like people are talking about
two very different films,

there's a good reason.

You know, Louis Leterrier says,
"If you look at

The Incredible Hulk,
the first half of the movie

is mine,
the second half of the movie

is Marvel Studios
and if you draw that line,

the first half is kind of
a man-on-the-run thriller

and the second half
of the movie is kind of

more of the smashy, smashy
battle between,

you know,
two hulking giants.

Who knows whether
Edward Norton's version

would've been better received?

I do think the first hour
was the better hour.

You know, I think Louis' vision
of it would've been great

and I think
The Incredible Hulk's

only weakness, really,
is that final act.

- Is that all you've got?
- The jury was still out

on The Hulk,
but the numbers were in.

Hulk would earn
less than half the box office

of Iron Man,
but it still collected

more than $264 million,
which was at least enough

to keep Merrill Lynch happy.

The Incredible Hulk wasn't
a bomb or really even a flop,

it just wasn't a huge hit.

I was disappointed
that it didn't do better.

So The Incredible Hulk
ultimately grosses

about $260 million worldwide,
which is really only about

$20 million more
than Ang Lee's Hulk.

Which is not necessarily
a result that Marvel

nor Universal is looking for.
So it leaves with an uncertain

tastes in the mouths
of viewers

of what the future of The Hulk
franchise will look like.

This was supposed to be

their safe bet
and it ended up being

one of the most forgettable
Marvel movies ever made.

It's a movie that everyone
just wished

- never happened.
- But it didn't stop

Marvel Studios
from going forward.

And although tonally
different from Iron Man,

Hulk would be a member of
the Marvel Cinematic Universe

and the final scene
of this movie is proof.

It's kind of haphazard.
It kinda feels slapdash.

What if I told you
we were putting

a team together?

And oddly enough,
for the battle

between Norton and Feige
over duration,

it was this
little one-minute scene

that foreshadowed
that the greatest action

was yet to come.

Oh, we're building towards
a whole family

of films here and how fun.

- Who's "we"?
- They started to build

this overreaching story.

I could see things
that they were using

from our Ultimates comic book.
We started to see

the seeds planted
of what was eventually

gonna become The Avengers movie.

But for the MCU

to take shape,
they couldn't have a repeat

of The Incredible Hulk.

They were in development

on these other pictures
and casting

and trying to get things going.

It puts a lot of pressure
on everybody.

If one
of those movies faltered,

then you've already committed to

X, Y, Z movies down the line

and they all interrelate.

You've sort of set yourself up
for failure further down.

Iron Man, you understand?

That's what the people want.

The future
of the MCU depended on

the next film being a hit.

Suddenly, their long shot
became their sure thing.

The Incredible Hulk
had stumbled,

making less than half
of Iron Man's box office,

putting the MCU
on uneven ground.

To even things up,
Feige and Marvel

had a choice to make.

They had the big board
and it was like,

Thor, Iron Man 2,

Captain America,
and then, like, TBD movie,

TBD movie, and then we came
in one morning and we saw it.

We were like, "They'd flipped
Iron Man 2 and Thor.

You know not what
your actions would unleash.

Thor was considered
a much bigger risk

than The Hulk.
At the same time,

Iron Man 2 was in a position
to set up the bigger MCU.

I told you I don't want to join
your super-secret boy band.

If you build
a strong foundation

as they did with Iron Man,

you can put a skyscraper
on a strong foundation.

Iron Man 2
was now set to come out

a year earlier than expected,

sending the production
into scramble mode.

Immediately
Jon Favreau was under the gun

and he's gotta get
the sequel made

and the sequel has to
be successful.

- Yeah, done deal.
- I think with Iron Man 2,

they were just flying
by the seat of their pants.

I know exactly what I'm doing.

Marvel was behind the film,

giving Iron Man 2 a budget
of $200 million,

a $60 million upgrade,

but they would need it
as everyone's rates

had just gone way up.

Jon Favreau, you know,
negotiated a pay raise for this,

which the head
of Marvel Studios,

Ike Perlmutter,
did not appreciate.

But Jon Favreau
was just the warmup act.

- We need you.
- Yeah, more than you know.

They needed Robert Downey Jr.

to come back for the sequel.

You can't afford me.

And that's when he extracted
one of the most

lucrative contracts
that's ever been signed.

With percentages,
Downey's payday

has been speculated
to be in the vicinity

- of $12 million dollars.
- I am Iron Man.

Quite a step up
from the $500,000

he made on the first Iron Man.

So it stood to reason...

Terrance Howard, understandably,
was wanting to have

a little bit more
of that pie himself.

- Who's this?
- It's Rhodes.

They were not happy
with Terrance Howard.

I don't know if it was
performance or it was more

- that he was just a pain.
- You don't respect yourself,

so I know
you don't respect me.

