The Incredible Hulk (upcoming animated series)/Tropes


 * Actor Allusion: This isn't the first time Willem Dafoe plays a green-colored Mad Scientist and supervillain in a Marvel production. The Leader even at one point uses orange bombs similar to the Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs.
 * Ascended Extra: Blackbird in the comics was a minor villsin. The show makes her a recurring character wuth an entire arc for herself.
 * Author's Saving Throw:
 * After Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. received criticism for cutting off the Darker and Edgier Jekyll & Hyde aspects of the character, this series brings them back in full force.
 * After several Marvel series being mainly influenced by the MCU, this show instead draws more inspiration from the comics, with any connection to the MCU being limited to Mythology Gags or only one or two cases of Composite Character.
 * Some felt the Hulk was a bit Wangsty regarding his wish of being keft alone, since he is later seen lamenting just that. The producers avoided this by turning it into a character arc for the Hulk in season 1, which depicts his wish of being left alone of him being in denial about his true wish of companionship.
 * Fans of the Hulk complained how previous series, while giving him a level of depth, still essentially had him coming out most of the time for action sequemces only, while those that did gave promenient screentime did it at the expense of Banner's, thereby taking away the more tragic aspects of the character. This series ultimately reaches a compromise by giving both sides episodes centered around each of them (which is what the old comics did anyway), allowing them both to have an equal screentime and character development.
 * Fans often felt people calling the Hulk dangerous and a threat came off as an Informed Wrongness. The series instead flips the argument by having Hulk's friends state that he is dangerous and a threat, but because he dosen't know any better and can be shown and teached what he does is wrong, with the argument against Ross being his specific use of offensive violence against him instead.
 * Given how The Dark Phoenix Saga became a Never Live It Down moment for Jean Grey and that all of her modern interpretations featured nods to that story in one way or another, fans will be pleased to see this interprtation of Jean lacking any nods to the Dark Phoenix, with her role in the season 2 premiere instead calling back to New X-Men #121.
 * Adaptational Backatory Change: This version establishes that Betty and Bruce kbew each other since childhood. Most versions had them meeting as adults or never address when they met, with the closest thing to having met as kuds being the fact that they grew up in the same town as kids in Ang Lee's Hulk (2003), which isn't a lot.
 * Adaptational Diversity: This version of the X-Men is compromised primarly of people of color.
 * Adaptation Personality Change: While still smart, the Leader on this show us a Psychopathic Manchild who wants things to go his way and throws tantrums when they not.
 * Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: While most interpreataions seem to at least hint towards Betty having the same feeling for Hulk as she has for Bruce and vice-versa, the show instead potrays Betty as somewhat of a mother figure towards the green guy.
 * Awesome Moments:
 * Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, even if as a voice-over, finally gets to fight the Hulk.
 * During a battle between the Hulk and the Leader, he and Betty are trapped inside of a cave that begins to crumble. But, just before Betty is smashed by a pile of rocks, the Hulk stops them from crushimg her, recreating the iconic moment from Secret Wars of Hulk using his strength to save somebody's life. Even better? In both that instance and its Avengers: Endgame recreation, it was Banner in control of the Hulk's body. Here? Its the Hulk himself doing it, all acting out of instinct to protect one if the few people he cares about and care about him.
 * Througth most of season 1, we see Hulk struggling with the Leader's Humanoids. In the finale, througth? No. The Leader has put Betty and Rick in danger. There's an army of Humanoids between them and Hulk. Hulk wipes the floor with their robo-asses. And with a face that makes both the audience and characters that, because his friends are in peril, he is pissed off. Indeed, "the madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets".
 * There's also the Leader's tantrum. Througth season 1, the Leader has fpund himself dealing with, at worst, "minor setbacks" to his plan, and mostly got his way. Now, he's facing against a monster trying to destroy his plan. The Leader tries to get him killed, but fails. He, for once, is in a situation where he can't get one win.
 * The final battle between Hulk and the Leader:
 * The ropes are against him, the Leader has the upper hand, yet still, the Hulk just dosen't stop. As in the comics, he's Too Dumb to Quit, but he makes ot look simply awe-inspiring.
 * Before he delivers the killing blow, the Leader taunts Hulk woth how alone he is... only for Betty to pick a rocket-launcher and tell him that no, the Hulk is not alone.
