The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

"The Trial of the Incredible Hulk" is a 1989 TV movie sequel to the 1970s "Incredible Hulk" television series, featuring both the Hulk and fellow Marvel Comics character Daredevil. As was the case with the "The Incredible Hulk Returns", this television movie also acted as a backdoor television pilot for an unproduced series featuring Daredevil.

Plot

On the run again after the events of the last TV movie, we find David Banner working up north. Disenchanted and at the end of his rope, David makes his way towards a large city with the hopes of renting a room and staying buried. Unbeknownst to him, the city he arrives in is under the control of a powerful underworld kingpin known as Wilson Fisk. When David witnesses an attempted sexual assault by one of Fisk's men, he transforms into the Hulk and all hell breaks loose. A short while later, David is arrested by the police and wrongfully charged with the crime. While awaiting trial, blind defense attorney Matt Murdock is assigned to David's case. David is uncooperative but Murdock has faith that he is innocent and is determined to prove so. One night while fast asleep, David has a nightmare about his upcoming trial and dreams about transforming into the Hulk on the witness stand. The stress of this causes him to transform in reality and the Hulk subsequently breaks free of the prison. Murdock manages to track David down in a seedy part of town. In order to win David's trust, Murdock reveals that he is the blind vigilante Daredevil and that he needs David's help to take down Wilson Fisk. David is initially suspicious of how a blind man can be a costumed crime fighter, but Murdock shows David how his other senses are heightened to compensate for his blindness. The two eventually form a mutually dependent friendship and set out to stop Wilson Fisk.

Banner and Murdock help each other with their own problems, and together battle the Kingpin of Crime Wilson Fisk (played by John Rhys-Davies), and clear Banner's name. During the course of the adventure, Banner triumphs by realizing for the first time in his life his integral role in saving several lives using the powers from his perceived cursed condition.

This is the slickest of the three movies and an improvement over The Incredible Hulk Returns but it is still very flawed. My biggest gripe comes from the title. The title of this movie originally suggested that this film was going to close the door on one of the central tenants of the series! Many viewers tuned in, hoping that David would be tried for the murder of Elaina Marks. Not only was that part not even mentioned, but there was never actually a real trial sequence either! 2 Stars

Production notes

This movie was the first Marvel film or television project to feature a cameo appearance from famed creator Stan Lee, as the jury foreman in Banner's imagined trial. During this scene the Hulk also wears his signature purple pants, the first and only time the Bixby/Ferrigno Hulk did so.

In a note of irony, Rhys-Davies would later appear with Lou Ferrigno on the animated Incredible Hulk series voicing Thor, whom Ferrigno allied with in the live-action movie "The Incredible Hulk Returns". However, due to the lack of a Hulk-Out from Banner in the final act [ [http://tv.ign.com/articles/881/881149p3.html David Banner doesn't even turn into the Hulk for the climatic fight, leaving all the fighting to Daredevil. At least Daredevil doesn't yell and growl though.] ] , this marked the first time the two really worked together.

In Sweden they changed the name on the movie to "Den otrolige Hulken i New York" ("The Incredible Hulk In New York") even though the city in the movie is a fictional city and not New York City.

Comics vs. film

* In the comics, Daredevil wears a red costume that does not give an indication that he is blind. In the television film, he wears a black, Ninja-inspired costume which overtly states his blindness [ [http://tv.ign.com/articles/881/881149p3.html This Daredevil didn't look anything like his comics counterpart, wearing an all-black costume that contained no eye holes, which seemed like an ill-conceived give away that he's blind to potential enemies trying to figure out his identity.] ] .

ee also

*"The Incredible Hulk (TV series)"
*"The Incredible Hulk Returns"
*"The Death of the Incredible Hulk"

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0098512|title=The Trial of the Incredible Hulk