The Hulk & Spider-Man TV-Movie - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

tv star collector · 06-19-2006, 02:28 PM

In the 1980s, there almost was a reunion TV-movie co-starring The Hulk and
Spider-Man. In his book, "MY INCREDIBLE LIFE AS THE HULK," Lou Ferrigno
remembers:

In 1984, Bill Bixby began serious talks with Columbia Television about producing
an INCREDIBLE HULK reunion movie. He proposed doing a team-up movie with
the Hulk and Spiderman series star, Nicholas Hammond. Hammond revealed this
information in an interview in SFX Magazine.

"I used to know Bill Bixby quite well in those days," said Hammond. "Anyhow, we
used to speak on the phone once in awhile, and we talked about the problems
the Hulk series had ran into and why SPIDER-MAN didn't work. Bill asked me during one of these conversations would I play the part again. My response was
only if I could have more control over the character, I wanted to make him more
humorous and was interested in doing more of the physical stuff. I felt one of the problems with the series was that the Peter Parker applied and the
Spider-Man, who was played by a stuntman, were so opposite and lots of
the believability of the character was lost. Bill liked my ideas and said that
he would let me know if anything came up.

"About three weeks to a month later, I got a phone call from Bill saying that
he had spoken to screenwriter Ron Satlof and he was close to setting up a
deal with Columbia Television to start work on a project which featured both
Spider-Man and the Hulk. Bill was going to direct, and I was to have writing
credits with Stan Lee and Ron Satlof. One of the main problems early on
though, was Universal Television weren't prepared to let Columbia have use
of the Hulk character and this took a while. Eventually Bill phoned again
saying that both networks came to a deal to co-produce the tele-movie
with Universal having the rights to screen.

"Things started moving quickly and we got most of the technical crews from
both original series on board and the movie had air date of spring 1984. I was
very excited because work had been tight, and as Bill said, this could open
doors on the acting front. I also loved the character. Bill was also keen to do
it because his private life was in something of a limbo and directing the movie
would have really taken his mind off things. The most impressive thing about
the movie was to be the costume I was going to wear. It was to be the
black costume used in the comics around this time, and it looked a lot better
than the one in the TV series.

"Just as everything was running smoothly, Bill phoned again. 'Hi, it's Bill, Nick.
I've got some bad news. The project has been cancelled. Lou is unavailable,
Universal won't do the movie without Lou.' Lou Ferrigno was in Italy making
a Hercules movie and wouldn't be available to make the movie and they weren't prepared to wait for him. Personally, I have always thought that this
was Universal's own way of cancelling the project. If they had just left it
to Columbia, it would have got made easily. I was a bit upset because I was
looking forward to doing it again and the script was good, and I never got
the chance to work with Bill. A shame really."

Hammond's suspicion that Universal was looking for a reason to cancel the
project was correct, from what I can gather. My availability was never an
issue, because I was never contacted about the project. Universal never
inquired to see if I was available. I had already completed HERCULES II
months before, so my availability was not an issue. In fact, I wasn't even
aware of the HULK/SPIDERMAN project until I came across this information
in 2003 during research for this book.

Skywalker · 07-19-2006, 09:18 PM

Wow, I never knew that. A Hulk and Spider Man movie would have been awesome. It's a shame they never made it.

GARFIELDKOOL · 07-24-2006, 08:46 PM

Two of my favorite superheros of all-time. they should bring it to the big screen in a few years, especially with all the Superheros popping up at theatres every summer. This one would go over the top.

dawsongirl · 07-25-2006, 03:33 PM

That would have been pretty cool. Better than Hulk and Thor, that's for sure.

tv star collector · 07-25-2006, 07:01 PM

"The Incredible Hulk Returns" would have been better if Thor hadn't been
portrayed as a big buffoon ... and, besides, in the comics Thor and Blake were
one and the same person! Of all the Marvel superheroes brought to the small
screen, they took the most liberties (I think) with Thor. Yeah, I know they
made some big changes in the costumes for Captain America (in two made-for-
TV movies) and Daredevil (in "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk") -- but at least
they were fairly true to the personality of each of those characters. Thor
was a big, crude goofball!

TJL · 07-25-2006, 07:51 PM

I did hear somewhere that they were thinking of doing a Hulk Spiderman movie. Thanks for confirming it.

As one of the few who actually liked the short lived Spiderman series, it would have been cool.

Okay, who thought Rex Smith was a better Daredevil then Ben Affleck?

tv star collector · 07-26-2006, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJL

I did hear somewhere that they were thinking of doing a Hulk Spiderman movie. Thanks for confirming it.

As one of the few who actually liked the short lived Spiderman series, it would have been cool.

Okay, who thought Rex Smith was a better Daredevil then Ben Affleck?

Now that you mention it, I felt more empathy toward Rex Smith's portrayal of
Daredevil. Of the two actors, he seemed (to me, anyway) more believable.

GARFIELDKOOL · 07-26-2006, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJL

I did hear somewhere that they were thinking of doing a Hulk Spiderman movie. Thanks for confirming it.

As one of the few who actually liked the short lived Spiderman series, it would have been cool.

Okay, who thought Rex Smith was a better Daredevil then Ben Affleck?

I liked the Spiderman series too. I remember it as a kid, but I didn't really watch it then. I watched it when it came on the Sci-fi channel a few years back, and it was good.

Skywalker · 07-28-2006, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tv star collector

"The Incredible Hulk Returns" would have been better if Thor hadn't been
portrayed as a big buffoon ... and, besides, in the comics Thor and Blake were
one and the same person! Of all the Marvel superheroes brought to the small
screen, they took the most liberties (I think) with Thor. Yeah, I know they
made some big changes in the costumes for Captain America (in two made-for-
TV movies) and Daredevil (in "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk") -- but at least
they were fairly true to the personality of each of those characters. Thor
was a big, crude goofball!