 * This gives the Hulk an opening, and he takes it. He kicks the Leader's robo suit's legs, takes the extra arm off like a stick off a tree, throws his opponent away like nobody's business, and throws the extra arm away,,destroyimg the Leader's megacomputer and stopping his plans, mere seconds away fro, his victory.
 * Enraged at this and not one to be upstaged, the Leader still challenges the Hulk, who acceots the challenge. Even without the extra arm the Leader still is enough of a match for the Hulk, but is the Green Goliath who emerges victorious when he grabs a missile the Leader launched and crashes it on the Leader's chest, grabbing the villain mid-air before throwing him to the ground like a toy and beating the living hell out of him, until the duite is nothing more than a bunch of metal. When the Hulk screamed "Hulk smash Leader!", that wasn't him delivering a threat or a war cry, that was him stating a fact.
 * At the end of the fight, the Leader is puzzled not by the green beast in front of him, bit because he, a self-proclaimed genius, failed.
 * Both Sides Have a Point: Bruce may have a point in that the Hulk is dangerous and has caused countless destruction, but Betty is also right to point out that the Hulk is pretty much a child who dosen't know what he does is wrong or how to express his anger, and that Bruce dosen't make an attempt to reason with him inside their subconscious, as well as that by curing himself Banner would kill the Hulk.
 * The Cameo: The second season premiere features cameos from several mutants at the Xavier Institute, including Kitty Pride, Rogue, Blink, and Darwin.
 * Central Theme:
 * What makes a monster?
 * The value of having loved ones around you. For sll his problems, Hulk truly values Betty and Rick, as they are his only friends, and his circle eventually expands to both his cousin Jennifer and even Banner himself, whereas the Leader, being the narcissist he is, dosen't gave anyone that loves hik or he loves, whike Ross' obsession with defeating the Hulk draws even Betty away.
 * The series also subtly but strongly emphases Brain Over Brawn. Ross is convinced that only brute strength and violence will be enough to end the Hulk's treat, which causes him to act incompetently. The Hulk, meanwhile, uses Genius Bruiser moves to cdefeat his opponents, and is diplomacy and talking to him what causes the Hulk to stop being a threat.
 * Celebrity Voice Cast: Willem Dafoe voices the Leader, Chris Pratt voices Rick Jones, and Sam Elliot voices General Ross/Red Hulk. Additionally, Hugh Jackman reprises his longtime role as Wolverine as a guest star.
 * Character Development:
 * Througth the series, Bruce grows from seeing the Hulk as a threat, to tolerate him, to see him as a friend.
 * Betty becomes more confident as season one progresses, growing from meek to brave by the time the Leader attacks.
 * At the start of season 1, Hulk wants just to be left alone, but througth the season he realizes he actually wants friends. He also begins to overcome his violent and anti-social tendencies.
 * Ross goes througth a darker version, going from a composed Well-Intentioned Extremist, to a deranged monstrous lunatic no different from how the Hulk used to be.
 * Bkackbird joins the Leader because her fight with the Hulk made her feel weak. But her time with him makes her wonder if what she does are truly acts of strength, and eventually betrays him and learns that true strength comes from charscter, keading her to become a hero.
 * Company Cross References:
 * Among the books in Betty's library are Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Enchanted Rose can also be seen in her library.
 * The scene were Hulk thinks of his loneliness was inspired by a scene from Lilo & Stitch, where Stitch says he's lost while waiting for a family to take care of him.
 * An episode has Hulk climbing to tge top of a tree and staring at the stars, longing for a place to belong. This is similar to the "Go the Distance" number from Hercules (1997).
 * A sticker of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit can be seen in Rick's fridge.
 * Bruce's transformation in the episode "The Abomination!" references Eda's Owl Beast transformation in The Owl House episode "Keeping Up A-fear-ensces".
 * Blonsky's transformation into the Abomination, whike drawing elementsvfrom the MCU, is also based on how Taurus Bulba turned into a cyborg in Darkwing Duck: Both were villains initially assumed desceased before being found by the heroes' enemies barely alive, after which they performed an experiment on thrm to turn them into powerful assets, only to go rogue before setting on a revenhevquest against the hero.
