David or Bruce?
October 28, 2013 10:59 AM Subscribe
So at a Halloween party and I say to a kid dressed as the Hulk, "Hi there Bruce." And he says "it's Dr. David Banner." I'm not up on the comics and films, but wasn't it originally Dr. Bruce Banner? Why the change?
The 1978 TV series used David instead of Bruce to avoid comic-book style alliteration.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:01 AM on October 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:01 AM on October 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Lou Ferrigno also claimed that the name "Bruce" was seen as effeminate. Mad Magazine lampooned this idea in its parody of the show by having Dr. Banner admit that he changed his name to David to be more masculine while a TV in the background calls Bruce Jenner the World's Greatest Athlete.
posted by Etrigan at 11:06 AM on October 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 11:06 AM on October 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
Moreover, the kid may have thought you were confusing his alter ego with Bruce Wayne... or, come to think of it, the '78 version's producers may not may have wanted their show to duplicate Batman's name.
posted by carmicha at 11:06 AM on October 28, 2013
posted by carmicha at 11:06 AM on October 28, 2013
Response by poster: But it was Bruce Banner originally? Right? And it's David Banner now? The kid was a kid so he probably doesn't even know who Lou Ferrigno is.
posted by three blind mice at 11:28 AM on October 28, 2013
posted by three blind mice at 11:28 AM on October 28, 2013
It was only David Banner on the TV show. His full name in the comics is Robert Bruce Banner, but he goes by Bruce 99.9% of the time, and every other adaptation uses Bruce.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:29 AM on October 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:29 AM on October 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Bruce Banner is what it was in the original comics, yes.
posted by kagredon at 11:29 AM on October 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by kagredon at 11:29 AM on October 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Huh. The producer also wanted to color the Hulk red, but that was the part Stan Lee fought back on.
posted by lumpenprole at 11:39 AM on October 28, 2013
posted by lumpenprole at 11:39 AM on October 28, 2013
The producer also wanted to color the Hulk red, but that was the part Stan Lee fought back on.
The original Hulk was actually gray, and there is definitely now a Red Hulk in the comics.
posted by valkyryn at 11:43 AM on October 28, 2013
The original Hulk was actually gray, and there is definitely now a Red Hulk in the comics.
posted by valkyryn at 11:43 AM on October 28, 2013
it's always been "bruce" as far as i know, and i disagree with lou ferrigno on whether "bruce" is effeminate. dr. banner changed his name to "david" because he met a nice jewish girl and decided to convert so they could be married in her synagogue.
posted by bruce at 11:43 AM on October 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by bruce at 11:43 AM on October 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
it's always been "bruce" as far as i know, and i disagree with lou ferrigno on whether "bruce" is effeminate.
posted by bruce at 11:43 AM on October 28 [+] [!]
Well, you would say that.
posted by kagredon at 11:44 AM on October 28, 2013 [13 favorites]
posted by bruce at 11:43 AM on October 28 [+] [!]
Well, you would say that.
posted by kagredon at 11:44 AM on October 28, 2013 [13 favorites]
i disagree with lou ferrigno on whether "bruce" is effeminate.
For the record, Ferrigno says that it was the producers who thought that, and that he disagreed.
posted by Etrigan at 11:45 AM on October 28, 2013
For the record, Ferrigno says that it was the producers who thought that, and that he disagreed.
posted by Etrigan at 11:45 AM on October 28, 2013
It started out as Bruce Banner, but in one early issue of Fantastic Four Stan Lee got the alliteration wrong and wrote "Bob Banner", so from then on he's been Dr. Robert Bruce Banner.
posted by martinrebas at 11:59 AM on October 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by martinrebas at 11:59 AM on October 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
I just had a thought - the kid may have been introduced to the Bixby/Ferrigno TV show by way of the DVD-re-issues of the series that came out with new logos right around the release of the new films, as a trap for unwary gift-giving grandparents (not unlike a legitimate version of a mockbuster).
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:59 AM on October 28, 2013
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:59 AM on October 28, 2013
There have been various Hulk/Avengers animated series in recent years, and it looks like he's been Bruce on those also.
Other than those, the kid most likely knows of the Hulk through the recent Hulk movies, and the Avengers movie in particular, and he's definitely Bruce in those.
So even if his favorite incarnation was the 70s series, you'd think he'd know why you called him Bruce.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:45 PM on October 28, 2013
Other than those, the kid most likely knows of the Hulk through the recent Hulk movies, and the Avengers movie in particular, and he's definitely Bruce in those.
So even if his favorite incarnation was the 70s series, you'd think he'd know why you called him Bruce.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:45 PM on October 28, 2013
Yeah, the 70s TV show (and the TV movies and newspaper comic strip it spawned) was the only adaptation with "David", so I think maybe the kid was trying to have a little fun with you and/or show off his knowledge of "old stuff" a little.
posted by kagredon at 3:36 PM on October 28, 2013
posted by kagredon at 3:36 PM on October 28, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pecanpies at 11:01 AM on October 28, 2013 [2 favorites]