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SAN DIEGO — Marvel and Lionsgate debuted the “Hulk vs. Wolverine” portion of the upcoming “Hulk Vs.” DVD, which will also feature a “Hulk vs. Thor” episode.  The DVD will go on sale in January.

On hand to discuss the DVD were supervising producer and co-writer Craig Kyle, producer and supervising director Frank Paur, co-writer Christopher Yost and voice actor Fred Tatasciore, who portrayed the Hulk.

“This is the fight we’ve loved since 181,” said Kyle, referring to the first appearance of Wolverine in “Incredible Hulk” 181, where the Canadian mutant and the green Goliath first threw down.

“We’ve brought it together in a way I think you guys are gonna love,” Kyle said. “These are the kinds of films I think we should be making for you guys.”

Kyle focused on the fans during the presentation, saying the Marvel direct-to-DVD features were aimed at pleasing the comic-book fans first.

Co-writer Chris Yost, who also writes the comic-book “X-Force” with Kyle, talked about bringing the comic-book feel to the project.

“Everything that the fans like, the action and the edge, I’ve tried to bring to it,” Yost said.

Paur said the DVD can be more violent and action-oriented than broadcast television; there’s also some things that are more cost-effective on DVD.

“There are some things … that I wouldn’t even think about approaching (for TV) that we did on these features,” Paur said.  “We did some things that would not be cost-conscious on a TV series.”

Kyle talked a bit about “Next Avengers,” a PG-rated animated DVD featuring the children of the original Avengers, and indicated it would be more kid-appropriate than the more violent “Hulk Vs.”  He also mentioned some other kid-friendly properties he’d like to see.

“I think there’s room for ‘Power Pack,’ ‘New Mutants,’ and then there’s stuff where we need five amputations to make it right.”

– Matt Price

Hulk takes on Thor and Wolverine in this January 2009 DVD release.

– Matt Price

The third season of “The Incredible Hulk,” starring Bill Bixby as David Banner, has fewer two-part episodes than previous seasons, but still manages some solid episodes.

While the season’s fifth episode, “My Favorite Magician,” has some flaws, it’s got several interesting ideas working for it. It co-stars Ray Walston, Bixby’s co-star on “My Favorite Martian,” and it features Banner becoming a magician’s assistant, likely referencing Bixby’s 1973 series “The Magician.”

The highlight of the third season is “Homecoming,” in which Banner returns to his hometown for the first time since the accident that transformed him, in times of stress and anger, into the Incredible Hulk (portrayed by Lou Ferrigno).

The episode “The Psychic” features Brenda Benet, Bixby’s first wife, as a psychic who discovers the connection between Banner and The Hulk.

While the third season lacked the dynamic two-parters of seasons two and four, it holds up as part of one of the best television adaptations of a comic-book hero.

— Matthew Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

The strike-shortened 1980 season of “The Incredible Hulk” started off with a bang, with the two-part episode “Prometheus” exploring the more science-fictional aspects of the show. A meteor with unusual properties causes David Banner (Bill Bixby) to be caught in a half-Banner, half-Hulk stage. He eventually triggers the full transformation, but is caught by a government agency seeking to capture extraterrestrials.

Lou Ferrigno, who played Banner’s alter-ego the Hulk in each episode, gets to guest-star without the green paint in “King of the Beach.”

A two-part episode called “The First” explores Dr. Jeffrey Frye’s earlier radiation experiments that created an earlier version of a Hulk-like monster. This “Hulk” is played by Dick Durock, who later became another comic-book hero in the “Swamp Thing” TV series and films. The Hulk vs. Hulk showdown is worth the price of admission.

“The First” is followed with two other classic episodes — “The Harder They Fall,” in which Banner finds himself temporarily paralyzed, and “Interview with the Hulk,” when another reporter gets the scoop on Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) and lands an interview with Banner.

— Matthew Price

According to Box Office Mojo, “The Incredible Hulk” pulled down $54 million to take the No. 1 spot for the weekend. The movie didn’t top the $62 million brought in by the first week of Ang Lee’s “Hulk” film in 2003.   Still, Lee’s “Hulk” fell fast, making only $18 million its second weekend.   Marvel and company likely hope the Edward Norton-starring film has better word of mouth.

At the moment, “Incredible Hulk” is scoring only slightly better at Rotten Tomatoes, with 66% positive versus 61% for its predecessor.   However, on the more populist imdb.com, voters are currently tagging “Incredible Hulk” as an 8.2/10, compared to a 5.8/10 for “Hulk.”

– Matt Price

George Lang and I discuss this week’s movies, including “Incredible Hulk,” “The Happening,” “American Teen” and more in this week’s entertainment podcast.

– Matt Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

Those who grew up in the 1970s and ’80s know Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk. Writer-director-producer Kenneth Johnson’s take on “The Incredible Hulk” is probably still the best-known, and inspired the current Edward Norton film. Johnson was the creative force behind the 1970s TV series starring Bill Bixby and Ferrigno.