I actually liked Thor in the Incredible Hulk Returns.

One of my favorite scenes from that movie is when he hails a cab.

Skywalker · 07-28-2006, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJL

As one of the few who actually liked the short lived Spiderman series, it would have been cool.

I used to love The Amazing Spider Man. I wish they'd release it on dvd.

dandelion wine · 08-02-2006, 11:43 PM

I was a fan of The Amazing Spiderman series too.. to see a Hulk & Spiderman tv movie would be pretty dang cool. :thumbsup

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJL

I did hear somewhere that they were thinking of doing a Hulk Spiderman movie. Thanks for confirming it.

As one of the few who actually liked the short lived Spiderman series, it would have been cool.

Okay, who thought Rex Smith was a better Daredevil then Ben Affleck?

*raising my hand*

06-19-2006, 02:28 PM	#1
tv star collector I Love Susie Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Location: South Carolina Posts: 4,486	The Hulk & Spider-Man TV-Movie In the 1980s, there almost was a reunion TV-movie co-starring The Hulk and Spider-Man. In his book, "MY INCREDIBLE LIFE AS THE HULK," Lou Ferrigno remembers: In 1984, Bill Bixby began serious talks with Columbia Television about producing an INCREDIBLE HULK reunion movie. He proposed doing a team-up movie with the Hulk and Spiderman series star, Nicholas Hammond. Hammond revealed this information in an interview in SFX Magazine. "I used to know Bill Bixby quite well in those days," said Hammond. "Anyhow, we used to speak on the phone once in awhile, and we talked about the problems the Hulk series had ran into and why SPIDER-MAN didn't work. Bill asked me during one of these conversations would I play the part again. My response was only if I could have more control over the character, I wanted to make him more humorous and was interested in doing more of the physical stuff. I felt one of the problems with the series was that the Peter Parker applied and the Spider-Man, who was played by a stuntman, were so opposite and lots of the believability of the character was lost. Bill liked my ideas and said that he would let me know if anything came up. "About three weeks to a month later, I got a phone call from Bill saying that he had spoken to screenwriter Ron Satlof and he was close to setting up a deal with Columbia Television to start work on a project which featured both Spider-Man and the Hulk. Bill was going to direct, and I was to have writing credits with Stan Lee and Ron Satlof. One of the main problems early on though, was Universal Television weren't prepared to let Columbia have use of the Hulk character and this took a while. Eventually Bill phoned again saying that both networks came to a deal to co-produce the tele-movie with Universal having the rights to screen. "Things started moving quickly and we got most of the technical crews from both original series on board and the movie had air date of spring 1984. I was very excited because work had been tight, and as Bill said, this could open doors on the acting front. I also loved the character. Bill was also keen to do it because his private life was in something of a limbo and directing the movie would have really taken his mind off things. The most impressive thing about the movie was to be the costume I was going to wear. It was to be the black costume used in the comics around this time, and it looked a lot better than the one in the TV series. "Just as everything was running smoothly, Bill phoned again. 'Hi, it's Bill, Nick. I've got some bad news. The project has been cancelled. Lou is unavailable, Universal won't do the movie without Lou.' Lou Ferrigno was in Italy making a Hercules movie and wouldn't be available to make the movie and they weren't prepared to wait for him. Personally, I have always thought that this was Universal's own way of cancelling the project. If they had just left it to Columbia, it would have got made easily. I was a bit upset because I was looking forward to doing it again and the script was good, and I never got the chance to work with Bill. A shame really." Hammond's suspicion that Universal was looking for a reason to cancel the project was correct, from what I can gather. My availability was never an issue, because I was never contacted about the project. Universal never inquired to see if I was available. I had already completed HERCULES II months before, so my availability was not an issue. In fact, I wasn't even aware of the HULK/SPIDERMAN project until I came across this information in 2003 during research for this book.

07-25-2006, 07:51 PM	#6
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,591	I did hear somewhere that they were thinking of doing a Hulk Spiderman movie. Thanks for confirming it. As one of the few who actually liked the short lived Spiderman series, it would have been cool. Okay, who thought Rex Smith was a better Daredevil then Ben Affleck?
	__________________ "I think I'll stroll up to the front to see how the shooting's going..." - Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce Read my blogs! http://centralparkamisguide.com/ http://dvdcriticscorner.com Visit me on Facebook!http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=641138880 Hey, I do the tweet thing too! http://twitter.com/TomLevier My shop of handmade items! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColdGarageCreations

07-19-2006, 09:18 PM	#2
Skywalker Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Apr 04, 2003 Posts: 14,205	Wow, I never knew that. A Hulk and Spider Man movie would have been awesome. It's a shame they never made it.

07-24-2006, 08:46 PM	#3
GARFIELDKOOL Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 02, 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 7,204	Two of my favorite superheros of all-time. they should bring it to the big screen in a few years, especially with all the Superheros popping up at theatres every summer. This one would go over the top.

07-25-2006, 03:33 PM	#4
dawsongirl Member Forum Icon Join Date: Jan 04, 2001 Posts: 53,128	That would have been pretty cool. Better than Hulk and Thor, that's for sure.

07-25-2006, 07:01 PM	#5
tv star collector I Love Susie Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Location: South Carolina Posts: 4,486	"The Incredible Hulk Returns" would have been better if Thor hadn't been portrayed as a big buffoon ... and, besides, in the comics Thor and Blake were one and the same person! Of all the Marvel superheroes brought to the small screen, they took the most liberties (I think) with Thor. Yeah, I know they made some big changes in the costumes for Captain America (in two made-for- TV movies) and Daredevil (in "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk") -- but at least they were fairly true to the personality of each of those characters. Thor was a big, crude goofball!