HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - CAPTAIN AMERICA CAMEO, PART DEAUX

ITEM! Some confused cameo-seeking critics have been pelting the ol’ Sock It To Stan email box with requests for further instructions on how to find the don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it Captain America cameo in the alternate opening to The Incredible Hulk movie (now out on DVD and Blu-Rays). Did Hulk director Louis Leterrier lie to us about this earnest easter egg in earlier interviews? Is Cap really in there? Don’t fret, Frantic One. For those without a 102” plasma TV (like we have at Stately Lee Manor) or an able AV assistant like Irving Forbush III, your Uncle Stanley is here to help yah. Good thing for you Tigers and Tigrettes I am as magnanimous as I am munificent!

First, play the alternate opening (only included on the special 3-DVD set or the Blu-Rays) and watch it all the way to the very end. At about 2:23 or so in, as the ice shelf collapses into the frozen seabed, watch the lower left-hand of frame and get ready to hit the pause button. There’s Cap lying prone with his shield flying past camera embedded in a giant chunk of ice (see pic), all ready and set to float oceanward so he can be be found later by the military, SHIELD, and your local cineplex in 2011! Honest Irv has even concocted a video tutorial for you to help yah out (see below)! 

And before someone asks the quizzical question “how did Cap’s shield get on Tony Stark’s lab bench in the Iron Man movie, if Cap’s got it with him frozen in the arctic ice shelf?"... Cap has his original shield from his WWII days. As dedicated Marvelites everywhere already know, Tony Stark made Cap a new shield stuffed with gizmos and electronics along about Avengers #6 (June 1964, or as we call ‘em, ye olden days). Now go out and get this DVD and see what all the fuss is about for yourself, oh Cameotic One!

Excelsior!

Smiley

HOW TO FIND THE CAPTAIN AMERICA EASTER EGG IN THE INCREDIBLE HULK DVD

ITEM! Yours Truly here with the goods, as per usual, oh Frantic Ones. No need to resort to hair-pulling, purple pants-ripping, or belting yourself with gamma rays to see the excised Captain America cameo in The Incredible Hulk movie (out Oct. 21 on both DVD and Blu-Rays at a retailer near you). Just follow these simple instructions: play the alternate arctic opening to the flick and get ready to hit your pause button at about 2:25 in... and voila! There’s the First Avenger buried in the frozen firma along with his swinging shield, just like your Uncle Stanley told yah he’d be, lo these many moons ago! No fuss, no muss... just some daft decision-making by Marvel Studio Head Isaac Perlmutter when he more-or-less forced director Louis Leterrier to cut this original opening for being too dark for a Merry Marvel Movie. Hey, how can our heroes shine in the light without leaping through a little darkness first, right Faithful Ones? That’s the way Jack and I used to do it, that’s the way Marvel did it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far. Enjoy!

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE LOST CAPTAIN AMERICA CAMEO

ITEM! And speaking of “lost cameos,” guess who’s finally getting ready to make his first earnest easter-egg appearance in the DVD version of The Incredible Hulk movie? That’s right... the often-mentioned but scoffed and contentioned Captain America cameo will be appearing in the restored original opening to the movie. See your Uncle Stan’s original blog on the subject for where and when to look. Need more? Go here and read what Hulk VF/X supervisor Kurt Williams has to say about the arctic prologue scene being restored to the very beginning of the flick! Sure, ol’ Kurt plays it pretty coy with the Sci-Fi Channel, but read between the dialogue balloons, Frantic Ones. Remember, it all goes down on October 21! Reserve your copy today!

Excelsior!

Smiley

HULK CUPCAKES (INSERT HOMER SIMPSON DROOL SOUND HERE)

ITEM! While we’re on the subject of Ol’ Greenskin, Val “Occasional Superheroine” D’Orazio’s always gregarious Cool Aggregator blog has a great post up on the Top 10 Weird Hulk Toys. Wouldja believe that the Hulk Cupcake (pictured at right) only came in #4 on the list? I mean what is that thing anyway... guacamole flavored with brocoli frosting? Maybe if you keep it refrigerated long enough, it eventually calms down into a nice, vanilla Bruce Banner cupcake... Yeesh! Go check out the rest of the list at Val's site! Tell 'em Smiley sent yah!

Excelsior!

Smiley

HULK ONLINE FOOTAGE STILL M.I.A.