 * A figurine of an Atlantean ship from Atlantis: The Lost Empire can be seen in Jennifer's home in the episode "The She-Hulk Lives!". Doubles as an Actor Allusion, since Cree Summer, who voices She-Hulk,reviously starred in Atlantis as Kida.
 * Jennifer has a dog named "Tramp".
 * Pongo and Perdita make a cameo at the start of "Hard Knocks", among the dogs in New York City. Cruella DeVil also appears as a New York citizen.
 * Lighting McQueen and Cruz Ramirez can be seen in an episode during a wide shot of a road.
 * One of the Gamma mutants the Leader envisions resembles Henry J. Waternoose from Monsters, Inc.
 * Among the toys in a room in the Xavier Institute are plush toys of Mickey Mouse, Sprig Plantar, Della Duck, Stitch, and Simba.
 * Composite Character: The Leader obtains a few elements of the MCU version of Thanos, being a mastermind who mostly works in the shadows througth lackeys, while manipulating events to lead to his victory. His visionary obsesion with evolution is also reminiscent of Chukwudi Iwuji's the High Evolutionary.
 * Darker and Edgier: The series brings forth the chatacter's more dramatic and emotional aspects, contrasting with the lighthearted comedy that was Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., and making it closer in tone to the 1996-97 animated series. The generally grim tone and focus on mental health also makes the series among the darkest Disney TVA productions.
 * Decomposite Character: According to showrunner Sage Cotugno, both the Leader and General Ross are intended to represent aspects of Brian Banner: The Leader representing the "mad scientist" aspects and Ross representing him being an Abusive Father.
 * Deconstruction: Of General Ross' character. Everybody is quick to point out how utterly idiotic is his plan of dealing with the Hulk AKA someone whose Catchphrase is "The angrier Hulk gets the stronger Hulk gets!" througth violence, to not to mention the fact that Banner is attempting to cure himself anyways yet he always prevents him when it would be smarter to assist him instead of putting more stress on him and thus making him more likely to transform by chasing him like a dog. However, he refuses to listen. As a result, the season 2 premiere sees him being fired for incompetence.
 * Demoted to Extra: Jackie McGee, a promenient character in the Immortal Hulk comics, makes sporadic cameos as a reporter througth the series.
 * Disney Villain Death: Red Hulk meets his demise during a fight against the Hulk, in which he ends up causing himself to fall into a reactor shaft.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything:
 * With the Hulk's more childlike qualities being further explored in this show, Ross is slowly but surely potrated as something in the lines of a child murderer.
 * Betty and Ross' argumebts regarding the Hulk are reminiscent if how to deal with a traumatized misbehaving child.
 * Driven to Suicide: Strongly implied. Banner at one point admits he wonders the point on running "when there are other options" as he stares at a cliff, before adding "but they wouldn't work. Not for me".
 * Exiled from Continuity: According to Sage Cotugno, Thor, Iron Man, and Black Widow are the only Marvel characters excluded from the series. Surprisingly, this was not the product of Executive Meddling (as was the case regarding Mickey Mouse and the DuckTales reboot), but instead something they imposed on themselves to avoid similarities with the MCU.
 * Fastball Special: Hulk and Wolverine do one while fighting the Leader.
 * Foreshadowing:
 * Experts on DID will notice Banner displaying symptoms of the disorder early in the series, hinting that the origins of his Hulk alter go beyond the Gamma radiation.
 * In "The Abomination!", Betty mentions to Rick that Bruce not even as a child ever talked about his parents, but Betty muses that something happened to them. Something happened, alright.
 * Fridge Brilliance: She-Hulk's Wonder Woman-esque entrance in the seaspn one finale is fighting when you remember that Peter David, who wrote for both Hulk and She-Hulk, said the character has the potential of being Marvel's equivalent of Diana. A bit too literal, don't you think?
 * Fridge Horror: One of the countries the Leader wanted to turn into gamma mutate-inhabitated areas is Genosha. Supposing its anything like the comics' version, he could have created gamma monsters out of an entire country of mutants.
 * Harsher in Hindsight: In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Hulk tries to kill Ross for framing and jailing him, but is convinced to spare him by Captain America. In this series, Hulk tries to save him, but fails and Ross falls to his death due to Ross' own insanity.
