The Incredible Hulk (2008) - 8 questions

Question: In the alternate opening of this movie, there have been many rumors of Captain America's cameo frozen in the ice as the Hulk smashes it and a big wave of ice shatters. If you look at it very carefully it does seem that it is him. So does anyone know if there has been any confirmation that it is him?

Answer: No, none whatsoever. It's something thrown in by the effects department and that fact that it only exists in a deleted scene makes it a mere curiosity and not any sort of canonical representation of the movie version of the character. With a dedicated Captain America film in production, intended to be released in 2011, they would not have thrown in anything definitive regarding the character into an earlier film, to avoid placing constraints on those making the character's own film. While, yes, Steve Rogers will almost certainly end up frozen in ice at some point, that will be dealt with by his film without worrying about an Easter Egg thrown into a previous movie.

Question: Why is it that in the part of the movie, when Banner has a beard, the beard does not show up when he transforms into the Hulk?

Answer: The Hulk is not human; The Hulk being may not even be able to grow facial hair, which certainly would be a perfectly normal explanation for why he never has a beard. Native American members of my family can't grow a single hair on their chins, but their direct half-siblings have full, flowing beards; perhaps something similar is happening here.

Question: In the trivia section, it's stated that the name Bruce Banner was changed to David Banner in order to avoid misleading audiences on the sexual orientation of the character. In which way is the name Bruce related to being gay? May be to obvious, but I'm not familiar with American pop culture.

Answer: There are many jokes, especially in the late 70's, equating Bruce with "gay." There's nothing that makes the name gay. But like "Lance" or "Percy," it's a stereotype perpetuated by popular culture.

Question: If Tim Roth is on loan from the SAS and is British, why does he wear US uniforms including the US flag (visible on the helicopter before they land in New York for the final battle)?

Answer: Likely it is because he is meant to blend in with his US counterparts. Wearing a British uniform might be misconstrued as representing the British armed forces, which he is not. It may not be exactly with the rules of the military, but the army might not have wanted to attract notice that they had to get outside help.

Question: Anybody think that Tim Roth's character aping his way up the inside of the stairwell may have been inspired from his appearance as a chimpanzee in the Tim Roth version of "Planet of the Apes?"

Answer: Very likely, as Roth trained with the same trainer as he did for Planet of the Apes.

Question: Although some of Bruce Banner's blood falls into one of the soda bottles when he's working in the factory, the movie never explains what happens to that specific bottle. Can we assume that it gets exported to the United States and someone eventually drinks it? Will this tie into the plot for the sequel?

Answer: This is explained in the movie, and it's where Stan Lee's cameo comes in. He is the person who drinks the contaminated soda, triggering a "gamma sickness" incident.

Question: Why are the flags on the soldiers' uniforms backwards? They're American flags, but the stars are on the right hand side of the flags. Was the scene just flipped post-shooting or is there some other reason?

Answer: According to the Department of Defense website, the flag, when worn as a patch, should be placed on the sleeve so that the flag gives the impression as if it is flying in the breeze, as the person wearing the patch moves forward. That means the blue/white field of stars should be in the forward position with the stripes trailing. That is why there are "left" patches and "right" patches made for the left and right sleeves. It is only the "right" sleeve patches that appear backwards when seen on the uniform's right sleeve.

Question: Is it necessary to view Hulk before seeing this film? Or is it stand-alone with a self-contained storyline?

Answer: It's entirely self-containing - effectively the film acts as a relaunch of the franchise rather than a continuation, although it doesn't really have any continuity issues with the first.