Zak Penn: Insightful interview

[HULKFish]

WOW, what great insight he gave in this interview... And the fact that he just tackled a couple things such as his critiquer's. NOT A SEQUEL, a reboot he says! Comparing it to a Batman Begins or Aliens. Give your thoughts now that there is some more information.


http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=5506

I think this movie is gonna be SWEET!! Take note of the Avengers metion too!!

 

[Obi-Ron]

Nice to see some new info finally coming out. It's also nice to see a mention of fans' disapproval of X3, maybe Zak's learned something.

 

[Kent]

Reboot.

Added by Edit:

Wait, it says "In the same way as Aliens was to Alien." I can live with that.

 

[<borkis>]

Reboot.

Added by Edit:

Wait, it says "In the same way as Aliens was to Alien." I can live with that.

I agree... I can live with that Analogy. In a lot of senses, I consider Aliens a perfect sequel to Alien... it takes the franchise in a different direction while respecting the source material. The part of the interview that made me happiest was when he said that they weren't going to retouch issues that were covered in the original. So in that sense, while the tone and style will change, their will still be a connection between the two movies that allows the story to move forward.

I like the idea of it moving from Bruce's inner torture to the challenge of trying to control the beast in a Fugitive or Bourne Identity (Penn's comparison) style narrative.

This movie went from lukewarm to smoldering. I can't wait to see it.

2008 - Iron Man, Batman and the Hulk. Sweeeeeeeeet.

 

[Golgo-13]

Well at least he confirms that IT'S NOT A SEQUEL, which alot of you had hoped for but i'm glad it's not in the same continuity as Ang's movie.

 

[gdw]

I'm surprised he compared to to Begins instead of Superman returns, with regards to the "it can be in the same continuity, but doesn't have to be" thing, because Begins was CLEARLY a restart, even if the press was too stupid to realise that, where as Returns was very much ment to stand on its own but still fit in continuity.

Begins was nowhere near in continuity with the Burton films.

 

[SpaghettiHULK]

But, they said that ain't going to tell Hulk's origins again... so, it will be a sequel, anyway.
a "Reebot" means that all the story and the facts are changed and retelled... in a different way from this, it will be a sort of sequel.
Batman Begins it's a reboot and tells the origin of the character... and it can't takes place on the same continuity of "Batman", "Batman Returns" ecc.

it takes the franchise in a different direction while respecting the source material.

yeah, I think that this is the sense!

 

[Kent]

Well at least he confirms that IT'S NOT A SEQUEL, which alot of you had hoped for but i'm glad it's not in the same continuity as Ang's movie.

But see that's the problem. You can't look at whether or not he thinks the word "sequel" is appropriate... rather you should see what his perception of the word is.
For instance, he compared this to "Alien" and "Aliens". Maybe Penn doesn't think "Aliens" is a sequel to "Alien", but if he doesn't, then his opinion of what constitutes a sequel is pointless to me, because to me it clearly is a sequel.

He also mentions "Batman Begins", but seems confused, since the interview indicates that he thinks "Batman Begins" fits into the continuity of the previous Batman-films. It doesn't, but the important thing to notice is that he thinks it does, and that's why he uses it as an example.

Zak Penn has written a script that he seems to think fits into the continuity of the first Hulk, but that has a distinctly different feel to it, and that doesn't demand that you've seen the previous film. That's what I got from the interview. As far as I can see the movie is a sequel by the standards that I use, whether or not it is according to his standards is irrelevant to me.

 

[MarvelXI]

I never saw Aliens and Alien.
So can someone say what you think will happen in the movie???
Like what Bruce Banner will make in the begining of the movie???
I know the movie isn´t even been filmed but from what you guys know from Aliens and Alien what can we expect???

 

[blind_fury]

I especially like this part.

"I love the Hulk. I think it's a great character. I've always loved the comic book and I loved the TV series. There was things about the first movie that disappointed me, too, or confused me or frustrated me, and there's some ***** that I thought was awesome in it, too."

That sums up my feelings on Ang Lee's Hulk. Hopefully he addressed the biggest problems with the first film.

Also I hope they do stand alone Thor and Captain America movies before they do Avengers. From the interview it soundlike they're planning to do Avengers before the Captain America and Thor movies.

 

[Kent]

I never saw Aliens and Alien.
So can someone say what you think will happen in the movie???
Like what Bruce Banner will make in the begining of the movie???
I know the movie isn´t even been filmed but from what you guys know from Aliens and Alien what can we expect???

He isn't making that kind of a comparison. "Aliens" was a sequel to "Alien", but was drastically different in mood and style. Where "Alien" was a slow paced thriller horror film that took its time building tension, "Aliens" was an all out, fast paced, action movie. And that's the only thing we can get out of the comparison... that we should expect this movie to be different from the first one, in terms of mood, feel, pacing, etc.

 

[GNR]

I still don't see why Marvel hires this guy to write every goddamn marvel flick.

The fact that they've also entrusted him with Avengers is saddening.

