The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk
Directed by	Bill Bixby
Produced by	Gerald Di Pego Robert Ewing Hugh Spencer-Phillips
Written by	Gerald Di Pego
Starring	Lou Ferrigno John Rhys-Davies Rex Smith Stan Lee (cameo, uncredited)
Music by	Lance Rubin
Country	United States
Language	English
Original channel	NBC
Release date	May 7, 1989 (1989-05-07)
Running time	1 hour, 35 minutes
Preceded by	The Incredible Hulk Returns
Followed by	The Death of the Incredible Hulk

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk is a 1989 TV movie sequel to the 1970s Incredible Hulk television series, featuring both the Hulk and fellow Marvel Comics character Daredevil, who team up to defeat Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. As was the case with The Incredible Hulk Returns, this television movie also acted as a backdoor television pilot for an unproduced series featuring Daredevil.

Plot

On the run again after the events of the previous TV movie, David Banner (Bill Bixby) is working up north under the name David Belson. Disenchanted and at the end of his rope, David makes his way towards a large city with the hopes of renting a room and staying buried. Unbeknownst to him, the city he arrives in is under the control of a powerful underworld kingpin named Wilson Fisk (John Rhys-Davies). When David witnesses an attempted sexual assault by one of Fisk's men, he transforms into the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) and things get haywire. A short while later, David is arrested by the police and wrongfully charged with the crime.

While awaiting trial, blind defense attorney Matt Murdock (Rex Smith) is assigned to David's case. David is uncooperative but Murdock has faith that he is innocent and is determined to prove so. One night while fast asleep, David has a nightmare about his upcoming trial and dreams about transforming into the Hulk on the witness stand. The stress of this causes him to transform in reality and the Hulk subsequently breaks free of the prison.

Murdock manages to track David down in a seedy part of town. In order to win David's trust, Murdock reveals that he is the blind vigilante Daredevil and that he needs David's help to take down Wilson Fisk. David is initially suspicious of how a blind man can be a costumed crime fighter, but Murdock shows David how his other senses are heightened to compensate for his blindness. The two eventually form a mutually dependent friendship and set out to stop Wilson Fisk.

Banner and Murdock help each other with their own problems, and together battle Fisk, and clear Banner's name. During the course of the adventure, Banner triumphs by realizing for the first time in his life his integral role in saving several lives using the powers from his perceived cursed condition.

Production notes

This movie was the first Marvel film or television project to feature a cameo appearance from famed creator Stan Lee, as the jury foreman in Banner's imagined trial. During this scene the Hulk also wears his signature purple pants, the first time the Bixby/Ferrigno Hulk did so.

In a note of irony, Rhys-Davies would later appear with Lou Ferrigno on the animated Incredible Hulk series voicing Thor, whom Ferrigno allied with in the live-action movie The Incredible Hulk Returns. However, due to the lack of a Hulk-Out from Banner in the final act, this marked the first time the two really worked together.

In Sweden they changed the name on the movie to Den otrolige Hulken i New York (The Incredible Hulk In New York) even though the city in the movie is a fictional city and not New York City, although in the comics the Daredevil does works out of New York City. In 2003 the Swedish title was re-changed into "Hulken och Daredevil" ("The Hulk And Daredevil")

The movie is titled The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, being a metaphor for Banner's trials and tribulations in the film which represent those in his entire life. Literally, Banner never stands trial except for in a dream.

The Canadian city of Vancouver's then newly-built rapid transit system, SkyTrain, made its first formal cinematic appearance in the film. Shots were done both on a train, as well as the penultimate Burrard Station on the westbound platform.

Comics vs. film

• In the comics, Daredevil wears a red costume. In the television film, he wears a black, Ninja-inspired costume. Nor are there any "devil" horns on his cowl, nor any kind of "D" or double-"D" logo on his chest. The television film's costume makes the fact that Daredevil is blind more apparent.

• In this movie, the Kingpin is never called by the name Kingpin, instead, everyone refers to him by his birth name Wilson Fisk. This might have been an effort to establish that people were unaware that Fisk, the respectable businessman, was also the nefarious criminal leader, known as the Kingpin.

• The title of this film is referenced by a chapter of The Ultimates, the title of which is "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk," in which Bruce Banner is literally held on trial for his rampage through New York City.

See also

• The Incredible Hulk (TV series)
• The Incredible Hulk Returns
• The Death of the Incredible Hulk

External links

• The Trial of the Incredible Hulk at the Internet Movie Database
• The Trial of the Incredible Hulk at AllRovi
• "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk" at TV.com