 * He Really Can Act: Fred Tatasciore hasn't really gotten a lot of chances to act in emotional scenes while playing the Savage Hulk. However, this series goves him that chance and totally milks it, delivering some ot the most emotional and heartfelt performances in his entire career.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Ross takes this to frightening degrees, Jumping Off the Slippery Slope until he becomes not only a literal monster, but a mindless bloodlusting monster far more dangerous than the Hulk ever was.
 * Heartwarming Moments:
 * While Hulk experiencing fear for the first time in his life is a Tearjerker, it leads up to a moment where Betty and Rick comfort him and tell him that nobody will die. Hulk is actually geniuenly touched by what is his first time experiencing kindness.
 * When the Leader asks Hulk why is he protecting humanity from him when, as he claims, he us supposedly above them, the Hulk responds that he is actually inferior to humans because "Leader is bad. Puny humans are good". This proves that, for all his fights and anger towards humanity, Hulk does recognize that there's good in them. Doubles as a Moment of Awesome.
 * On a meta-level, the relationship between Banner and the Thing, who us voiced in thus version by TV's most iconic Hulk, Lou Ferrigno.
 * After the Leader is defeated, Ross orders his soldiers to shoot the Hulk. The soldiers, having realized that Hulk, while dangerous, just wants to live in peace, and that Ross has lost his mind, refuse instead.
 * Season 2 reveals that, after bondong with Hulk on Canada, Wolverine dropped his life as a mercenary and began to search for peopke like him, eventually meeting and joining the X-Men. And he seems quite happy with the team.
 * In the season 2 premiere, Banner shows a lot of empathy towards mutants. Seeing how he knows what is like to not to ask for powers that you can't control and you are hounded for, it only makes sense he'd relare to mutants on a personal level. Hell, he even implicitly threatens to Hulk Out voluntarely when an anti-mutant protester attacks verbally the students.
 * The season 2 premiere also shows that, as with the comics, Hulk.has a soft spot for kids. And he makes it clear by not only smashing a Sentinel, but threatening to do it to the others if they keep attacking the school. And his threat makes it clear it is to keep the children safe.
 * Hidden Depths:
 * Betty's talk about the "butterfly effect" seems to hint at some sort of philosophical side to her.
 * Hulk shows a lot of intelligence for a seemingly mindkess creature, being able to understand complex instructions you would think he wpuld fail to comoregend. This is Truth in Television, as child alters are capable of jolding knowledge beyond their years.
 * Hilarious In Hindsight: Josh Keaton previously voiced the Marvel superhero scientist Spider-Man in The Spectacular Spider-Man, where the character predictably fqced off against Nirman Osborn / Green Goblin. Later he voiced Osborn himself in Spider-Man (2017), who physically transformed into the Goblin (througth he was never referred as such) instead of wearing a suit. Here, he voices Bruce Banner, another Marvel superhero scientist, and who physically transforms into a green creature, and whose archenemy is also a green-colored scientist who underwent a physical transformation, and who is voiced by the Green Goblin's first official live-action actor, Willem Dafoe. Driving the hilarity even further is that Dafoe's potrayal had Norman suffering DID himself, which means he is fighting what in essence is an heroic version of his Goblin.
 * I Just Want to Be Left Alone: Deconstructed. While Banner's friends understand his wish of wanting to be alone, the fact remains that he is someone with untreared dissociative identity disorder and, thus, it would be mentally umhealthy for him to be left alone for now.
 * Inspiration for the Work: According to Cotugno, the series's tone and themes were inspired by Disney's Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, while the overrall story and horror elements drew inspiration from The Owl House, and Hulk's character arc was inspired by Lilo & Stitch.
 * Musical Nods: Tragic moments involving Banner or the Hulk are often underscored by "The Lonely Man" from the 1970s series.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * Several episodes are titled after or in reference to comics and TV shows featuring the Hulk.
 * When he begins transforming, Banner's eyes first turn green, an homage to the live-action series.
 * Hulk is capable of increasing his size when angered further, much like in Ang Lee's film.
 * As in the Bruce Jones run, Betty secretly helps Banner under the name "Mr. Blue".
 * One of Betty's outfits resembles the one she wore in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.
 * In the pilot, the Leader plans to use gamma-epipherine to have Banner turn into the Hulk without him going berserk. This is the same method Dpc Samson used at one point in the comics to have a therapy with the Hulk.
