Why ‘She-Hulk’ paid tribute to 1970s Hulk series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno
“Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”
One of the highlights of the season finale for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was that they mimicked the opening titles sequence from the 1978-1982 network television series The Incredible Hulk. The show starred Bill Bixby as David Banner and strongman Lou Ferrigno as alter-ego monster The Hulk.
Bixby (1934-1993) was a popular television star in such series as the sci-fi sitcom My Favorite Martian, the family comedy The Courtship of Eddie's Father, the crime series The Magician, as well as the Marvel Comics-inspired drama The Incredible Hulk. He was also a TV director on such shows as the fantasy series Wizards and Warriors, the police parody Sledgehammer, and the sitcom Blossom.
Ferrigno Sr. is a retired professional bodybuilder and actor. As a bodybuilder, Ferrigno won several titles, and appeared in the documentary film Pumping Iron. As an actor, he’s best known for his title role in the CBS television series The Incredible Hulk and vocally revisiting the character in subsequent appearances. He’s also appeared in fantasy-adventures like Sinbad of the Seven Seas and Hercules, and even played himself in the sitcom The King of Queens.
Related: She-Hulk Team Breaks Down Homage to The Incredible Hulk, What Was Literally Borrowed From Original Series (TVLine)
Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law launched the season’s final episode with a cold open that amazingly recreated the opening credits for The Incredible Hulk. She-Hulk head writer Jessica Gao told TVLine that the tribute was one of her favorite things about the finale. “I can’t believe we got to do it, and it was so wonderfully done,” she said. “The editors did such a good job in making it feel exactly right.”
In the tribute, She-Hulk star Tatiana Maslany copied Bixby’s role. According to TVLine, Devon Lewis was the stand-in for Ferrigno’s Hulk. (By the way, Ed Norton also inserted a little of the Bixby vibe into the opening of 2008 film The Incredible Hulk.)
Current-Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo, meanwhile, pops up for that moment—in the original credits—that featured actor Jack Colvin as reporter Jack McGee. That’s where viewers hear the famous line “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”
“It was such a fun sequence to play,” She-Hulk star Maslany told TVLine. “Again, it really lives in that world of how meta this [She-Hulk] world is.”
Related: The Incredible Hulk TV Series Was the First Time Marvel 'Grew Up' (CBR)
Comic Book Resources talked about the origins of the 1970s show—including the appearance of Incredible Hulk TV series creator Kenneth Johnson. (Johnson was a great choice, because he had just wrapped up sci-fi action shows The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.)
CBR considered it a plus for the Hulk series that Johnson wasn’t a fan of comics. As such, that’s probably why he treated the series as a serious drama—albeit with an injection of science fiction and horror—as opposed to a campy production.
In the video below, the folks at the YouTube channel Hulk Archives offer a video that edits together both versions of that opening—from the original series and the She-Hulk remake—to show you how alike they are.
About She-Hulk
She-Hulk AKA Jennifer Walters is a Marvel Comics character created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema. After a blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner (who becomes the Incredible Hulk), Walters now becomes a giant, super-strong, green-skinned version of herself. However, unlike her cousin, she can continue to be in mental control.
Also a highly skilled lawyer, she frequently serves as legal counsel for others who are super-powered. In the comics, She-Hulk has also been a member of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, S.H.I.E.L.D, and more.
Walters made her live-action debut with the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022), portrayed by Tatiana Maslany.