ITEM! You read the headline right, pilgrims... and your Uncle Stan has no earthly idea why the exciting Captain America cameo excised from The Incredible Hulk movie still has not shown up online (as both Louis Leterrier and the studio promised). I think the suits are still arguing over how posting the footage online will improbably impact future DVD sales. Since A.I.M. stand for Advanced Idea Mechanics, maybe in this case M.I.A. stands for Mercantile Ideas Advancement...

Still, to tide you Frantic Ones over in the meantime, here’s a nifty li'l preview of the upcoming direct-to-DVD Hulk Vs. Wolverine animated movie, slated for a January 2009 release. Note the timely tributes to both Wolverine’s original introduction to Marvelites everywhere in Hulk #181 (Nov. 1974, natch) and to Todd “MacMillionaire” MacFarlane’s classic Hulk #340 cover (Feb. 1988, ...and whatta yah reading these nutty footnotes for anyway... go get these puppies if you don’t already own one!). And if you can't wait until January 2009 for this one, sunshine... come join Yours Truly for the screening at Comic Con in San Diego in a couple of weeks! Enjoy!

Excelsior!

Smiley

ADHERING TO THE SPIRIT OF THE BLOG, IF NOT THE LETERRIER

ITEM! Welp, Marvelites, it’s time for your Uncle Stanley to admit when he was wrong. Just got off the phone with Incredible Hulk director Louis-Louie Leterrier, and it seems that Yours Truly got his wires crossed. It happens. Get to the ripe old age of 85 yourself and see how accurate your keyboard taps are, pilgrims. But in the spirit of this by my old-man Internet-crush Heidi MacDonald, I’m here to set the record straight! Louis just called to let me know that not only was he arguing alongside Edward Norton, not against him, for a beefier, better cut of the Incredible Hulk that included more of Eddie’s character-driven dialogue and plot enhancements, he also wasn’t at fault for pushing the Captain America cameo in public. Seems that Marvel overruled them both, but not until after Louis had already done some early press junkets promoting scenes that were in the various trailers but subsequently cut from the released version. Scenes like the Doc Samson psychiatric session and the arctic prologue scene that included a certain Captain’s coolish cameo.

Louis further informed me that he has no idea why Marvel hasn’t released the Captain America cameo clip onto the Intraweb as they told him they would do last week. His best guess was that some suits were still arguing about harming future DVD sales by posting one of the most anticipated included DVD extras for free. Sounds about right to me. But since no one at the studio has returned my calls in a couple of weeks, your guess is as good as mine when and where this will actually happen. But don’t give up the ship, Frantic Ones... Face Front! Hang Loose! Write your congressman or congresswoman! Demand the extra Hulk footage that you deserve! And until then, Keep Making Yours Marvel! Your Uncle Stan needs a sequel cameo!

Excelsior!

Smiley

GIVE HULK A HOME TODAY!

ITEM! Hey there Intrawebites! Can’t get enough of ol’ Greenskin? Got $3,100 burning a hole in your 401k plan? Desperately in need of over eight feet of fiberglass guaranteed to prevent you from dating ever again? Then it’s Mercenary Marvel to the rescue! In a desperate move to recoup as mucho dinero from their $150 million investment in The Incredible Hulk movie as humanly possible, the studio is auctioning off a pack of these promethean promotional productions on the ebays. See here. 

Whatever happened to promoting your movies by giving away promotional items in a contest? That’s how Uncle Marty used to do it, that’s how Marvel used to do it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far. I can just hear the boardroom discussion about this now. “Hell, our fan-base is a bunch of man-babies with more money than sense anyway... let’s see if we can squeeze even more radioactive blood from the turnip!” 

Not so much as it turns out. Most of the “buy it now” ebay auctions are going unbid upon. I guess your Uncle Stanley and his prehistoric promotional philosophy are pretty prescient after all. Still, if you absolutely gotta have one of these statuesque stand-ups in your den or living room, and you want to avoid having the Lowell, Massachusetts police knocking at your door, you may want to plunk down $3k for one. Tell ‘em Smiley sent yah! 

Excelsior!

Smiley

HULK FOOTAGE III: THE SEARCH FOR CAP

ITEM! What’s up with Louis Letterier and Marvel Studios? I wish I could tell you, pilgrims. First King Louis runs around assuring every entertainment reporter he can get his Parisian paws on that there’s a Captain America cameo in The Incredible Hulk movie... then post-premiere he comes clean and says there’s not! Then he says “pardonez-moi,” we cut it out but we’ll post it online in a couple of days... and then nothing shows up. It’s like the studio is actively trying to spread poor word-of-mouth about this movie. That’s not what the Intrawebs are for, guys! You’re supposed to use the greatest single invention since gamma-irradiated stretchy pants to spread positive buzz about your movie... not pissing your fan base off!