 

[MarvelXI]

He isn't making that kind of a comparison. "Aliens" was a sequel to "Alien", but was drastically different in mood and style. Where "Alien" was a slow paced thriller horror film that took its time building tension, "Aliens" was an all out, fast paced, action movie. And that's the only thing we can get out of the comparison... that we should expect this movie to be different from the first one, in terms of mood, feel, pacing, etc.

Thanks.
So from what you said it could be a re-do like batman begins with a different genre, like that we expected from drama to Action.

 

[SpaghettiHULK]

It will be "just" a change of direction... from drama to more action. It's just a different way to tell the story.

 

[Nivek]

Nice to see some new info finally coming out. It's also nice to see a mention of fans' disapproval of X3, maybe Zak's learned something.

Till he mentions Bruce Jones run in a positive light.


Please, Zak Penn, if you want to get us excited about your take on the Hulk, dont mention stuff that lacks the Hulk being in it (BJ's run and the Hulk TV show).

Note to Zak: The majority of Incredible Hulk comic fans HATED, I repeat... HATED Bruce Jones and Axel Alonso's run. Hell, it almost killed the book! Please, in the future, mention Peter David, Bill Mantlo, Roy Thomas, or any of the previous writers. But read the memo, DONT MENTION BRUCE JONES (or the TV show for that matter) as influence on your script. It worries the hell out of me what the hell you could find inspirational about a run on the comic that was notorious for not having the Hulk in it, and having a long, drawn out plot that went nowhere.

 

[Obi-Ron]

Please, in the future, mention Peter David, Bill Mantlo, Roy Thomas, or any of the previous writers.

Word!

 

[Bubonic]

Another thing that confuses me is that he mentions that we won't hear anything about the father, or the experimentations, which is good.
But by not mentioning the father, does it mean that everything that happened in the first with the dad was canon, that he then ended up in south america?
Everything seems muddled up to me, either they should recognize this as a continuation of the first, or it is plain and simply a restart, I rather have the first as a stand alone, because it definately doesn't sound like you'll be able to go from the first to the second and say, yes, this is a series.

 

[ultimatefan]

It´s interesting to see him address frustration with being a fan and having to deal with fanboy bashing. Sometimes they can be almost impossible to please.

 

[FlawlessVictory]

I still don't see why Marvel hires this guy to write every goddamn marvel flick.

The fact that they've also entrusted him with Avengers is saddening.

At least he is not writing Iron Man which I have much higher hopes for than TIH. He seems to believe that Batman Begins is in continuity with the other Batman films.

 

[blind_fury]

It´s interesting to see him address frustration with being a fan and having to deal with fanboy bashing. Sometimes they can be almost impossible to please.

Yeah, but the fanboy bashing he received for X3 was completely justified.

The bashing for X2 was much, much lower, so the lesson is the crappier the movie the worse the fanboy bashing will be.

 

[Bubonic]

What about Rick Jones?
Isn't he reason enough to redo the origin, this is a whole new movie, a new cast, new director, it would feel wrong to count the first as canon.

Aren't they slated to make ant-man, thor, and captain america before the Avengers anyways?

 

[FlawlessVictory]

It´s interesting to see him address frustration with being a fan and having to deal with fanboy bashing. Sometimes they can be almost impossible to please.

You can't please everyone but you can please the majority of fans, just look at the Spider-Man and Batman forums. Fans are justified in their outrage with X3, although I'm sure the interference of Fox had a lot do with how that script turned out.

Edit: There must be something said to the quality of this script though, to be able to land someone of Norton's quality. Assuming of course he read the script before signing on.

 

[dancing_on_fire]

im kinda glad its not a sequal as he described but i do remember reading off this site, maybe perfectdark knows, someone mentioned about the script and how it would focus on him running awaying and retelling a couple of the events that lead to him fleeing aka turning into the hulk, so that would mean some kind of origin story might be present for those who have not seen the last film so im guessing it might even be different as avi stated it will be re-interpretated to be closer to the comics. my guess, superman returns/casino royale/aliens type films mixed into a new film.

im just glad its not a sequal if the original cast werent returning otherwise its going to be kinda confusing and not the same.

 

[Soulgem]

Till he mentions Bruce Jones run in a positive light.


Please, Zak Penn, if you want to get us excited about your take on the Hulk, dont mention stuff that lacks the Hulk being in it (BJ's run and the Hulk TV show).

Note to Zak: The majority of Incredible Hulk comic fans HATED, I repeat... HATED Bruce Jones and Axel Alonso's run. Hell, it almost killed the book! Please, in the future, mention Peter David, Bill Mantlo, Roy Thomas, or any of the previous writers. But read the memo, DONT MENTION BRUCE JONES (or the TV show for that matter) as influence on your script. It worries the hell out of me what the hell you could find inspirational about a run on the comic that was notorious for not having the Hulk in it, and having a long, drawn out plot that went nowhere.

qft

 

[Gamma Burst]

Good interview.Now i have high hopes for the Incredible Hulk,except for the "bruce jones" part.