End of heroism

I saw the new "Incredible Hulk" movie last weekend. While better than the Ang Lee movie, this version was lacking something important to the original comic book story: Heroism.

In the original comic book origin (reflecting the Cold War), Bruce Banner was a scientist working to develop a Gamma bomb for the US Army. When a teenager goes onto the testing field, Banner risks his life to save the boy. He stops the countdown and runs out to move the teen to safety. When the countdown resumes due to a double agent, Banner gets the boy to safety and is bombarded by the gamma radiation.

In the movie (much like the earlier TV program), Banner is a scientist who develops a gamma machine and tests it on himself. In this movie version, it's the result of a Super Soldier study being done by the Army's General Ross.

By eliminating Banner's sacrifice - putting the teen's safety before his own - he is no longer a hero. Instead, he's a sad sack who just has incredibly bad luck. There's no reason to root for him - he's a dangerous fugitive.

The origin is largely taken from Marvel's "Ultimate" universe instead of the mainstream Marvel Universe created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and the other creators in the '60s. This Ultimate universe has no real heroes and is, instead, a world of amorality where there's not much difference between the good guys and bad guys. While popular with the ever-aging readership, writers such as Mark Millar and Brian Michael Bendis showcase the worst traits of humanity, writing a world where there the villains are cool and the heroes don't even attempt to be truly heroic.

A large part of the problem is that so many in the current crop of writers (in TV, movies, music, entertainment - including comic books) grew up reading what they now write. In the past, writers would have been familiar with classic literature. Today, it's more important to have in-jokes and clever asides than to write a coherent and meaningful story.