I’d post the footage online myself, but I’m still figuring out how to get my computer to see the printer (heck, they’re facing each other in plain sight, what else does it need?). Even with the terrific technical assistance of Honest Irv, I don’t know how to post the scene online from my early-preview Hulk DVD screener. But I’ll tell you what your Uncle Stanley can do! I can post a brief comic version of how a cadre of my courageous co-creations might crack the case of the confusing cut cameo clip! Enjoy! 

*UPDATED* See the actual footage with instructions on how to spot Cap right here.

Excelsior!

Smiley

POLICE HUNT FOR THE HULK

ITEM! No really! Life imitates art as the local constabulary of Lowell, Massachusetts patrol their streets looking for a green, eight foot tall giant wearing ripped, purple pants! I kid you not, Frantic Ones! From the Lowell Sun newspaper:

POLICE HUNT FOR THE HULK

By Jack Minch, jminch@lowellsun.com

Article Last Updated: 06/21/2008 06:35:52 AM EDT

LOWELL -- Police are on the lookout for an eight-foot man with ripped abs, bulging biceps and a ferocious look frozen on his green face. He disappeared from the front of Showcase Cinema on Reiss Avenue early Tuesday. He was last seen wearing purple pants and nothing else. Oh, and he is missing his feet.

OK, the man is really a statue and was a promotional piece for The Incredible Hulk movie that opened at the theater June 13.

"I'm sure it's in some kid's bedroom somewhere," said Police Capt. James McPadden.

The statuesque figure was screwed to a piece of plywood so the kidnappers did the unthinkable and broke the Hulk off at the ankles. Sonya Grady, a manager at the theater, confirmed the heist but referred further comment to National Amusements' Dedham headquarters. Officials did not answer the telephone last night. The statue was last seen about 1 a.m. Tuesday and an employee noticed the theft about 2:30 a.m. Police believe more than one person was involved and a car or pickup truck was needed to whisk away the Hulk. The movie theater has video surveillance cameras and is hoping the theft was captured on film, McPadden said.

He admitted it could be tough to find the Hulk if he's morphed back into a normal sized doll.

The comic book character was also popularized in the 1970s television show starring Bill Bixby as the mild-mannered scientist and Lou Ferrigno as the enraged scientist. "I'm sure it's a prank kind of thing, it might even turn up somewhere else," McPadden said.

Excelsior!

Smiley

CAPTAIN AMERICA CAMEO AND THE MISSING HULK FOOTAGE

ITEM! Hey there, heroes! It’s your investigative reporter on all thing Marvelous, Stan the Man comin’ at you today, and I’m here to help. Lord knows why, but director King Louis Leterrier XVIII is really playing coy with you Marvelites about whether or not the Captain America cameo is an easter egg in The Incredible Hulk movie or not, and if so, where. I guess it’s because he’s French. The French make an art form out of being coy. And even though your Uncle Stanley only knows a few basic French phrases, like “Bonjour,” “Comment allez-vous,” and “Je me rends,” I’m going to translate Louis’ coyness into some good ol’ American stress-relieving facts for yah. Here’s the complete skinny on the Cap cameos in the Hulk movie!

First, there was a scene scripted and filmed in which Bruce Banner treks northward to the arctic circle and tries to off himself by putting a gun in his mouth (see prior peerless post on this). The suicide attempt fails because he Hulks out anyway after pulling the trigger. (Note that this actually explains why later in the movie Bruce doesn’t die when falling from the helicopter — he Hulks out after landing!) The arctic scene is the scene that was cut by the studio (against Eddy Norton’s wishes) for being too dark... though ironically it is still present in the Hulk video game. In the cut footage, the Hulk goes on a rampage and dislodges a chunk of arctic ice containing — you guessed it — a frozen Steve Rogers! There’s yer M.I.A. Cap cameo in a nifty nugget-sized nutshell.

*UPDATED* See the actual footage with instructions on how to spot Cap right here.

The good news is that so much fuss has been raised about this scene that Louis and the studio are gonna be releasing it on the Intrawebs any day now. No need to wait for the DVD extras for this one!

