Even though we’re a full 20 years removed from its initial release, nobody can agree on whether Ang Lee’s Hulk is an underappreciated masterpiece or a noble failure, and that even extends to the people who made it.
Star Josh Lucas remains adamant that the world simply wasn’t ready for a comic book adaptation that was too far ahead of its time, with the actor maintaining his belief that it would have fared much better had it arrived at a time when the genre was at the peak of its critical, commercial, and cultural powers.
That doesn’t mean the person who directed it is obligated to agree, with Lee himself offering that he may have made it too “indulgent” and “confusing” for casual audiences who just wanted to see a giant green rage monster smash things up, but were instead greeted by an elegiac Shakespearean family drama that happened to revolve around two hulking CGI behemoths duking it out in the final act.
There’s even an ongoing and never-ending debate as to whether or not Lee’s Hulk is superior to Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk, neither of which are what you’d be able to call top-tier superhero stories with a completely straight face. That doesn’t mean they’ve faded into the cultural ether, though, with the former currently pulverizing the streaming ranks.
Per FlixPatrol, Hulk is flying high as the sixth most-watched movie on Max’s global charts, ensuring that no matter if you think it’s a flop or a phenomenon, folks are still checking it out to see for themselves.
