Incredible Hulk: How Lou Ferrigno Created TV's Greatest Marvel Superhero

By | November 3, 2020

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Lou Ferrigno's Incredible Hulk, the green Marvel superhero, first flexed his muscles on CBS on a Friday night in 1978 -- and showed a glimmer of hope for the Marvel universe. Marvel Comics had shaken up the comics world in the early '60s, but that success had yet to translate to the screen. Meanwhile, rival publisher DC had seen success with Batman in the '60s and Wonder Woman in the '70s. As Marvel's first successful live-action drama, The Incredible Hulk was a harbinger of the phenomenon of crowd-pleasing Marvel entertainment and, eventually, record-setting blockbuster film franchises.

The Hulk Was One Of Marvel's Earliest Superheroes

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Source: (Marvel)

The Incredible Hulk first emerged in the Marvel universe in May 1962. The character was gray at first, but switched to green. The Hulk was based on a combination of Frankenstein’s monster and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, according to Stan Lee.  He was the alter-ego of Bruce Banner, who was exposed to gamma rays after saving Rick Jones when an experimental bomb detonated. Lee has also compared him to the Golem from Jewish mythology. Banner and his alter-ego are aware of and resent each other. Whenever Banner, a weak, reserved physicist gets angry, he transforms into the Hulk. The original comic series was canceled in 1963 after issue #6, but Jack Kirby, the co-creator, received a letter from a college dorm informing him that they had chosen the Hulk as their official mascot. In October,1964, starting with issue #60, the Hulk became one of the storylines in Tales to Astonish.