 * While hacking a computer, Betty uses the password "9200", the designated number for the reality rulled by a version of Hulk known as Maestro.
 * Doubling as an Actor Allusion, the Leader shows awe at Banner's transformation by saying "that's some neat trick", which is how the Green Goblin described Spider-Man's spider-sense in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
 * While talking with Rick about the butterfly effect, Betty uses as an example of a seemingky small act having unexoected consequences "refusing to let domeone in an elevator". This references how the MCU's Multiverse Saga started when the 2012 Avengers wouldn't let Hulk inside an elevator in Avengers: Endgame.
 * Bruce mentions how Jenmifer always taught him to smile in spite of anything, an element lifted from Geoff Johns' Avengers run.
 * Similar to the MCU Spider-Man Trilogy, several car licensce plates alude to co,ic books:
 * Logan's truck has the licensce plate "IH181", a nod to his debut in Incredible Hulk #181.
 * Jennifer's licensce plate reads "SSH-01", a nod to Savage She-Hulk #1, where she debuted.
 * The licensce plate of the ambulance carrying Blonsky reads "TTO-90", referencing Blonsky's first comic book appearance in Tales to Astonish #90.
 * After another of the Hulk's rampages, he walks away from a town in a reflexive mood. The shot resembles a panel from Incredible Hulk #297. The plot itself, however, is somewhat similar to Incredible Hulk #267, as both have Hulk trapped in an illusion of an idilic life at one point.
 * At one point, Banner subtly considers suicide, before dismissing the idea as he knows Hulk would stop him. This calls-back to his offscreen suicide attempt in The Avengers. Additionally, Banner thinking of dying via a fall calls-back to the TV film The Death of the Incredible Hulk.
 * A giant-headed Marvel supervillain with psychic blasts and a floating chaur. Is this the Leader or M.O.D.O.K.?
 * At one point in episode 4, Wolverine claims that Hulk is "just like him", which is what he told to a young Magneto in X-Men: Days of the Future Past.
 * The end of "Home at the Range" has Banner walking away from Rick's hometown as sad music plays, which is how most episodes of the 1978 series ended. Another nod to the 1978 series occured when Rick suggested that Bruce should use a different name per town, which Bruce points out would only work in the 70s.
 * The season 1 finale is titled "Gamma World".
 * One of Jennifer Walters' contacts in her phone is "Flo Mayer", a character from She-Hulk's 2016-17 run who helped her deal with her trauma after fighting Thanos and Banner was killed during Civil War II.
 * Jennifer refers to Bruce as "Brucey" and to the Hulk as "Hulkster", much like the 1996 series.
 * The opening for "The She-Hulk Lives!" (Part 1) has Jennifer watching a news report on the Hulk's rampages, similar to her first scene in the 1996 series. Additionally, the briadcast features the line "Bruce Banner, belted by Gamma Rays, turns into the Hulk...", which were some of the lyrics of his opening theme in The Marvel Superheroes.
 * At one point during "The She-Hulk Lives!" (Part 1), Jennifer explains to Hulk that she putd her plants in front of her window so they can receive sunlight, after qhuch the Hulk thriws a plant outside her house, claiming it will receive more sunlight. This is exactly what Hulk did with his plant in The Super Hero Squad Show.
 * The suit the Leader wears to fight the Hulk in the season 1 finale is similar to one Banner created in the Tales of Astonish! comics.
 * One of the traps the Leader uses on Hulk is the same one he was trapped by a group of scientists in The Incredible Hulk (1977) episode "Prometheus - Part 1".
 * Part of Betty's "The Reaso You Suck" Speech to Ross wrre inspired by one Banner gave to Iron Man in Totally Awesome Hulk #7.
 * In episode 10, Betty mentions she once dated a guy named Ramon, who was a boyfriend of hers when she left Bruce during the Bill Mantlo run.
 * Among the countries the Leader plans to bombard with Gamma energy are Latveria, Madripoor, and Genosha.
 * The speech the Leader gives Hulk during their duel resembles the one the Lizard gave to Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). They both are about their rivals' loneliness and are cutted-off by a Shut Up! Hannibal Big Damn Heroes moment.
 * Banner once again tries a Hulk Out via falling. And this time, it works!
 * After the Hulk defeats the Leader, She-Hulk congralutes the group before asking if somebody wants shawarma, similar to Tony Stark in The Avengers (2012).