But what about Monsieur Leterrier’s insistence that the person of Captain America still makes a cameo appearance in the Hulk movie as released? That’s an easy one, pilgrims! If you carefully watch the scene in which General Ross enters the cryogenic chamber to fetch up a dose of Professor Rienstien’s Super Soldier serum, you’ll note that to the right is a mortuary cold chamber door. Guess who’s on the slab in there? Well it’s not Aunt May, Tiger. So there you go, True Believers! Another mystery solved, another magnificent Marvel milestone un-maligned! No need to thank me. Keeping the Faith is what I do! 

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE LOST WRITER CREDIT

ITEM! Everyone likes to give your Uncle Stanley a hard time because of creator credit issues that at the time (1960s) and place (my uncle-in-law’s company) were never-ever considered abnormal by any of the parties involved - including Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. By the standard practices of later decades, Jolly Jack and Sturdy Steve, as well as many others, should have been credited as co-plotters, co-creators, and even co-cashers of the royalty checks on characters that they authored along with Yours Truly. And Kirby and Ditko in particular should be credited with taking some of the earliest steps in raising these issues and making possible eventual changes in the system that comic creators enjoy to this day.

So it’s with certain sense of sardonic sarcasm I note that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Variety reporter Anne Thompson does a bang-up job of chronicling the history of how Edifyin' Edward Norton got shafted out of his screenwriter credit on The Incredible Hulk movie. It’s worth a read, pilgrims. It seems that Hollywood is still struggling with some of the same issues that plagued comics over 40 years ago. Zak Penn wrote the original script with plot, structure and characters... Eddy Norton contributed a lot of dialog, huge chunks of which (somewhere between 20-50 minutes worth) were edited out of the final cut of the movie. So who did the Writers’ Guild award sole screenplay credit to? Yup, you guessed it: Zak Penn. See the Variety story here.

I’m sure glad Yours Truly didn’t have to submit the first 102 issues of the Fantastic Four to the Screen Writers Guild. By their rationale, my name might have been eliminated from the credit boxes entirely!

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE LOST BODY DOUBLE

ITEM! As you movie-going Marvelites may or may not know, when massively CGI’ed movies are filmed, the director often uses stand-in body doubles in order to give the actors something live on-stage to react to. In the case of The Incredible Hulk movie, the double for the Jolly Jade Giant was an otherwise unknown security guard that works on the studio lot for Jimmy Kimmel Live! - one Guillermo Rodriguez. On last night’s show, Jimbo busted the studio employee for moonlighting with footage from the film showing how things looked before Rhythm & Hues CGI’ed the Hulk into a scene. And thanks to the Interwebs, Youtubes, and my technical assistant in all things post-solid-state-radios, Irving Forbush III, you can enjoy the action for your little ol’ self!

Excelsior!

Smiley

ANOTHER MISSING HULK EASTER EGG

ITEM! A special Soapbox Shout-Out to reader SurferGirlKatie in Sydney, New South Wales for sending in this pic of YET another easter egg that was edited out of The Incredible Hulk movie at the last minute! Apparently this was from a flashback sequence in which Bruce Banner is shown exposing laboratory animals to gamma rays, in this case a chicken embryo. SurferGirlKatie, consider your self the recipient of a waxed-up water-proofed wave-riding No-Prize! ‘Nuff Said!

*UPDATED* See the actual footage with instructions on how to spot Cap right here.

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE LOST EASTER EGG

ITEM! Actually director “King Louis” Leterrier’s bestest easter egg in The Incredible Hulk movie isn’t technically lost... it just wasn’t included in the final release cut of the movie. Originally Mighty Marvel snuck in another reference to the upcoming Captain America movie, which Louis talks about in this interview. In a scene the studio deemed too intense for younger viewers, Bruce Banner tries to shoot himself in the arctic, only to trigger a transformation into the Hulk. Oddly enough, this same basic scene is still included in the video game. 

*UPDATED* See the actual footage with instructions on how to spot Cap right here.

In the excised footage, the Hulk rages, then knocks loose a chunk of glacier in a bit very similar to the one shown below from Avengers #4 (March 1964, natch). Just substitute ol' Greenskin for Subby and - bingo! Hopefully we'll see this scene included in the eventual DVD extras later this year.

You know, I have to give it up to directors and screenwriters smart enough to crib from the best - namely Yours Truly! Enjoy the show!

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE LOST OUTTAKES

ITEM! Only two days to go, heroes! Two days until ol’ Greenskin smashes his way to a theatre near you! Can’t wait that long? Well your Uncle Stanley is here to help. Louis Letterier sent me over some of the in-the-works video extras for the eventual DVD release so I could get “prepared” (i.e. have my malfunctioning memory messaged) for taping my interviews. Included in the extras are some hilarious outtakes and on-camera hijinks that I’ve decided to preview for you here... via the magic of Stan’s famous patent-pending peerlessly penned dialog balloons! Just a little assist from Irving Forbush and voila! What costs readers of fine upscale humor mags like Mad Magazine a whopping $4.99... you Marvelites get for free! Enjoy!