There have been
a lot of reports

of Terrance Howard
being a complicated presence

- on a lot of sets.
- When he asked

for a big raise,
it gave them the excuse

to do what they already wanted
to do, which was cut him loose.

I think Kevin's
just this, "I don't have time

for this bullshit.
You either fall in line,

do what we want to do, or,
you know, we'll just replace you."

Now, what am I
supposed to tell the press?

Terrance Howard
really doesn't take it kindly

and is very public
with his displeasure

- at how it all went down.
- The person that I

helped become Iron Man,
when it was time to re-up

- for the second one...
- Yup.

...took the money
that was supposed to go to me

and... pushed me out.

And, so,
they essentially drop him.

Rhodey?

They said, "You know what?
We'll get Don Cheadle for less,

so we're not
going to worry about it."

Didn't expect
to see you here.

Look, it's me.
I'm here. Deal with it.

Having swapped
one Oscar nominee

for another, Marvel had
their invincible duo.

Now all they needed to do
was decide

what the movie was about.

Jon Favreau and
Robert Downey Jr. are very excited

about telling the story called
Demon in a Bottle,

which is a famous comics arc
in which Tony Stark

deals with his alcoholism.

Iron Man's 1979
Demon in a Bottle

was written by David Michelinie
and Bob Layton.

Iron Man was very serious
and dealt with alcoholism

and a whole lot of other
serious issues.

When Bob Layton took over

with the Demon in a Bottle storyline,

we saw Tony Stark
becoming an alcoholic

and losing everything.

It's a very important storyline
in Iron Man's history.

- You gotta be kidding me.
- Whoa!

That's way too dark for Marvel
in those particular days.

Now you have
a family-friendly franchise.

The studio is getting
cold feet on really doing

- an alcoholism story.
- Kids love that.

Well...
Jon Favreau didn't love

the idea of removing
that idea.

There's a lot
of creative tension

between Jon Favreau
and Marvel on this film.

They set the release date
so quickly

and were rushed
to put a sequel together.

And, yet, with
Tropic Thunder's Justin Theroux

on scriptwriting duties,

he managed to whip it into shape

by delving into Iron Man's
back catalog of foes.

The script, I read it and I was like,
"Wow, there's Whiplash."

Played by Mickey Rourke.

Originally in
contention to play Tony Stark

- in the first film, this time...
- Ohh...

...Sam Rockwell would play
Tony Stark's business rival.

And I was impressed
that they were going deeper

- into the shared continuity.
- Wow!

On top of two villains,

Iron Man 2 also had
to lay a lot of brick

- for The Avengers.
- What's your name, lady?

The most important
thing to the MCU

about Iron Man 2
is that introduces Black Widow.

I want you to meet
Agent Romanoff.

- Natasha Romanoff.
- Never take your eye

off your opponent--

Emily Blunt
was originally in talks

to play the role of Black Widow,

but all of a sudden,

she had scheduling conflicts
come up.

I don't have any choice.

That film
was Gulliver's Travels.

- Oh, dear.
- So Scarlett Johansson

ends up winning the role
of Black Widow.

I have
a very specific skill set.

And if the budding Avengers

and two super villains
weren't enough...

You don't
have to do this alone.

...Marvel decided
to throw in

yet another Iron Man.

Lieutenant colonel
James Rhodes.

They were trying
to put Rhodey on the path

towards becoming War Machine.

You don't deserve
to wear one of these.

That wasn't my intent
with Rhodey.

My intent was not for him
to be a superhero...

Tony, don't be jealous.

No, it's subtle,
all the bells and whistles.

...but just Tony's best friend.

Oh, man,
you can have your suit back.

If the Avengers
was to be a quilt

sewing together the MCU's
greatest heroes...

I'm here to talk to you
about The Avenger Initiative.

...Nick Fury was the thread.

I got my eye on you.

Samuel L. Jackson
is presented with a contract

for nine pictures.

At this time,
this was unheard of.

Meaning "You sign this contract,
we have you for nine movies."

- Is that possible?
- It was one

of Hollywood's biggest deals,
which could be traced back

to Mark Millar's time
on The Ultimates.

I thought,
"Oh, my God, I used his face

without his permission."
And I left him a little note saying,

"Hey, sorry I used
your likeness, you know,

all those years ago."
And he sent a note

back to me saying,
"Thanks for

the nine-picture deal, mothereffer."

You got this, right? Yeah.

Got what? I don't even know
what I'm supposed to get.

I think with Iron Man 2,
they were just trying to get

to the first Avengers movie.

I don't think
I want you looking at that.

No matter
what they had to do,

they were just
trying to get to that.

If, that is,
they could just get

the director
and Marvel Studios to agree

on what the movie
should be about.