 * The first season ends exacrly like the 2003 film did: With Banner in the jungle delivering the classic line to a thug.
 * Tigra's appearance is based on her Avengers: United They Stand incarnation. This version is also depicted Tigra as a former actress; her United They Stand incarnation was potrayed in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) as an Animated Actress who has fallen in hard times and ended up recurring to fan appearances as a source of income.
 * Doubling as an Actor Allusion, the season one finale sees the Leader attacking a convoy transporting the Hulk with bombs that bear a striking resemblance to the Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs.
 * Througth the series, the background features buildings and billboards for companies such as Stark Industries, Queng Enterprises, GRUMBL, and Rand Enterprises.
 * Much like in Peter David's run, Banner and (Green) Hulk find a giant door blocking the path in their inner world. Instead of another Hulk, however, the door holds Banndr's repressed memories.
 * The Hulk is established to have first manifested as Banner's imaginary friend in childhood, a concept first established in Bruce Jones' run.
 * Nightmare Fuel: What happens when you put some of the crew behind The Owl House behind a show starring one of Marvel's most terrifying heroes? Nothing for the faint of heart.
 * Much like in The Avengers: Earth's Mightest Heroes, Bruce's eyes turning green is very unnerving, and likely to elicit an Oh Crap! from audiences.
 * In the first episode, Banner suffers a flashback where he sees a man calling to him in anger, his child self crying, and him about to be beaten and insulted. This spells out the show will explore Banner's abused past for the first time since 2003. The flashback itself has a claustrophobic feel with its lighting and shaky camera.
 * Hulk's rampages are filled with this. Once he shows up, what follows is pure mayhem and chaos. Thank glodness by the end of the series Banner helps him find better ways to release his rage.
 * His second rampage is enough to scary even adults. Not only is he hidden behind the shadows, but when he notices some soldiers, he says "Leave me alone". Which feels more like a warning, given how he reacts to their aggresions by smashing them like ragdolls. From that moment, the Hulk feels more like an enraged force of nature, desyroying everything and everyone in his path to freedom, while the soldiers can't do anything to even defend themselves.
 * And evdn when he's not rampaging, he still pretty fucking terrifying. There's a reason Banner says people wouldn't like him when he's angry.
 * His attack on Glorian is arguably Hulk at his scariest in the show. Glorian just Baited the Dog with him by seemingly giving him a place where he is beloved by everyone including his "parents". When Rick exposes the truth, Glorian realizes he made a stupidass mistake. Hulk is now a Heartbroken Badass angry at him. You Wouldn't Like Him When He's Angry, so what about when he is anrgy and heartbroken because of Glorian? He becomes a borderline demented rage machine determined to kill Glorian very gruesomely.
 * And if he is bad, then Ross slow descent into madness is worse. He starts off as a somewhat reasonable general doing his duty, but his hatred for the Hulk slowly erodes his rationality to the point of letting a global-level terrorist try to conquer the world if it means getting a chance of killing the Green Emerald. And when he becomes the Red Hulk, he becomes even worse! He becomes willing to do anything to get a fight with the Hulk, to the point of willfully endangering civilians and even his own daughter! By the last episode, he becomes nothing but a rampaging mindless monster reminescent of when Mephisto manipulated the Hulk in the comics, but without any external influence that made him that way.
 * A particular point is when Ross fibds Rick and threatens to shoot him to get the Hulk to surrender. Even his soldiers are disturbed by such callous act.
 * At the end of the first episode, we see the Hulk being captured, after which Ross reveals that wasn't the army. We then cut to a lair in an unknown location. A mysterious figure then contemplates the situation by treating everythung like a sport and revelling on everybody's reaction to the event. After which, he orders the Hulk to be detained to extract his gamma energy, before revealing his identity via a catchphrase that, thanks in no small part due to coming from Willem Dafoe, has never been do bone-chilling: "So says the Leader".
 * Samuel Sterns' transformation is no pretty sight. We get to see as clearly as pissible in a Disney show how painful your cranium expanding can truly be. And then there's his scream... which transitions into Willem Dafoe's iconic laugh, a scene that feels straight out of The Killing Joke.
