Bruce tries hard to blend in where ever he is. When he is in Brazil, he wants to do his job and stay unnoticed. However, he dropped some blood into a bottle and then the military knows where he is. The military goes “looking for a white man at that bottling plant”. Just a drop of blood can get him discovered hundreds of miles away.
When the Hulk first comes out, we cannot see him because it is so dark. He blends with the darkness because he is green, as opposed to yellow pr neon orange. Even when Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) talks to General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (William Hurt) about the incident in the bottle factory, Blonsky does not know what happened. He says, “We had him and then something hit us. Something big hit us!” And the general says, “It was Banner.” Blonsky can’t even wrap his head around the fact that a person could become that.
After Banner hulks out and runs away, he ends up in a forest in Guatemala. The green is so striking and prevalent we as an audience can see that clearly the Hulk could blend in easily in this environment. However, we see Banner in it, not the Hulk.
In order to get into the science computer lab, he pretends to be a pizza man. Who would question a pizza guy past a point? Especially if he gave you free pizza? Anyone would let him in the building.
The part where he doesn’t blend in with the green background is when he is attacked on the university campus by the military. Students see it and video what happens. This is the first time when even the audience actually sees the Hulk in broad daylight.
Also, when Hulk is fighting the other giant monster, neither blend in well with the New York City surroundings. However, the soldiers do have a difficult time identifying which creature to attack.
I would argue that blending is Banner and the Hulk’s ultimate defense mechanism. What better way to defend yourself against your enemies than to not be found by them?
Unfortunately and surprisingly, there is not a lot on the internet analyzing this film or even the comic. However, this website addresses some interesting tropes used throughout this movie. Check it out!
See you next week!