Lionsgate & Marvel: Hulk vs. Wolverine

Supervising director and producer Frank Paur lead the Lionsgate team in an interview today for the upcoming, direct to DVD animated feature Hulk vs. Wolverine.

Craig Kyle, writer and Supervising Producer. Chris Yoste co-wrote. The creators have done work previously in comics books and animation.

Double Feature with Hulk vs. Thor, also written by Chris. The two featurettes both feature the Hulk unleashing tremednous damage on Marvel's heroes.

The team tried to capture the feel of the comics from the 70s, though with a more modern sophistication.

Hulk is a huge monster, dangerous and powerful. Jeff, the designer, really pushed the elements of the physical nature of the characters. This is a dark story, by fans for fans. This is not made for TV so the creative team could really push the envelope.

In the Hulk vs. Wolverine story, he is a more animal, child like monster. In the Hulk vs. Thor, Hulk is more a creature of nightmares.

Hulk vs. Wolverine follows the basic story structure of the comics, similar to a 4 issue mini-series.

Wolverine's back story plays a big part in the story. This is an all out brawl, Wolverine has long claws that cut deep into Hulk and the Hulk is not pulling his punches.

Paur had previously done design work on the Shield and was then offered the Iron Man animated project.

These animated films work hard to include an emotional element that draws the viewers in.

There are losers in Hulk vs. Wolverine, but whether there is a winner is a different question.

Stay through the credits, there is a bonus scene.

Though Lionsgate does want to bring in new fans, the stories are created to appeal to longtime fans.

This Wolverine is bascially the same version of the character as in the upcoming Wolverine and X-Men cartoon.

Hulk vs. Thor tells a more epic story, a clash of the titans.

There is a fundamental difference in story telling between comics and animation. Serialized comics never really have a conclusion. Animated feature can have a definite ending.

The upcoming Iron Man cartoon will be geared for a younger crowd, so even though there will be a lot of stories and characters based on the comic books, the more adult themes will be toned down.

Stark will have a swagger, sort of like a young Han Solo.

The comic book history is treated like a bible in terms of how the characters are presented in the animations.

Tales of Asgard with a young Thor is upcoming.

The rights to Spider-Man are tied up with Sony at the moment so Lionsgate can't include him in their projects. Because Marvel is retaining more of the rights to their characters, keeping production inhouse, we are able to see more projects involving cross-overs, such as Wolverine vs. Hulk.