- Have you been drinking?
- And the ultimate

question was:
Would Iron Man 2 be done...

The Marvel way.

Or would Jon Favreau

ultimately get his way?

Jon Favreau
and Marvel had failed to settle

their creative differences.

Doesn't look like
it's gonna be an easy fix.

Thanks to an ironclad
premiere date,

Iron Man 2 had no choice
but to begin production.

You are running out
of both time and options.

Marvel was set
to repeat the sins

- of The Incredible Hulk...
- Aw, man.

...with the studio
once again in an opposing

creative corner
from their director

and star.

They really didn't have
the script nailed down.

It's boring. Boring.
I'm giving you a boring alert.

There were times where they
would come in in the morning,

do a little rehearsal,
go off and rewrite scenes

for three hours
and sometimes the actors

would be on earwigs
because they'd have

to feed them their lines.

The
fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants

approach used
on the first Iron Man

just wasn't working.

It was almost out of control.

Remember me?

With The Incredible Hulk,

Kevin Feige waited until
post-production

to take control,
but with Iron Man 2's

truncated schedule,
if Kevin was to get hands-on,

it was now or never.

You have to hold the reins
on any sort

of creative endeavor.
That's what Kevin does.

I'll take care of that.
Just leave it.

Just when it seemed
on-set tensions

couldn't get any worse,
Mickey Rourke said,

"Hold my whip."

Mickey Rourke is demanding
and not necessarily

on board with the direction
of his character.

I hope you're ready.

You know, actors can be
very difficult people.

Very good.

Mickey Rourke,
he's a method actor,

so he stayed in character
the whole time.

It was so weird.

Mickey Rourke
literally prepared for the role

in a Russian prison,
going as far as pretending

he was a Russian prisoner
on set.

He sat away from all of us.

He couldn't sit with us
or anything like that.

But not even
a Russian jail

could prepare Mickey Rourke
for the on-set havoc

brought about by constant
script changes.

They changed it a lot.

That did make our job
a little bit harder.

Sometimes, even the rewrites

were thrown out the window.

I heard you broke
the perimeter.

Uh, yeah,
that was like three years ago.

- Where you been?
- I was doing some stuff.

It feels very improvisational.

- What's this doing here?
- The Easter eggs

- of the shield...
- Bring that to me.

I'm holding, like,
a prototype of Cap's shield.

Drop it. Drop it.

And I think we were
just making that up on the spot.

- Perfectly level.
- Jon came over to me.

He said,
"Tell 'em you gotta go."

Goodbye.
I've been reassigned.

"Tell 'em you gotta go
to New Mexico."

Director Fury wants me
in New Mexico.

I was like, "I gotta go?"
They were like,

"Yeah, you're gonna go."
I said, "What's in New Mexico?

Where am I going?"
He said...

"Has nobody talked to you?"
And I said, "What do you mean?"

Sir... we found it.

And he said,
"You're in Thor."

That guy never
tells me anything.

"Thor's in New Mexico.

You're gonna find
Thor's hammer."

And that's the first time
I started looking around going,

"You guys are pranking a nerd.
Stop pranking a nerd."

- That's hurtful.
- Marvel was intent

on teasing future films
to the detriment

of the film they were making...

We're in...
kind of a mess.

...as Iron Man
became lost in the shuffle

- of his own sequel.
- They were trying to stuff

too much in and trying to rush
the cinematic universe.

There was no precedent for what

Marvel was attempting to do

and they were leveraged
to the hilt.

Marvel can't
really afford for any piece

of itself not to function.

As production came to a close,

Jon Favreau and Marvel
prepared to continue

their creative tete-a-tete
in editing

when news broke
that would forever change

- the Marvel Universe.
- Today I'm happy to announce

that Disney has agreed to
acquire Marvel Entertainment.

News of
the $4 billion acquisition

sent shockwaves
through the industry

as well as the inboxes
of Marvel employees.

I remember an e-mail coming out
from the bosses,

you know, saying,
"Great news!

Disney have taken over
the company."

My initial reaction
was one of panic.

Why Marvel?
Having only released two films,

Marvel had hardly
proved their worth,

but the why would have
to take a backseat

to the one question
every Marvel employee had.

"Now that Disney
has bought Marvel,

what do you
think is gonna happen?"

And no one knew
what would become of the man

who launched the shared
cinematic universe.

Without Kevin Feige,
there's no MCU.

But at that point,
no one even knew

if Disney wanted an MCU.

There was only one thing
that was for sure.

Marvel's whole reputation

was on the line.

It was a critical moment

for the true believers
of Marvel

as the House of Mouse
seized control...

Don't worry, my friends.
I have a plan.

...days before
filming was to begin

on Marvel's biggest gamble yet.