The Hulk is about to find himself far from home.
"Planet Hulk," available Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray ($20-$30), is the latest in a series of straight-to-DVD animated films from Marvel Animated Features and Lionsgate Home Entertainment. It adapts an epic story that appeared a few years ago in Marvel Comics' "The Incredible Hulk."
"It's the story of how Earth's mightiest heroes have basically tired of the Hulk's rampages," says Greg Johnson, who wrote the "Planet Hulk" screenplay and has written most of the other Marvel-Lionsgate projects, too.
Those heroes, Johnson said, put the Hulk on a ship and send him into space. It's not as bad as it sounds; the intent is to send the Hulk to a lush planet devoid of any intelligent life, where he'll finally find peace. But things quickly go awry when the enraged Hulk accidently sends the ship into a wormhole that deposits him on Sakaar, a distant, savage planet vaguely reminiscent of Earth's Roman Empire.
"He's rounded up and thrown into this circle of slaves who are meant to fight in gladiator-type events," Johnson said. On Sakaar, as he fights for survival, the Hulk doesn't revert to his "puny" self as Bruce Banner. But the character does evolve emotionally.
"It's a story about him going from monster to hero," Johnson said.
Greg Pak, who wrote the comic book tale, was not directly involved in the writing of the screenplay, but did offer his input, Johnson said.
"He provided some very thoughtful, very helpful notes, basically illuminating a lot of his perspective on different things, including the religious aspect. Even the pronunciation of the names, which in my head I had most of them wrong."
