Leterrier, who expressed interest in directing Iron Man (2008) for Marvel, was brought onboard and Penn wrote a script that was closer to the comics and the 1978–1982 television series.

After Banner cuts his finger, a drop of his blood falls into a bottle of soda which is eventually ingested by an elderly consumer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, giving him gamma sickness.

After Ross explains how Banner became the Hulk, Blonsky agrees to be injected with a similar serum, gaining enhanced speed, strength, and agility.

[43] Jim Wilson and Jack McGee, supporting characters from the Hulk comics, appear as Culver University students played by P. J. Kerr and Nicholas Rose, respectively.

[44] Other small roles include: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artist Rickson Gracie as Bruce Banner's martial arts instructor, credited as an Aikido instructor due to Norton's background with that style;[45] Brazilian actress Débora Nascimento as Martina, Banner's colleague at a beverage factory;[46] Michael K. Williams as a Harlem bystander, a role that was written for him by Norton as a fan of Williams's series The Wire (2002–2008);[47] and Peter Mensah as General Joe Greller, one of General Ross's military friends.

[12] Leterrier said that he planned to show Bruce Banner's struggle with the monster within him,[55] while Feige added the film would explore "that element of wish fulfillment, of overcoming an injustice or a bully and tapping into a strength that you didn't quite realize you had in yourself".

[60] Edward Norton began discussions to play Banner in April 2006, and arranged a deal that included him as both an actor and a writer, with a screenplay draft he was contractually obligated to turn in within a month.

[25] He also added the scene where Banner attempts to extract a cure from a flower and his e-mailing with Samuel Sterns,[59] which references Bruce Jones' story.

Despite messing up the street with explosives and overturned burning vehicles, the crew would clean it up within twenty minutes so business could continue as normal each day.

[23] Editor Kyle Cooper, creator of the Marvel logo (with the flipping pages) and the montage detailing Iron Man's biography in that film, edited together much of this footage into the opening credits.

[77] Norton dismissed this: "Our healthy process [of collaboration], which is and should be a private matter, was misrepresented publicly as a 'dispute', seized on by people looking for a good story, and has been distorted to such a degree that it risks distracting from the film itself, which Marvel, Universal and I refuse to let happen.

[80] Leterrier hired Rhythm & Hues Studios to provide the computer-generated imagery (CGI), rather than Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) who created the visual effects for Ang Lee's Hulk.

Visual effects company Image Engine spent over a year working on a shot where Banner's gamma-irradiated blood falls through three factory floors into a bottle.

Motion capture aided in placing and timing of movements, but key frame animation by Rhythm and Hues provided the necessary "finesse [and] superhero quality".

The filmmakers used steam and dry ice for the gas used to smoke out the Hulk, and they destroyed a real Humvee by dropping a weight on it when shooting the Culver University battle.

[107] The Incredible Hulk began streaming on Disney+ in the United States on June 16, 2023, after the distribution rights to the film reverted to Marvel Studios and Disney from Universal.

Entertainment analyst David Davis told The Hollywood Reporter, "The first Hulk had such high expectations after the NBCUniversal merger and was supposed to be critical-favorite Ang Lee's breakout commercial blockbuster.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Incredible Hulk may not be quite the smashing success that fans of Marvel's raging behemoth might hope for, but it offers more than enough big green action to make up for its occasionally puny narrative.

[115] Todd McCarthy of Variety said, "what seemed, in theory, the least-necessary revival of a big screen superhero emerges as perfectly solid summer action fare in The Incredible Hulk."

He emphasized "it's all par-for-the-course cinematic demolition and destruction, staged efficiently and with a hint of enthusiasm," and "penned with sporadic wit [...] Visuals lean toward the dark and murky, but editing by three—actually six—hands is fleet, and Craig Armstrong's ever-present score is simultaneously bombastic and helpfully supportive of the action.

"[116] Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald applauded that the film "does a lot of things [Ang] Lee's Hulk didn't: it's lighter and faster-paced, it's funnier and it embraces (instead of ignoring) the 1970s TV series that furthered the character's popularity".

"[119] Conversely, Christy Lemire of the Associated Press found that "the inevitable comparisons to Iron Man, Marvel Studios' first blockbuster this summer, serve as a glaring reminder of what this Hulk lacks: wit and heart.

Despite the presence of Edward Norton, an actor capable of going just as deep as Robert Downey Jr., we don't feel a strong sense of Bruce Banner's inner conflict".

[121] David Ansen of Newsweek wrote, "Leterrier has style, he's good with action and he's eager to give the audience its money's worth of bone-crunching battles.

The movie's scene stealer is Tim Blake Nelson, making a comically welcome third act appearance as the unethical but madly enthusiastic scientist Samuel Sterns".

He explained: "Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.

[133] Ruffalo also made appearances in post- and mid- credits scenes of Iron Man 3 (2013),[134] Captain Marvel (2019),[135] and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).

[144] Leterrier had also intended for a scene in the credits showing Blonsky, human once more, imprisoned and chained in a box,[145] with Feige originally having an idea that the character would be locked in a steel vault that would have been sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

[174] In March 2023, Citigroup financial analyst Jason Bazinet felt Disney may try to include the distribution rights to Hulk, as well as Namor, in any potential sale of the streaming service Hulu to Comcast, the owner of Universal Pictures through NBCUniversal.

[176] In February 2024, Ruffalo expressed doubt over the likelihood of making a standalone Hulk film, citing the cost of the CGI required for the character as a reason.