Planet Hulk | |
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Directed by | Sam Liu |
Produced by | Frank Pau |
Starring | Rick D. Wasserman Lisa Ann Beley Mark Hildreth Liam O'Brien Kevin Michael Richardson Samuel Vincent Advah Soudack Michael Kopsa Marc Worden |
Distributed by | Lionsgate Home Entertainment |
Release date(s) | February 2, 2010 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Planet Hulk is a 2010 Direct-To-DVD animated film made by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. It is based on the Planet Hulk storyline.
Contents |
Plot
The Hulk awakes on board a shuttle. Iron Man and the other Illuminati members (Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Mister Fantastic) have come to the conclusion that the Hulk is too dangerous for Earth and sent him to a planet free of life. However, the Hulk starts destroying the ship, causing its course to change directly into a wormhole. He is soon crashes on the planet Sakaar. Imperial guards show up and attach an obedience disk onto the Hulk, implanting “talkbots” that allow him to understand their language. They claim the ship as salvage and him as a slave. When the Hulk tries to fight back he is knocked unconscious.
The Hulk wakes up on an Imperial Transport enroute to the coliseum. The other prisoners are
- Hiroim, an ex-Shadow Priest
- Korg, a Kronan
- Miek, an outcast Native
- Elloe Kaifi, a member of the resistance
- Lavin Skee, an ex-bodyguard and member of the resistance
- An Android
- A few other Hived Natives
Lavin Skee takes charge and begins to make battle plans for when they reach the coliseum. The Hulk tries to break free but the chains holding him are unbreakable and he is weak after coming through the wormhole.
They reach the coliseum and become the new gladiators. Their first opponents are Korg's brothers. Korg refuses to fight and but the others start fighting, except the Hulk and Meik, who look for a way out. During the fight the Hived Natives are killed and Lavin Skee is impaled. Korg then joins the fight and kills the other Kronans, knowing they were brainwashed.
Meanwhile, Meik points out the Red King to the Hulk, so the Hulk decides to attack him. The Great Devil Corker is first released, destroying the Android. The Hulk then smashes into the Corker’s head, killing it. He again turns to the Red King but is stopped by Caiera, the Emperor's Lieutenant. The Red King decides to fight the Hulk himself using his mechanized Imperial Armor. The Red King toys with the Hulk until Hiroim tosses Hulk his sword, allowing him to fight back and scar the King’s cheek. As he tries to continue, the Hulk is stopped by Caiera who continues to fight him until the Red King shoots the Hulk. However, due to the displeasure of the crowd, the Red King publicly allows him to live, but secretly plans his death.
The remaining gladiators, except the Hulk, hold a service for Lavin Skee and form a Warbound, revealing their pasts to each other. Korg’s story is about his visit to Earth and a fight between his brothers and Thor along with Beta Ray Bill. They run and end up going thought a wormhole, too. Elloe also tells Hiroim that others believe that the Hulk is the true “Sakaarson,” a title the Red King claims.
The next day a crowd outside of the arena chants the name “Sakaarson.” The Hulk doesn't believe the chanting is for him. The other gladiators ask him to fight with them until they can win their freedom. They're set to fight the Wildebots. The gladiators fight bravely, but the Hulk does the most damage, killing almost all of the Wildebots himself. However, the king of the Wildebots, known as the “Eggbreaker”, is suddenly unleashed. The Hulk fights his way towards Eggbreaker and is swallowed. All appears lost until the Eggbreaker is torn apart from the inside by the Hulk. The Eggbreaker falls and gladiators are the victors. As they leave the arena, Meik picks up a piece of the Eggbreaker.
Later that evening Caiera tells the Hulk her story: When she was a child, creatures known as “Spikes” attacked her village. These creatures bore into the natives, causing them to turn into horrible monsters. Caiera was immune and shown to have super-strength. She was able to fight the creatures and survive, but she had to kill her own family. The Red Prince (now the Red King) appeared and saved the day with his special Death’s Head guards. Caiera pledged her undying loyalty to the prince. She’s worries that the Hulk's actions in the arena are causing the people to believe in him to be the Sakaarson and not the Red King. She tells him that he should escape. Even though she promises that no one will follow, the Hulk refuses and returns the his cell with the others. As he lays down to rest, Meik gives him a necklace with the Eggbreaker eyepiece, telling the Hulk that he is their savior. That night the resistance comes to rescue the gladiators, but the Hulk refuses to go, with the others deciding to stay with him, except for Elloe. but it’s a trap and the gladiators listen to the screams of the resistance fighters as they are attacked.
On the day of the final fight their final challenge is revealed to be Beta Ray Bill. Korg tells everyone this was one of the warriors they fought while on Earth. While Bill opposes his actions, his obedience disk makes him try to kill the others. The Hulk and Bill fight hard and really cause some damage. During their fight Hiroim notices that the Hulk’s blood is bringing plants to life in the middle of the arena. Bill's disk is destroyed and he is free from the mind control. The Hulk continues his attack and pummels Bill into the ground. The others stop him before he can kill Bill and are looking forward to being set free base don the coliseum rules.
