10 Bad Comic Book Villains Who Were Still Better Than Steppenwolf

Ang Lee's Hulk. Oh, where to begin with Ang Lee's Hulk? As eagerly anticipated as Daredevil had been earlier in 2003, that was nothing like the prevailing optimism that awaited this film. The massively acclaimed director came to it straight from his 2001 masterpiece Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and his hiring to direct the Marvel movie for Universal seemed a clear indication that superhero movies were at last being taken seriously.

The resulting film, alas, was one of the weirdest mainstream blockbusters in decades. Lee had indeed taken the raging Green Goliath seriously, but somewhat excessively so; yet at the same time, he was also too eager to play up the comic book heritage by attempting to imitate the look and feel of comic book frames and graphics on screen. It's a jarring effect to say the least.

It's also somewhat jarring when, after spending much of the film in sombre contemplation of the severe abandonment issues of Bruce Banner (Eric Bana, whose casting surely wasn't 100% a pun), the film then turns his estranged father - a ragged Nick Nolte - into an absurdly over-the-top supervillain who sucks up energy, triggering massive CGI lightshows.

Such a spectacle may be deemed necessary for a superhero movie climax, but it feels mightily incongruous here, and an odd misuse of the talented Nolte. Then again, Hulk misuses the talents of pretty much everyone involved, meaning it was little surprise that Marvel chose to more-or-less reboot the character five years later.