Thor and Daredevil got tryouts on NBC in the 1980s as guest stars in the Incredible Hulk movies, but the network did not greenlight either to series.
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What Are They?
In the 1980s, NBC acquired the rights to The Incredible Hulk from CBS and produced three made-for-TV-movies to test and see if audiences were ready for a return of Dr David Banner and his alter ego The Hulk. In addition, the network used these as “back door pilots” to work in two other Marvel characters and see if they might warrant getting their own shows.
In 1988’s The Incredible Hulk Returns, David Banner has been working at a research institute for two years and has managed to keep his alter ego under control during that time. He is developing a Gamma Ray transponder that he hopes will cure him of the Hulk forever. One of Banner’s former students, Donald Blake, approaches him and reveals that he has become bonded to the mythical Thor after discovering the God of Thunder’s hammer while on an expedition in Norway. Odin had banished Thor to Earth long ago, and now Blake can summon him using the hammer (they exist together as opposed to the comics where Thor replaces Blake when he is summoned). Criminals steal the Gamma Ray transponder leading to Banner/Hulk teaming up with Blake/Thor to recover it. This movie definitely took a lot of liberties with the Thor character, especially by using him quite often for comic relief. But The Incredible Hulk also diverged notably from its source material and still produced a classic sci fi series, so it would have at least been interesting to see the direction they would have gone with the character if he had been picked up for his own show.
Aired: NBC, May 22, 1988
Starring: Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, Jack Colvin, Eric Kramer, Steve Levitt
Developed By: Kenneth Johnson
The next year brought The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, and that introduced Matt Murdock/Daredevil. In this film, David Banner heads to a city to find work but finds it is under the influence of crime boss Wilson Fisk (played by John Rhys-Davies!). Banner gets into an altercation with two of Fisk’s men on the subway which causes him to turn into the Hulk. Banner is blamed for the incident and arrested, and Matt Murdock is appointed as his attorney. Murdock learns that Banner is the Hulk and then reveals his own secret identity of Daredevil. The two then team up to foil Fisk’s attempts to take full control of criminal activities across the city. This film also took liberties with the source material, but this version of Daredevil was closer to his comic book origins than either the Hulk or Thor. And the movie established a much stronger setup for a series based on the Man Without Fear. (Fun fact: this film also had the first of Stan Lee’s cameo appearances in Marvel-based movies.)
Aired: NBC, May 7, 1989
Starring: Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, Rex Smith, John Rhys-Davies
Developed By: Kenneth Johnson
Buy The Incredible Hulk Returns / The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk on DVD Amazon.com
Why Didn’t They Fly?
Sadly, neither Thor nor Daredevil progressed into their own shows. The Incredible Hulk movies drew decent ratings (a third and final film—with no guest heroes–would follow in 1990), but apparently not sufficient for network execs to greenlight the back-door pilots. If one or both had gone to series, would the characters have had crossovers since NBC owned the rights to all of them? This was definitely an early opportunity to establish an on-screen Marvel Universe of sorts, but NBC passed on the chance just as CBS did back in the late ’70s (more on that at Cult-SciFi.com). Through the years, neither of the ’80s renditions of the two Marvel characters have received much positive recognition, so perhaps it was for the best they did not continue into their own shows. And the broadcast nets had a particular aversion to genre entries in the ’80s and into the early ’90s, so their chances of lasting past a single season were not good. But if one or both had gone to series, they could have caused a significant shift to the direction of the MCU down the road, especially if they had been successful.
Where Can You Watch Them?
The two TV movies have been released together on a DVD set which is available for a rather economical price at the moment. They are also available to purchase VOD individually and they are available to stream for free (with ads) on Hoopla and Pluto TV.
Stream or Purchase VOD
Read about more Sci Fi TV pilots that did not fly at this link.
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