‘The Incredible Hulk’ Had a Perfect Villain Despite Being an Imperfect Movie, According to Fans
Villains always make the MCU work as compellingly as the title superheroes. When placing that into context with 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton, this means something a little different.
Considering this version of the Hulk has been knocked as the weakest link in the long string of MCU movies, fans are starting to look at it in a new light. Perhaps it takes a decade or so for a movie to start shifting fan opinion.
Every MCU movie made since can be compared to the first Hulk movie, and a few people see some things they miss. One thing agreed upon is The Incredible Hulk had one of the best villains of all.
A particular circumstance might enable this villain to return.
Fans still like Tim Roth as Abomination
Those who still appreciate the above 2008 movie mostly like it because Roth’s Emil Blonsky/Abomination was a well-rounded nemesis to Hulk. What made him interesting is he was Russian and ended up working for Great Britain’s Royal Marines. He also wanted to be like Hulk, something he was able to exceed thanks to a specialized serum.
Abomination is a skeletal-like creature with very powerful skill, if his name being only an adjective. It was the ultimate foe for Hulk encountering someone more powerful than him. Although Tim Roth’s performance makes his portrait of Emil Blonsky interesting.
Fans on Reddit have been discussing his performance lately and how much they miss the character. On top of this, they also respect Edward Norton’s version of Bruce Banner more all the time. One reason is he acted more like a real scientist than the Mark Ruffalo version did.
With Abomination being such an eerie figure, many wonder why the character never recurred in other movies. Just because The Incredible Hulk was less celebrated should never mean shutting out potentially useful characters.
Abomination was defeated, but Emil Blonsky was placed into prison
By end of The Incredible Hulk, Banner’s Hulk was able to defeat Abomination during an epic battle in Harlem. After Hulk almost strangles him to death, he spares Blonsky’s life. However, Blonsky is turned over to General Ross who once hired Blonsky to work for him.
Blonsky is sent to prison, with his story seemingly ended. Later, he’s part of a discussion in one of the Marvel shorts made in 2011 called The Consultation. In this film, two members of SHIELD (Phil Coulson and Jasper Sitwell) discuss preventing the release of Blonsky from prison to join The Avengers.
The point is they want him to join SHIELD considering Blonsky was once considered a war hero. After some negotiations, they keep him in prison due to a lack of trust.
Reports were Roth was planning to return as Blonsky in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, yet he’s said Marvel will probably never use him again. Should that really be the end of Blonsky and Abomination, or should he return down the line?
Maybe Abomination and Hulk will have a rematch someday
Fans on the above Reddit thread remind Blonsky was being held in a prison cell up in Alaska, a strange, isolated place. It opens the possibility of him escaping if someone from the inside helps him. Maybe he could get the super serum back and turn back into Abomination.
Despite a lot of possibilities, it’s a slim chance Roth would ever come back unless as a guest star in one of the Disney+ Marvel shows. Not having his character with Hulk would also be strange if not impossible. Since Hulk has been sent out to pasture in the MCU, Blonsky/Abomination may be in the same place for a long while.
Only future reboots will hold out hope unless Hulk’s cameo in upcoming She-Hulk reignites interest in the green guy and his foes.
