10 Completely Unexpected Films By Famous Directors

9. Hulk - Ang Lee's Superhero Movie

You can see why Universal decided to hand their Hulk movie over to Ang Lee. After considered, glacially-paced dramas like Sense And Sensibility, The Ice Storm and Ride With The Devil, it really must have seemed like there was no one else that could have taken the reins.

Sarcasm aside, the decision to give Lee the pre-Marvel Studios Hulk film pre-empts the now in-vogue predilection for seeking out auteurs to helm comic book projects. But even now, Ang Lee taking on Hulk seems like a peculiar move - Lee and comic book movies was never all that ideal a fit, something that was strongly evidenced when Hulk was released in 2003 as a talky superhero saga with questionable effects.

Since Hulk, Lee has gone back to doing what he does best, dropping a couple of masterpieces in Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution, and an Oscar favourite in Life Of Pi.

His post-Hulk filmography might have looked slightly different, however, had Hulk been a bigger success - Lee and writer James Schamus were apparently prepping a sequel until the plug got pulled.