Screenwriter Kenneth Johnson, who developed and produced the “Incredible Hulk” show for CBS, grounded the titular comic book character in empathetic nuance. The 1978 series follows physician and scientist Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby, who went on to star in the ’80s sitcom, “Goodnight, Beantown”), who is doomed to transform into a huge, green-skinned humanoid known as the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) in stressful situations. In the original Marvel Comics, however, the good doctor is known as Bruce Banner — so why the change?
In 2008, Ferrigno looked back on his experience making the show and addressed the reason behind the name change. “CBS felt that the name Bruce sounded too gayish, and they wanted David,” the “Hercules” actor told USA Today. “I thought it was the most absurd, ridiculous thing I’d ever heard.” This claim has been backed by none other than Stan Lee himself, who confirmed that the network demanded a name change for exactly that reason. “You can’t change his name, he was Bruce Banner for all these years!” Lee later recalled saying – but, apparently, the network was adamant.
Kenneth Johnson offers a different perspective on Banner’s name change
Kenneth Johnson has maintained that Bruce Banner’s name change occurred solely to avoid a case of pesky alliteration. In a 2012 interview with IGN, Johnson clarified that he didn’t recall feeling there was anything wrong with the name “Bruce” specifically, adding that “Bruce Wayne was a pretty straight guy.” He went on to explain that alliterative names like Lois Lane or Clark Kent “bothered” him, and that he was “trying to get as far away from the comic book origins” as possible. “When you put somebody into a story whose name is Bruce Banner, it just immediately starts to sound comic book-y, and I was very anxious to attract the adult audience, because I knew that we could not have a hit show if we just had kids,” Johnson concluded.
It is worth noting that the two-hour television pilot movie for the series ends with a shot of Banner’s tombstone, which has the name David Bruce Banner on it. With Bruce being Banner’s middle name, a compromise between Johnson’s vision and the character’s comic book origins was reached.
Interestingly, the name “David” has cropped up in close relation to Hulk’s character over the years. In Marvel Comics’ Earth-311 — an alternative reality populated by reimagined versions of classic superheroes — the Hulk’s human alter ego is named David Banner. As for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner uses the alias “David” while in hiding in 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk.”
