The Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990)

Movie Info

Seriously…I can’t even walk down a street without getting pissed.

At a secret scientific base in the Northwest, David Banner (Bill Bixby) has infiltrated the complex as a simple minded janitor.  Secretly helping a researcher named Dr. Ronald Pratt (Philip Sterling), Banner believes he can end the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) forever with Pratt’s invention.  Pratt and his invention however is the target of international agents. When an agent named Jasmin (Elizabeth Gracen) interrupts David’s chance at a cure, he has to decide between rescuing Pratt or starting a new life with Jasmin.

Directed by Bill Bixby, The Death of the Incredible Hulk was truly the death of the series.  It was aired on NBC on February 18, 1990 and was met with poor reviews in comparison with the other television movies (which themselves had mediocre reviews).  It has been released on DVD.

“Hulk angry! Hulk will…hey, wait Hulk realized the title of the movie…no fair!”

The problem with The Death of the Incredible Hulk is that it really doesn’t make much sense.  The Hulk is killed in a plane explosion and fall…in previous episodes of the series there was worse that happened to him (even another fall from a plane in a skydiving accident in one episode).  The problems could have easily been cleared up by having a throwaway line that the Hulk had been weakened through experiments, but that wasn’t said anywhere.

Another problem is that a big portion of the TV series involved Hulk on the run from Jack McGee (Jack Colvin).  Colvin last appeared in The Incredible Hulk Returns and was left out of The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (which didn’t make much sense either…he should have been all over that).  It could have been a good resolution for that character to learn that the Hulk was David Banner and get the truth he sought for years.

There….there….is….another!!!!

Both The Incredible Hulk Returns and The Trial of the Incredible Hulk featured other Marvel characters.  It was rumored that She-Hulk or Iron Man would appear in this movie, but it was a return to nothing.  Another simple fix would have been to make Jasmin the Black Widow or to have her transform into She-Hulk after the blood transfer she receives.  Neither happened, and the movie felt flat.

Part of the reason for such a lack of direction is that contrary to the name, The Death of the Incredible Hulk wasn’t meant to be the last film.  Bill Bixby had intended to make The Revenge of the Incredible Hulk but due to his sickness (and death in 1993) it never happened.  A proposed story was that Hulk would get David’s brain.  Instead, after five season and two movies, the viewers were treated to a lackluster death of a fun TV character and that is a shame.

Related Links:

The Incredible Hulk—Season 1 Review and Complete Episode Guide

The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988)

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989)