Marvel characters have been a part of the mainstream media long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe began. From the comics to the pre-Iron Man superhero shows being an integral part of the childhoods of the masses, it is safe to say that there were a lot of extremely well-known characters long before they entered the MCU.
With this, it is only natural that something as prominent in popular culture would be referenced and talked about in projects of the time.
One such example is that of the Fast and the Furious series. The franchise is known for featuring cars of all shapes, sizes, and types. One specific car comes to mind when the topic of superheroes comes up, the Hulk car seen in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. During an interview, director, Justin Lin revealed the backstory behind the car and why it featured in a film like this.
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Justin Lin Had A Vision With The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Justin Lin gave an interview with Josh Horowitz on Watchalong, where he went into great detail about all that happened behind the scenes of his 2006 film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Here he went into great detail about one of the most iconic moments in the film, the Marvel Comics character, the Hulk, who had a car based on him. It is quite common for films to have promotional deals in them. This film was no different, with Volkswagen being involved with it. This proved to be quite the hurdle for the director.
“I remember going to Tokyo and and you go to the import car scenes, and it was just so random, you know. And so when we were looking at it, it was you know the studios always have these promotional deals and they had one with Volkswagen. And I’m like, ‘What am I going to do with a van?'” He went on, “I loved the Incredible Hulk as a kid. The TV show and there was an episode where they captured him and he was trying to punch his way out.”
This was because Lin was now tasked with having to fit a van in a film full of highly expensive sports cars. It was here that the director got a vision and saw this as an opportunity that it could be. He revealed that when he was younger, he was a big fan of the Incredible Hulk series, and there was one particular episode that stuck out to him.
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Marvel Gave Them The Rights
Using an episode where the Hulk was trying to punch his way out, Justin Lin decided that he wanted to make a car that looked like it was trying to keep the Hulk in it. This idea made it into the film after Marvel gave the film the rights to do this. The director then went on to reveal the reaction that people from Volkswagen had when they saw this car.
“We had to get Marvel to give us the rights and this 2005 and the Volkswagen guys, they showed up on set and their faces was just priceless.”
He revealed that their reactions were priceless, explaining that they were extremely confused about what had been done to their car. He added that even though he received this reaction, he loved the result. It is safe to say that this is one of the most iconic moments from the film.