 * The Leader's planned fate for the Hulk: Turn him to his green self througth gamma-epinephrine so he dosen't rampage, and then dissect him and his brain slowly to figure out how to turn everyone into mindless gamma brutes. Dafoe's calm and suave yet psychotic delivery makes this something truly frightening. Even worse when you realized he never saud he would kill the Hulk...
 * A moment during Hulk and Wolverine's fight has Wolverine being punched off a cliff by the Hulk. Of course, his regeneration factor saves him, but the how is unnerving: Every dislocated part of his body is slowly rearranged, almost like a zombie. Even the Hulk is unnerved by this.
 * As in the comics, Brian Banner himself is this. A monster of a human being, he beat poor young Bruce for the hell of it whenever Bruce did anything that got him angry, and its shown as explicitly as possible within a Disney TVA show (which, considering what we got from The Owl House, says a lot) how this affected Bruce physically and emotionally. Add in the fact that he is voiced by the same guy as the Joker...
 * Season 2 opens with the all-too-familiar shot of the Sentinels attacking the Xavier Institute. This time, however, we get a big emphasis on how the victims of the attack are children. There's a even a brief moment where a Sentinel almost kills a student.
 * Oh Crap!: Glorian has a big one when Hulk realizes he deceived him, leaving him VERY angry at the trickster.
 * Role Reprise:
 * Fred Tatasciore is back to voice the Hulk.
 * Cree Summer returns from the 1996-97 series as She-Hulk
 * Sam Elliot returns from Ang Lee's Hulk to voice General Ross.
 * On the musical side of things, Danny Elfman returns from Lee's Hulk as composer.
 * Hugh Jackman return as Wolverine from the Fox franchise and Deadpool 3.
 * John Krasinski voices Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic, whom he played in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
 * Shout-Out: She-Hulk's entrance in the season one finale is an homage to Wonder Woman's entrance at the climax of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
 * Shown Their Work: The series puts sn emphasis ln hiw the Hulk's rampages somehow always avoid actual casualties, to the point of Betty theorizing the Hulk does it either on purpose or subconciously. This is an actual theory from the comics, which was generally neglected in most adaptations.
 * Spiritual Adaptation: An episode has the Hulk trapped by trickster Glorian in an illusion of the life hev wishes he could have. This is pretty much the same plot as the DC Comics story For the Man Who Has Everything by Alan Moore.
 * Stealth Pun: The Leader's introductory scene, where he watches througth cameras the Hulk being captured by his forces, has him stepping on two ants that were fighting each other with his boots. The Leader sees himself as far above the rest of the world, including the Hulk and the army, who didn't even knew of his existence until now when he captured the Green Goliath. In other words, the ants were not in conflict with the boot, and the Leader just stepped on them
 * Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
 * Unlike the comics and most media, where Status Quo is God managed to keep Ross as a respected General, his military competence is being doubted since, while the Hulk is dangerous, Ross using offensive tactics against an enemy whose power grows with his rage only increades the danger and collateral damage, and he refuses to try other tactics. This mindset eventually gets him fired and remplaced with General Talbot, whose tactics center less on attacking the Hulk and more on protecting the civilians in the perimeter avoud as much vollateral damage as possible, only attacking the Hulk whenever he directly attacks either them or civilians, and, even then, are strictly defensive attacks mewnt to sent the Hulk away from shere he can harm the rest. All in all, Talbot ends up being the better General by focusing on avoiding casaulties and collateral damage instead of on attacking the Hulk.
 * Banner spents most of his time in isolation (either tryimg to vure himself or prevent the Hulk from rampaging). As a result, his social skills, to put it plainly, suck.
 * Take That!: Episode 10 has a few ones towards Hulk's depiction in Avengers: Age of Ultron
 * Rick suggests to Betty that she should calm down the Hulk with a lullaby, which she strongly refuses, arguing Hulk would feel like she dosen't want him.
 * Later, Betty mentions to Hulk that Bruce used to date a girl named Natasha, but that didn't worked out.
 * Tearjerker:
 * In the first episode, after another fight with the army, Hulk at first rejoices over the army leaving him alone, and even beings to turn back to Banner... until he realizes how empty he feels inside, stoppibg the transformation, and lash outs the entire area in grief, before kneeling in tears and turning back to Banner, in a manner that suggests he's allowing Banner to retake control to stop feeling that pain.