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE LOST CAMEOS

ITEM! Unless you’ve been living under a lodestone in Latveria, you’ve seen some of Ol’ Smiley’s sometimes-comic always-dioramic cameos in virtually all of our Merry Marvel Movies. But did you know that my very first cameo in a Marvel movie was all the way back in 1989’s TV movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk? Don’t believe me? Too good to be true? Check out Honest Irv’s embedded video below to see me in all my ad-libbed and action-posed glory. I’m that guy in the front of the jury box trying to get the heck outta Lou Ferrigno’s way!

Now the juicy part... did you know that Jolly Jack Kirby scored the very first-ever cameo in a moving Marvel production 10 years before your Uncle Stanley? That’s right, pilgrim. Jack always had a way of being there first with everything. The King had an uncredited cameo as a police sketch artist in an early episode of The Incredible Hulk TV series way, way back in the 1979 episode “No Escape” (see below)!

If you want to recapture these and other moments of Hulked-out gamma-rayed goodness, be sure and check out The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and  The Incredible Hulk: The Television Series Ultimate Collection on DVD at a video store near you! Who says this isn’t the Marvel Age of Encyclopedic Creator Cameos? P.S. Speaking of cameos, be sure to watch for another sneaky Marvel Easter Egg cameo from a certain Red, White and Blue shield-slinger in the about-to-premiere Incredible Hulk movie! ‘Nuff Said!

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE LOST EPISODES

ITEM! Welcome to Heeeeere's Hulk Week here at everything’s sunny in Soapboxland! In honor of the June 13th premiere of The Incredible Hulk movie, we’ll be all-Hulk all-the-time all-week! (Note: if you absolutely, positively, have to have something Brand Ecch-related to read this week - go here. Your Uncle Stan forgives you!) And we're starting out this week with a few missing chapters from the life and times of ol’ Greenskin. Ever wonder exactly what happened to the Jolly Jade Giant between the last issue of his first run (The Incredible Hulk #6, March 1963) and his next series starting in Tales to Astonish #60 (Oct. 1964)? Well in 1977 writer Daring Doug Moench and a raft of other manic Marvel madmen decided to answer that very question in Marvel’s black-and-white The Rampaging Hulk magazine. Picking up Bruce Banner’s story directly from ish #6 of the Hulkster’s first run, Moench and friends stepped directly into the shoes of Lee-Kirby-Ditko and told the story from that point onwards... and it was Incredible!

Fondly remembered by Frantic Ones for years, you can now own the first 15 issues of these historic Hulk hegiras by getting your copy of the Marvels Essentials: The Rampaging Hulk! At 584 pages, it’s over 1.4 pounds of boisterous Bronze Age bodaciousness. It’s full of lush, lovingly-rendered 60s-style Hulk lore full of invading aliens, Soviet megalomaniacs and jalopy-driving teen-aged sidekicks. Trust your Uncle Stanley on this... you gotta have this one sitting on your shelf reserved for literary classics!

Excelsior!

Smiley

CAREFULLY-CONTRIVED CLUE-FILLED CAMEO

ITEM! Well movie-goers, The Incredible Hulk reviews are starting to stream in, and your Uncle Stanley is not one to say “I told you so.” Oh wait... yes I am! Told yah so, True Believers! Now that Marvel Entertainment is running the show, our movies are all guaranteed to bring a trembling tear of fan-boy joy to your bright-eyed and bushy-tailed peepers! Seeing my newest, bestest-friend-forever Robert Downey Jr.’s “We’re assembling a team” cameo is worth the price of admission alone! And speaking of calamitous cameos... be sure and check out Yours Truly’s. This time I not only get lines, I get to advance the plot! I’m not gonna spoil it for you, Fearless Ones, but let me say that it will put you in mind of how we used to do things at Mighty Marvel back in the day. You’ll understand what I mean when you see the flick. Can anyone explain to me why there isn’t an Academy Award for Best Cameo by a Crazed Crotchety Co-Creator?

So what are you waiting for, Tiger? Don’t get left out in the careless cold! Get online the Intrawebs and reserve your tickets today! June 13th will be here before you can irradiate a gamma particle and call it Smiley!

Excelsior!

Smiley