Trivia for
The Incredible Hulk (2008)

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• The Incredible Hulk joined Toronto's Green-Screen initiative, to help cut carbon emissions and waste created during filming. Edward Norton had fun using a hybrid vehicle on set. Producer Gale Anne Hurd hopes the film will be a symbol of the drive to encourage less pollution from film productions.
  
  
• Louis Leterrier had been interested in directing Iron Man (2008), but when Jon Favreau took that project Avi Arad offered him a sequel to Hulk (2003). In an attempt to depict their comic book films in the same universe, Marvel Studios gave Robert Downey Jr. a cameo as Tony Stark in this film.
  
  
• William Hurt and his son are big fans of the Hulk.
  
  

• Although director Louis Leterrier liked Hulk (2003), he concurred with Marvel Studios that to continue the franchise it would be better to deviate from Ang Lee's cerebral style from the first film and focus on a more action-filled tone. He also believed that in keeping with Hulk (2003)'s poetic feel, the VFX were mostly "a fluorescent-green guy who was simply flying around; he had no weight and was too smooth-looking," so he wished to make the film's VFX grittier and darker "and perhaps even a little scarier!"
  
  
• The Hulk, as portrayed in this film, was created through a blend of animatronics, make-up and CGI (by Rhythm & Hues) with motion capture by the title actor Edward Norton. Hulk (2003)'s VFX were carried out by Industrial Light & Magic, with its director Ang Lee providing motion-capture.
  
  
• Edward Norton, who had previously rewritten films he starred in, wrote a draft of the script which Louis Leterrier and Marvel Studios found satisfactory in establishing the film as both a sequel and a retcon of Hulk (2003). As Norton explained, "I don't think that in great literature/films explaining the story's roots means it comes in the beginning. Audiences know the story, so we're dealing with it artfully." Norton's rewrite added the character of Doc Samson and mentioned references to other Marvel Comics characters. He also wanted to put in "revelations about what set the whole thing in motion" that would be explained in future installments.
  
  
• In the comics, Emil Blonsky was a KGB agent who takes on a scaly reptilian appearance, becoming the Abomination. Louis Leterrier felt that while that was cool, it made no sense considering there was no reptile mix in his origin. So in this film Blonsky's appearance is redefined substantially to have his skin/muscles/bones exaggerated and sticking out all over his body; he however retains pointed ears as a tribute to his original form. Leterrier describes Blonsky as "an über-human, just like the Hulk, but a human who was injected with something in the wrong places and these places are growing differently."
  
  
• The VFX artists think of Blonsky as "a guy who transforms but is not used to having these new properties; for instance, he's much heavier, so when he walks down the sidewalk, he's tripping because his weight is destroying the sidewalk."
  
  
• Louis Leterrier directed four units with a broken foot.
  
  
• General Ross mentions that the serum Blonsky uses to become the Abomination was created during World War II. This is a reference to Marvel Comics' next film _Captain America (2009)_ , who was created with the use of a special serum (very likely the same serum Ross mentions). Additionally, the person who takes the serum must be treated with a unique form of radiation; any accidents or deviations from the procedure can cause horrific side effects to occur... as befalls Blonsky.
  
  
• Tim Roth signed on the film because he was a fan of "The Incredible Hulk" (1978), as well as to please his comic-book-fan sons. On set, he constantly asked whether this would "be a cool shot" for his kids to see him in. He thoroughly enjoyed playing Blonsky, but found it difficult since to portray Blonsky's over-the-hill state he could not work out; but he hired a personal trainer to assist him in motion-capturing the Abomination's movements.
  
  
• Louis Leterrier insisted Tim Roth, of whom he is a big fan, be cast as the film's main antagonist, even though Marvel Studios and Edward Norton were initially unsure of Roth as a supervillain. Leterrier later said "it's great watching a normal Cockney boy become a superhero!"
  
  
• Edward Norton and Tim Roth filmed their Hulk-Abomination fracases on a stage, using motion capture and 37 digital cameras. Roth enjoyed using the motion capture technique because it reminded him of fringe theatre.
  
  
• It took the VFX artists over a year to construct a shot where Dr. Banner's gamma-irradiated blood falls through three factory storeys into a bottle.
  
  
• According to Tim Roth, Edward Norton rewrote scenes every day; Norton and Liv Tyler also spent hours discussing their characters' lives (especially before the Hulk appeared).
  
  

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