The Incredible Hulk Returns... with the Mighty Thor!

I've always loved the Incredible Hulk TV series, ever since it's debut in 1978. For me, the team of Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno will always be the definitive on-screen Banner and Hulk. Roll on to 1988, several years after the series cancellation in 1982... they announced the 1988 TV movie the Incredible Hulk Returns, which would not only reunite Bill Bixby's David Banner with his raging alter-ego (hounded as always by Jack Colvin's Jack McGee) - but the show would feature the Hulk teaming up with none other than the Mighty Thor!!! As a young Marvel fan, it was the coolest thing imaginable seeing TWO Marvel characters battling on the big screen... something which is pretty much normal in today's Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thor was played by actor Eric Allan Kramer, whose portrayal of the Thunder God, while different from the comics, was still one heck of a lot of fun! Plus physically, he LOOKED like Thor! The costume, again different from the classic comic-book version, received a bit of criticism from both fans and comic pros, but looking at it, there were elements there that still made it Thor! 

I thought I would make some amendments to the costume via Photoshop (plus add some of ol' Greenskins trademark purple pants onto Big Lou!). By simply changing the colours, adding chest plates and a cape, I think this would have made a perfect TV costume for the Mighty Thor!

So there you have it. Marvel's first ever live-action team-up. The film may be a far-cry from today's CGI Hulk and Chris Hemsworth's charismatic Thunder God... but back in it's day, the joy of seeing these two Marvel characters was this Marvel fans dream come true! 

Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk, and Eric Allan Kramer as the Mighty Thor. Purple Pants and updated
Thor costume by yours truly, courtesy of Photoshop.