Incredible Hulk poster

I love – LOVE – this theatrical poster for Universal’s The Incredible Hulk. Not only does it manage to set up the central focus of the Hulk character in a very distinct and traditional fashion, it also accomplishes at least two other goals.

First, it differentiates this movie from the 2003 version. The poster for that movie was all about the Hulk, with no focus on Banner at all. It was all spectacle, which may have led to some of the audience resentment when the movie wound up being a character study exploring one man’s attempts to explore the issues he had with his father.

Second, it immediately recalls the “Incredible Hulk” TV show, a major touchpoint between the general public and the Hulk character. That series, of course, often featured Bill Bixby’s David Banner with traveling bag slung over his shoulder as he left one town on his way to another after his alter ego surfaced and caused all sorts of mayhem while saving someone Banner had connected with during his brief visit.

It’s funny – This movie keeps getting knocked for having such a skimpy marketing campaign (see Naill’s thoughts on the matter here) but everything that does get released in the campaign is met with, I think, good reactions, stoking people’s latent excitement for the movie. But Iron Man and The Dark Knight are making so much more noise that it’s hard for Hulk to keep up.

But that’s another issue – I love this poster and hope Universal can get some momentum going on this campaign in the two months until it hits theaters.