User blog:ARTaylor/20 Years of The Incredible Hulk

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the premiere of The Incredible Hulk with "The Return of the Beast, Part One" debuting on this date in 1996. The Emmy-winning series was part of the Marvel Animated Universe and was a spin-off from Hulk's appearances on the Fantastic Four episode "Nightmare in Green" and the Iron Man episode "Hulk Buster". The series was the first to debut on UPN as the previous series aired on Fox Kids.



The series featured Neal McDonough as Bruce Banner and Lou Ferringo as Hulk. Ferrigno reprised the role from the live-action The Incredible Hulk series and spin-off films though this is the first time he got to speak as the character. Genie Francis and Philece Sampler played Betty Ross. Luke Perry was Rick Jones. Matt Frewer was Leader, the only actor to reprise the role from the other series. Mark Hamill played Gargoyle. Lisa Zane played She-Hulk while Cree Summer took over when the character became a regular. Michael Donovan appeared as Grey Hulk, the first time in animation the character switched between the green and grey versions. John Vernon, who previously played Iron Man and Glenn Talbot, rounded off the cast as General Thaddeus Ross. The series also featured actors reprising their roles from other Marvel animated series including Robert Hays as Iron Man, Dorian Harewood as War Machine, Tom Kane as H.O.M.E.R., Chuck McCann as Thing, Beau Weaver as Mister Fantastic, Richard Grieco as Ghost Rider, and John Rhys-Davies as Thor. Of course, there's the ever lovable Stan Lee playing Jennifer Walters' father.



The first season was characterized by darker stories, often with bittersweet or even tragic endings. These quite often focused on Bruce Banner/Hulk fleeing the constant threat of Ross and his Hulkbusters. They would encounter other superpowered beings like Sasquatch, Zzzax, Doctor Doom, and Wendigo. Ross would continue to hunt them while teaming up with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Gabriel Jones. Betty and Doc Samson would work to cure Bruce of Hulk by developing the nutrient bath. Leader and Gargoyle would try to foil any attempts to capture or cure Hulk so they could get the green giant to themselves. The second season would see a major change when She-Hulk became a regular and the series was retitled The Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk. The stories became lighter, often focusing more on She-Hulk than her cousin. Grey Hulk began making recurring appearances, often battling Green Hulk inside of Bruce's mind. Sadly, the new season came with a lot of harsh criticisms and the series was eventually cancelled. This would become, currently, the last television series to focus on Hulk as well as having Bruce as a main character, afterwards he was only a guest at most.



Unfortunately, The Incredible Hulk is one of the few series with no Region 1 DVD release, though it was released for Region 2. The rights to the series is currently owned by The Walt Disney Company and is available to stream on Marvel.com and Netflix.