Although it had its fans, 2003’s Hulk was a relative disappointment in box office terms. Louis Leterrier, the French director of The Transporter movies, has now been brought on to give the franchise a reboot in the form of the new action-packed adventure The Incredible Hulk. “We all have this monster inside of us - if we get pushed too hard we explode,” Leterrier tells David Grove.

How did you get involved with the project?

When Marvel decided to finance and produce their own film projects, they began making a list of directors that they wanted to work with, and I was on that list. Marvel liked my previous work, especially the Transporter films, and they felt I would be a good choice to direct The Incredible Hulk. I met with them and gave them my take on the project and they liked it.

What did you think of 2003's Hulk?

I liked it. It was a very cerebral and psychological film. Ang Lee took a very ambitious approach to the film, but the fans were disappointed because it wasn’t the Hulk that they grew up with, especially the fans of the television series. It was a film that appealed to the head but not the gut and I think our film will do both.

This is a complete reboot for the franchise and that means we’re not bound by anything that happened in the 2003 film. It has more action, more fighting and more smash. We also have a great villain with Tim Roth’s Abomination and that’s something that Hulk was sorely lacking. There was no suspense because there was no villain, and the Hulk was invincible. In this film Hulk faces an enemy that can kill him. We have more fun in this film, but that doesn’t mean we’re not taking the Hulk seriously. It’s a story of a man who has great power and wants no part of it.

What versions of the Hulk comic books influenced you the most?

The film is as much influenced by the television series as the comic books, probably more, but I always had the comic book panels with me when we were shooting scenes to make sure everything looked right. I love the old Jack Kirby-Stan Lee stuff, and I’m also a big fan of Hulk: Gray by Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb, which I thought was a really beautiful and touching Hulk story. That’s the kind of feeling I went for with this film.

How did you and Marvel determine what kind of story to tell for the film?

Marvel wanted to reboot the franchise, start over, and to make a film that made great use of animation. From there, it was left to me to work with Zak Penn, the writer, to come up with the story. We took different elements of the comic books and the television series and we crafted it all together into one story. When Ed Norton joined the project, and Zak left to work another project, Ed and I began working on the story because Ed’s really a very talented screenwriter. Besides being a great actor he’s a very talented filmmaker. He’d told me he’d worked on a lot of the scripts for his films, and I asked him to help and he made a great contribution to the story.

What influences did you take from the TV series?

The biggest influence is that the television series was a fugitive story and this film is also fugitive story. Bruce Banner’s a fugitive in the film, and you really feel sorry for him because it’s like he’s a hunted animal. That’s where Thunderbolt Ross figures into the story because he’s the one leading the hunt for Bruce Banner, and he’s a real villain here as compared to the last film.

There’s also a strong theme in the film of how we all have this monster inside of us, and that if we get pushed too hard we explode. One of the best parts of the television show was watching Bruce Banner get pushed and pushed until he just exploded and let his monster within come out and defend him. The elements that fans loved about the television series are in the film. I think that’s what fans missed the most with the 2003 film.

Why was Ed Norton the right actor to play Bruce Banner and the Hulk?

He’s a brilliant actor and he was very passionate about the material. He’s been offered a lot of comic book projects and he’s turned them all down except for this one because he was intrigued by the character and his duality. Ed has the intelligence to be convincing as Bruce Banner and the versatility to be believable when Bruce makes the transformation into Hulk. Ed is able to grasp the themes of the story and the moral implications of every scene. This is Bruce Banner’s story, and if the character isn’t interesting, the film doesn’t work. Ed is one of the most compelling actors alive today, and he makes you care about Bruce Banner.

You welcomed Ed Norton’s contribution as writer?

Absolutely! I asked him, I encouraged it, and he did a great job. His work on the script made this a better film.

Given that 2003’s Hulk spent so much time dealing with the character’s origin, how much of an origin story is your film?

We’re not beginning with the origin like the last film. We’re beginning with our story and as the film goes on we cut back and forth to different parts of Bruce Banner’s life and how he became the Hulk. The audience knows Bruce Banner and how he became the Hulk, so it wouldn’t make any sense to spend a whole hour retelling the origin all over again, but at the same time we want to pay homage to the roots of the character.

We show Hulk’s origin but not in a linear way. This film is chapter one of our take on the Hulk mythology just like Batman Begins was chapter one in the new Batman film mythology. Different parts of Bruce’s past will be revealed in interesting and unpredictable ways, and it will be totally different from the origin in Hulk. Again, we’re following the television series.

How did you decide on Abomination as Hulk’s villain?

We have two villains in the film with Abomination and General Ross. Since this film is the first chapter we picked Abomination, Emil Blonsky, because he’s the most well known of Hulk’s enemies and he’s also a great villain. He has a lot of interesting dimensions. In Hulk, you never felt that Hulk was in danger, that he could be killed, so there was no real suspense; in this film Hulk’s in great danger because Abomination has the power to kill him. He can kill Bruce in Hulk form.

How much of Tim Roth is visible in the CG Abomination?

Abomination’s a monster but Tim’s features will be visible throughout, especially his smile. We mapped out Tim’s features and grafted them onto the monster so that you always recognise Tim inside the monster. Abomination looks much different in this film than he does in the comic books. In the comics he has a reptilian look; in the film his look is much fluid and humanoid, which makes it easier for Tim’s great performance to shine through. He also has Tim’s tattoos!

What would you say is the main theme of the film?

The core of the film is Bruce’s struggle with the monster inside of him. One of the constants of the Marvel universe is the use of gamma energy and how it acts as a great source of hidden power, it’s almost as if characters like the Hulk have stolen energy from the gods and are being cursed for it.

Bruce Banner feels a great amount of guilt in the film because he’s screwed around with Mother Nature; he knows it, and he’s paying the price. Bruce grasps the sad irony of this. He starts out being very arrogant and driven - he thinks he knows everything about his work and it all blows up in his face. He discovers that you can’t put the monster back into the box, and that’s our theme. Don’t mess with nature because it will come back and bite you…

The Incredible Hulk is released in UK and US cinemas on 13 June 2008. Click here to view the trailer.