So I went and saw the new Incredible Hulk movie last Friday night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was actually quite a relief for me (an obvious comic book fan) that they had got it right. From the casting to the scripting and plotting to the CGI effects, they all seemed to mostly hit their marks.
Everybody was aware beforehand that there was going to be some sort of Tony Stark cameo by Robert Downey Jr, however the hinted at reference to the Captain America history was much more in-depth than I had expected or even imagined it would be in this movie.
At one point in the movie, Hurt's General Ross character is discussing the history of the Super Soldier program from World War II, and the results that they were aiming for with the development of the Super Soldier serum, implying that it had been kept 'on ice' since that time. They also suggested that the serum could be given in two stages to improve upon the human body's natural abilities. However, more than just talking about this, the movie went further and showed us exactly how this would affect the test subject by giving us a prolonged fight scene early on in the film in which Tim Roth (after being injected with the serum) takes on the Hulk; the scene was even replete with Matrix-like fight sequences (imagine body flips with gunplay mixed in and you get the idea).
In my opinion, this goes a long way towards setting up the framework for a future Captain America movie. I am now starting to really appreciate the new found freedom that Marvel Entertainment has with its movie properties now that they have chosen to go the self production route on these properties. This decision is starting to pay dividends and not only for the company but also for many Marvel comic book fans that are also Marvel comic book movies fans, too.