 * In the second episode's ending, Hulk sees a mother narrating her daughter The Ugly Duckling, after which Hulk begins to feel lost because he is awwy from Betty and Rick, the closest thing he has for a family. Unknowbest to him, Betty is watching througth a drone, and sympathizes with the Green Goliath.
 * The ending of the third episode. Hulk for a moment had everything: A sofiety that accepted him, loving parents, happiness... until he realizes its not real. Then he has to watch everything vanish in front of his eyes. While Glorian laughs. Making things worse is that, when Hulk snaps and attacks Gporian, you can see tears in his eyes, and hear his voice breaking. Never have the words "HULK MAD!" ever sounded so tragic.
 * When Abomination begins to win against the Hulk. Unlike most versions, while he dosen't stop, we see that Hulk is downright terrified for his life. A tragic reminder that, for all his might, the Savage Hulk is still a child, and now is one fearing this monster will kill him.
 * While talking about Jennifer to Rick, Banner briefly pauses. He clearly misses his cousin.
 * In "The She-Hulk Lives! (Part 1)", Jennifer and Hulk have a heart-to-heart in wgich Hulk reveals he realized he dosen't actually want to be left alone, but actually wants to have friends who won't harm him, but lamenting how his rage will leave him unable to co-exist with somebody. Jen then comforts him by telling him anyone can change, including him.
 * Near the end of season one, Ross forces Hulk to surrender by threatening to shoot Rick. His soldiers are disturbed by this and are torn on whether to follow his command or let Rick go. And when the Hulk does surrender, Betty outright disowns Ross for doing something so horrible to capture the Hulk, who at this point already showed signs of being over his violent nature.
 * They Also Did: The series was created by Sage Cotugno. They previously worked at Disney Television Animation, working as a director for series such as The Owl House.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speak: Betty delivers one to Ross after he threatens Rick's life to capture the Hulk, chasting him by saying that, while both Hulk and Ross have hurted people, the Green Goliath did it out of ignorance and lack of emotional maturity without killing anybody, while Ross knowingly threatened a man's life.
 * Truer to Text: Unlike even the 1990s series, which only have Banner as the Hulk for a number of scenes, this series have entire episodes with the Hulk transformed, akin to how the comics had entire issues centering exclusively on the Hulk side of the character.
 * As a whole, the series is more faithfull to the comics than most recebt adaptstions, featuring a dark tone in line with the character's potrayal in the comic books and Hulk being treated as a terrifying ceeature with the mind of a 5-year old, whereas other modern adaptations line more with either of those or, at the very least, tone down one without enterily erasing that aspect. The series also potrays Banner's transformations as an explicit case of dissociative, which wasn't actually potrayed outside of comics and videogames ever since Ang Lee's Hulk.
 * This is also one of the few times in animated media whete the Leader does have telepathic and psychic abilities of his own.
 * Villanous Breakdown: Ross grows more and more desesperate to capture the Hulk as the first season progresses, resulting in him lashing out hus doldiers to attack the Hulk even when he's fighting the Leader and protects them. He then tries to do it himself, resulting in him getting caught in a Gamma blast that slowly turns him into the Red Hulk.
 * Wham Line: Hulk delivers one that confirms our worst fears: "Everybody hurts Hulk. Green people hurt Hulk. Weird people hurt Hulk. Even Hulk's father hurt Hulk."
 * Wham Shot: Episode 10 features a flashback of Banner talking to someone as a kid. The image then moves around to reveal that someone is the Hulk.
 * What Do You MeanIts For Kids?: It may be a Marvel show made by Disney TVA for Disney+, but its dark tone, focus on mental health, and terrifying villains, as well as the Hulk himself being scary at times, make it clear this show is not for children.
 * Win Back the Crowd: Many fans felt the series was a return to form for Hulk adaptations, thanks to its dark tone and faithfulness to the sourve material, after many other recent adaptations that were comical in nature but ended downplaying or outright erasing the drama elements many fans felt were crucial to the character.
 * Word of God: According to showrunner Sage Cotugno, while there are no plans to adapt the iconic storyline where Banner and Hulk are separated, they stated that, where should a separation occur, the Hulk would not be rendered mindless as in the comics, as Banner and Hulk are supposed to be treated metaphysically as two individuals within one body (which is in line with modern understandings of DID).