Making Planet Hulk
Marvel Animation and Lions Gate Films have been teaming over the last few years on direct-to-video projects, and this past Tuesday, they unleashed their best effort yet- Planet Hulk. Producer Joshua Fine and screenwriter Greg Johnson take a few minutes to chat with Killer Film about how this huge project came together.
Jon: Can you explain how the Planet Hulk project came to be?
Josh Fine (Producer): We have been working on these LGF/Marvel films for a bit at this point, and we were in development on Next Avengers and Hulk Vs., when we were talking about other projects. I know myself and a few others weren’t terribly enthused about another Hulk story, because we just came off of doing so many things with the character. We felt like we had covered Bruce Banner/Hulk pretty thoroughly and then somebody suggested looking at Planet Hulk for an optioned property, that took the Hulk in a very different direction. Once we cracked the book open and started reading it, we realized it was a take on the Hulk unlike what we or the comics had done before. It was an exciting turn for the character, an important story to tell, and in many ways made me look at the character and respect him on a whole different way.
It was a story that didn’t feature the Hulk as an anti-hero or as a monster, but instead had the Hulk character driven, for a rare time rise as a hero facing these emotional issues.
Jon: Can you explain the undertaking of writing this script based off the storyline that ran over so many issues?
Greg Johnson (Screenwriter): The process is always messing, as there isn’t a connect-the-dotes approach. I read through the book, taking notes of the incredibly cool elements, the surprises, the big set pieces, and when I looked at it all laid out, it was apparent it was too big for 80 minutes. I didn’t want to squeeze everything in, without giving certain elements their proper time, so it became a game of figuring out what the spine of the film was. It needed to be more direct. It needed to be descriptive as we went, at a pretty fast pace.
The Hulk needed to go from a raging beast into a thinking beast, with emotions. So starting him off with the baggage he had of betrayal, was the logically starting point. It turns him into a character that cares, the real story outline, and everything needed to support that idea.
Jon: What did you see into this project that seemed like a perfect film to produce? Did the success of Hulk Vs. have anything to do with another Hulk film?
Fine: I think so. It’s apparently clear we have character that are immensely popular with the fans, and the Hulk is right up there at the top, along with Spider-Man. It was an obvious fit to do another Hulk film
Jon: Was the fore-mentioned success of Hulk Vs. a main reason why Frank Paur was brought in as the director?
Fine: Part of the reason, when we started on Planet Hulk, Hulk Vs was out yet, but Frank is someone we’ve worked with for several years on Invincible Iron Man and Doctor Strange, so Frank is really talented. There is few guys out there, so rich in knowledge of the Marvel Universe or in this medium as Frank, so he was a go-to guy for sure.
Jon: Can you explain the casting of Rick Wasserman and what he brought to the Hulk character?
Fine: If you read the comics, the Hulk doesn’t speak much, but he is an intelligent character, much more developed on an emotional level, rather than ‘Hulk Smash!’ level. He had a real personality, so for that reason, we wanted someone to give us a different take on the Hulk in voice casting. We wanted a brooding, yet thoughtful Hulk character. What appealed to us about Rick was, although he can scream and yell with the best of them, and in those action scenes he has the pipes, probably Broadway helped tune his voice for that. What really appealed to us in his audition, is that he had this rage and turmoil bottled up under the surface, that you could hear it in every word. He brought a richness to the dialogue from the script, and Hulk dialogue is sparse intentionally, as the character turns his back on everyone he meets in the film. We needed somebody that every time the Hulk does speak, there was something under the surface that was important.
Jon: How involved was Greg Pak and Marvel?
Fine: We were tied to his story, and began looking at it thoroughly to adapt it to film. Once we got a draft of the script from Greg, we consulted him to read through it to get some insights on if we got the tone right, the characters down as in his book. I think also with the pronunciation of the characters name and the language he developed for the book; he was involved on that level, a great research tool to turn to.
Jon: Now in the original comic series, Silver Surfer was used, but for the film he was replaced by Beta Ray Bill. Can you explain this change?
Fine: We approached Planet Hulk knowing it’s going to be a great story and film, but also we knew it was going to have one snag because there was some right issues with the Silver Surfer character, and we were told we couldn’t use him. It became a question of if we omit that battle entirely or do we find a quick replacement? It was such a great climatic battle having this opponent be from the Marvel Universe fighting against the Hulk, it was such a concept. So we needed to have someone on the level of the Silver Surfer be his equal. We felt we really needed this battle in there, as it was an intregal part of the story, so we went looking for replacements and coming to our minds almost immediately was Beta Ray Bill.
He just seem to fit this universe well. He’s an alien first and foremost, and he fits well into the story of Planet Hulk. He has great powers, looks cool, and his hammer fits the gladiator battles really well. I think what sold it was that we could introduce him earlier into the story for the film, than the Silver Surfer was in the comics. It really makes it work, and even though Beta Ray Bill is a lesser known Marvel character, he has a huge fan following, so it was awesome breathing life into him for the first time. I hope fans will like to see this character be brought into this medium for the first time.
Greg Johnson: Once I got passed the disappointment that he wasn’t going to be used, I really thought it would’ve been a fun battle to do and write, so what we wanted to do was find someone else to do that. Then we decided on Beta Ray Bill, we knew we could lace him into the story earlier, to make our movie feel more organic and real, I was thrilled at the choice. It was cool to use him, for what I think is his first appearance in film.
Jon: Even though animation affords one with the ability to have their imagination run wild, but was there any limitations in terms of what could be allowed whether it was action scenes or story changes?
Greg Johnson: Really, no. This is probably our most intense film, so not too many punches got pulled here, very in-your-face. It was designed to be that way. We didn’t pull back on the violence, but as far as scale goes, there’s always a concern we’re going to have our budget not be able to handle. With the great work in animation; the crowd work, the direction, it looks great overall, and large in scale.
Jon: Each animated film, seems to be getting better and better. Can you explain the evolutionary steps Marvel Animation took, and where do you see this team going in the future?
Fine: It’s a real tribute for this team we got, and it is just working together that was the benefit. We never rest on what we done before, as we want the next film to be bigger and better, so we are always trying to figure out ways to get new, fresh talent involved, but not to disrupt our team. The biggest leaps and strides you probably see is in the animation. Our partners at Madhouse who worked on Planet Hulk was just a pleasure to work with, and I’m happy to have this relationship with them. They deliver awesome animation each and every time. You can put all of the hard work into the behind-the-scenes aspect of it, and then get back bad animation from overseas, is heartbreaking. It’s a sigh of relief, knowing you’re working with people as talented as they are.
Jon: How great has Lionsgate Film’s been with the animated films for Marvel?
Fine: They been really good partners for us, and left us alone on the creative side. They’ve recognized that we know the characters better than anybody and we got clear and cool stories to tell. Catering to the Marvel fan base, they are open to hear ideas and approach them. The DVD/Blu-ray releases have been just great, being packed with a lot of extras, the packaging is also awesome. Alex Ross did the Planet Hulk cover and it’s just stunning. When they approached me to get Ross on board for the cover art, I was so on board with that idea, and the artwork proves it was a great direction to go. They have been great partners.
Planet Hulk is out now on Blu-ray and DVD, and look for Thor: Tales of Asgard soon!
