The Worst Hulk Actor Hates The CGI Hulk
The actor who took on the role of Hulk back in the 1970s has revealed his feelings about how the MCU has now brought in a CGI version of the character.
This article is more than 2 years old
If you can believe it, the first actor to ever take on the role of the Hulk had no CGI. Back in the 1970s, Hulk was played by Lou Ferrigno, who was a bodybuilder at the time. The man worked his way up through the professional circuit of bodybuilding, and eventually landed himself on a TV series. However, Ferrigno recently commented on the new direction that the MCU has taken with the character. According to Ferrigno, “Though I appreciate the amazing visual work these [visual effects] artists are producing, it’s missing the raw human performance qualities that I believe only an actor can play. Especially when it comes to The Hulk.”
While we agree that any CGI certainly takes away the human performance, it is just necessary to bring out these larger-than-life characters more. Larger is more in tune with Hulk considering he is supposed to be monstrous in size. The Hulk may have seemed to be large and mean in the original TV series, but that was also when television sets were far smaller, and that size of a man could be believed to be massive. The Hulk is far bigger than Lou Ferrigno. Although he is a big human being, comic-wise, Ferrigno is just too small. That was always the idea of adding in a CGI version of the character. He was meant to be massive.
Lou Ferrigno can be proud to know that he was the original Hulk, as he teamed up with Bill Bixby, who played Bruce Banner. However, that was long before computer graphics were being used in the manner they are now. Ferrigno is a product of the period in which he portrayed the character. It is a little odd that he would be talking bad about how the character has evolved. This sounds a bit like jealousy considering the man has not been invited into the MCU. He provided the voice of Hulk in the 2008 reboot with Edward Norton, though he has not appeared in any capacity in the new films that star Mark Ruffalo. Ferrigno is a trailblazer after his muscles are what got him to portray such an iconic character, but that is where it ends for the man.
The Hulk has certainly evolved throughout the decades, and he is more complicated and understood than ever before. Mark Ruffalo has combined the DNA of both Bruce Banner and Hulk into something quite beautiful. Lou Ferrigno just showed the Hulk as this destructive force without any real emotions. He can say what he wants about the CGI, but it’s something that had to happen.
Mark Ruffalo has been Hulk since 2012, and it seems that he is not going anywhere. While people may have been hesitant when he took over, he has been spectacular in the role. He plays a perfect Bruce Banner and has truly made everyone understand Hulk a lot more. Lou Ferrigno might just be the old guy who hates everything futuristic at this point. CGI was always going to be the wave of the future. CGI was revolutionized in Star Wars and has grown exponentially since then. CGI is how we get to see these comic superheroes at their best. Ferrigno just has to deal with that.
