Planet Hulk Thoughts

[emeraldstag]

 I usually don’t find the animated film offerings from Marvel interesting enough to take a look but I saw this available on Netflix and I LOVED the storyline (for the most part) in the comic so I immediately jumped to watch it.

• I didn’t recognize any of the voices which made me glad because it didn’t pull me out of the story and let me connect with the characters how they were presented.
• Favorite character by far was Miek. When reading the comic I had been so focused on the Hulk and Caiera that I didn’t really connect with the warbound, but here the film seemed focused on doing the opposite, giving each supporting character a backstory moment and a time to shine while keeping the subtle progression between Hulk and Caiera in the background.  Long story short, Miek was awesome.
• The comic story was six years ago, so I had completely forgotten much of the gladiator aspects of the adventure, making much of the film a fresh experience for me and left me thinking they had taken a lot more liberty with the story than they actually did.
• Interesting choice to use Beta Ray Bill as the trapped hero instead of the Silver Surfer, it definitely made the brawling much more intense.
• And I can’t tell you how glad I was that they left out the bit in the comics about the Hulk’s shuttle that led to World War Hulk. It drove me crazy then and ending on a happy note was a great decision. I would have loved if Marvel had decided to keep Hulk in Sakaar and turn his story more into a sci-fi/fantasy one forever.
• Lastly, Hulk/Caiera is probably one of my favorite Marvel pairings and while it is probably blasphemy to put Hulk/Banner with anyone other than Betty, there will always be this story.

It was good. I recommend seeing it. Decent length for an animated film, around 75 minutes or so.