Seasons three and four of “The Incredible Hulk” were released this month on DVD.

Johnson is more excited about director Louis Letterier’s take on the Hulk, out today in theaters, than Ang Lee’s 2003 film.

“We felt like they had missed the whole point of what I had tried to do in the series. It was a bunch of movies that didn’t quite come together,” Johnson said. “I’m a fan of (director) Ang Lee’s work, but I just think he was just miscast for that one.”

The second film is much more similar to Johnson’s series.

“I was talking to a friend of mine in Brazil who was their production manager down there for their Amazonian shoot, and he said, ‘Oh, Kenny, it’s much more like your original.’”

While Johnson is best-known for his work in the superhero and sci-fi genres, that’s not where he initially planned to make his mark.

“I had been trained at Carnegie Mellon, which is a theater school. All my training had been in the classics,” Johnson said. “Then, you create the ‘Bionic Woman,’ and the view that Hollywood has of you begins to narrow down.”

After the success of “The Bionic Woman,” Johnson was asked to pitch a show based on a Marvel Comics character of his choice.

He wasn’t originally interested, but in the process of reading “Les Miserables,” the fugitive concept appealed to him. He began to think about applying that idea to “The Incredible Hulk,” as well as playing up the Jekyll-and-Hyde elements.

“I could turn it into a psychological drama,” he said.

He asked for control over casting, and brought in Bill Bixby as David (not Bruce) Banner, and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk. “The Incredible Hulk” became a hit, running on television for five seasons.

“My pilot was released in Europe as a theatrical feature, and it was the top-grossing movie in Europe for two months,” Johnson said.

Johnson grew up in Arkansas, but has some ties to Oklahoma.

“When I was a kid, my dad was in the Army Reserve. Every summer, for some years, we would spend some time at Fort Sill,” Johnson said. “He lived in Tulsa for a time, so I have ties to Oklahoma.”

Talk about a treat: Monday night, I got to see an advance screening of “The Incredible Hulk” and let me be the first to say, this movie smashed my expectations.

Much like Iron Man earlier this summer, The Incredible Hulk is a both a loving tribute to fans and an audience-friendly action flick. It’s not high art, but who cares when it’s this much fun?

I’m sure Matt will have plenty to say on the subject soon, but one thing that really stuck out to me was Bruce Banner’s vivid memory flashes of the Hulk’s activities — he has post-traumatic stress disorder.

It makes perfect sense, of course. He’s not a soldier. Bruce Banner is a scientist thrust into a very unhappy situation that makes wherever he is a war-zone.

Fans of the TV show, fans of the comics and fans of big-budget action movies will really enjoy this one. Coming from someone who liked Ang Lee’s earlier film, I can honestly say this is a more mainstream product that I predict will do big box office.

I think Matt and I might do some competing Top 5 lists on the best superhero movies of all time. Let us know what your favorites are in the comments.

– Greg Elwell

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner in “The Incredible Hulk,” a love letter to the 1970s series that mixes “The Fugitive” with “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Norton’s Hulk, a CGI-creature, isn’t all Hyde, however. While he’s fueled by rage, he maintains some of Banner’s emotions, and can be calmed by Elizabeth Ross (Liv Tyler), Banner’s former girlfriend and scientific colleague.
Banner was accidentally irradiated in a lab accident, which caused him to turn into a super-strong green giant. Anytime his pulse races beyond a certain point, it triggers the transformation. Banner goes on the run, as Gen. Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) wants to use Banner’s blood to create an army of hulkified soldiers. He seeks the aid of mercenary Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who wants any experimental process the general has to up his abilities to take on the Hulk.

The screenplay is by Zak Penn (”X-Men 2”), and French director Louis Leterrier (”The Transporter”) takes the directorial reins this time around. While 2003’s “Hulk,” directed by Ang Lee, mixed angst, art-school style and comic-book panels into an interesting hybrid that didn’t please the target audience, “Incredible Hulk” is a much more straightforward action film, but one that satisfies. The film is at its best when Norton is onscreen, which means the final CGI-versus-CGI battle isn’t the strongest portion of the movie, but it’s the perfectly accepted method of concluding these sort of things.

There are cameos aplenty in “The Incredible Hulk,” and dozens of nods to Marvel fans, but none of them detract from the film.

— Matthew Price

Action-Figure.com has a rundown of upcoming animated Marvel properties, including a direct-to-DVD version of “Planet Hulk,” to be produced by LionsGate.  It’s set for a late 2009 release.

Also in the works:

Hulk: Gamma Corps, starring the Hulk, She-Hulk and Doc Samson, this is contingent on the performance of the film.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures, a CGI series coming from Nickelodeon.

Also in the planning stages are “Marvel Extreme - Wolverine” and “Marvel Super Hero Squad.”

– Matt Price