The Red King announces he will grant their freedom only after they perform an act of loyalty and kill Elloe. They refuse and the King orders their execution. However, Beta Ray Bill awakes and using the power of his hammer destroys all obedience disks in the coliseum, freeing the gladiators. Bill also offers to take Hulk back to Earth, but the Hulk refuses and says Earth is no longer his home. Before the Hulk leaves the arena, he tells the Red King not to follow him or he will kill him. Everyone makes their way outside but the Hulk goes his own way while Elloe and the rest go to the resistance’s hideout.
Elloe and the others make it safely to the hideout and are greeted by the governor. Everything seems fine until Meik is contacted by other Natives. They tell him to beware of the Governor, so he goes to investigate. He walks in on the Governor talking to the Red King, ordering him to kill everyone. Meik kills the Governor and returns to warn everyone else. Elsewhere the Hulk continues to his journey until he comes across Caiera's old village. She shows up to kill him on the order of the Red King. The two clash until a spike ship flies overhead, heading for the town where Elloe and the others are. The ship crashes and the bugs, attack, attaching themselves to everything in their wake. Caiera goes to help and the Hulk decides to follow.
The Warbound help all the non-infested to a nearby cave, while Caiera fights her way through the monsters. The Warbound almost lose their ground until the Hulk shows up and defends their position. Caiera races towards them but the Red King’s hologram projector stops her and tells her to leave. The original attack, which killed her family, was his doing. He needed to find an “oldstrong” while testing the spikes effectiveness. Caiera protests but is interrupted by a nuclear bomb that destroys everything. The bomb detonates, engulfing everything, including the Hulk. After the smoke clears, the unharmed Caiera finds the Hulk’s body and tells the Red King he is dead. The King wants the Hulk's body paraded through the streets to show everyone.
After the parade Caiera, the shackled Warbound and the Hulk's corpse are brought before the Red King, who is wearing his Imperial Armor. Just as he’s being gloated over, the Hulk's eyes open and punches the King in the face. Caiera set the rest of the gladiators free and everyone fights the guards. The Hulk and Red King continue to fight, with the Red King thinking he has the upper hand. But the Hulk slowly rips the Imperial armor right off, until all that is left is the Red King himself. He is spared, but they also give him a piece of his legacy, a spike bug. As the Red King mutates, his Death’s Head guards kill the infected king on sight.
Order is restored to Sakaar and the Hulk is now the Sakaarson and the ruler of Sakaar. He and his love Caiera and the Warbound now stand as heroes in front of the whole world.
Cast
The following are confirmed to do voice work in this film[1]:
- Rick D. Wasserman - Hulk
- Lisa Ann Beley - Caiera
- Mark Hildreth - Red King
- Liam O'Brien - Hiroim
- Kevin Michael Richardson - Korg
- Samuel Vincent - Miek
- Advah Soudack - Elloe Kaifi
- Michael Kopsa - Lavin Skee
- Marc Worden - Iron Man
- Paul Dobson - Beta Ray Bill
- Lee Tockar - Android
- Russell Roberts - Primus Vand
- Donald Adams - Governor Churik
Additional voices by Doug Abrahams, Paul Dobson, David Kaye, Ellen Kennedy, Cam Lane, Chantal Strand, and Lee Tockar
Crew
- Jamie Simone - Voice Director
Reception
Like the other Marvel Animated Features before it, Planet Hulk has received positive word of mouth. Marvel Animation Age, one of the first sites to review the movie, said "... the film’s story is so strong that it makes me want to rush out and read the original comics... The real selling point to the film for me rests on the fact that it tells a very strong story. It has an abundance of action and set pieces, yes, but manages to fit all that deftly into a really well put together story." [2] Comic Book Movie.com also gave the film a positive review.
References to other Marvel characters
- Iron Man is the only member of the Illuminati to appear in full color. Behind him are Doctor Strange (clearly identifiable by his mustache and cloak) and Mister Fantastic (identifiable purely by his graying temples), with a fourth featureless silhouette behind them that is presumably Black Bolt.
- Several of Marvel's "cosmic" characters make cameo appearances during the gladiator battles in the film: Adam Warlock, Gamora, Pip the Troll, Star-Lord, the Grandmaster and a Skrull.
- Although the Silver Surfer originally appeared in the comic version of "Planet Hulk," due to legal issues he could not be used in the film, and so the animators substituted Beta Ray Bill, feeling that he was just as powerful a character as the Silver Surfer. A flashback based on the events of the comic book Journey Into Mystery #83 (the first appearance of Thor) establishes Bill as a character before his appearance on Sakaar, though Bill was not in this comic book story either, as it was published over twenty years before he first appeared.
- No-Name the Brood Queen doesn't appear in this movie.
- This is the first Hulk film not to feature Bruce Banner (the Hulk's true persona), though he is mentioned by name by Iron Man.
References
External Links
- Official website
- Planet Hulk at Internet Movie Database
- Planet Hulk Blu-ray Review
- Marvel Animation Age
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