By Glenn Whipp>Staff Writer

When French filmmaker Louis Leterrier was meeting with Marvel Studios about making a new movie version of "The Incredible Hulk," he heard two things over and over again. (Related: "The Incredible Hulk" Interactive; An Iron Man sequel? )

"Hulk Smash!" "Hulk Hero!"

Even after Leterrier got the job and was shooting the movie, he had those same two things drilled into his head any time a producer showed up on set.

"Hulk Smash!" "Hulk Hero!"

Again and again and again.

"The producers, they're so afraid of their own shadow," Leterrier said, laughing. "They're so afraid of Ang Lee's `Hulk.' They wish they had the `Men in Black' zapper to erase people's memory of that movie."

"The Incredible Hulk," arriving in theaters Friday, is basically a do-over of Lee's 2003 "Hulk," quite possibly the least-liked comic-book movie in history.

Is it more despised than "The Fantastic Four"? Sure. It's easy to pile on that movie or a toss-off like "Elektra." Nobody expected much. But "The Hulk" combined a beloved character with an A-list filmmaker. Hopes were high.

But Lee delivered a 2-hour, 20-minute movie that emphasized psychology over smashing, a film that Salon reviewer Charles Taylor described as "a comic-book movie that National Public Radio listeners can be proud to take their kids to see."

"I know a lot of people have various opinions of Ang Lee's `Hulk,' " said Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. "What most people agree on is that when the Hulk was around and was smashing, people liked it. But there wasn't enough of that. The movie went too far afield in the other direction."

Hence: "Hulk Smash." "Hulk Hero."

In Leterrier's "Hulk," Bruce Banner's back story is dispensed with over the opening credits. We see scientist Banner undergoing an experiment that goes awry. We see carnage. We see Banner - now played by Edward Norton (it was Eric Bana in the first) on the run. And 20 minutes into the movie, we see the mean, green monster in all his raging glory.

"What most people agree on is that when the Hulk was around and was smashing, people liked it. But there wasn't enough of that. The movie went too far afield in the other direction."

"The Hulk" is a fugitive story. Lee already made the origin film, and Leterrier, director of the "Transporter" movies, says he "didn't want to offend people who love Ang's movie by serving the same dish warmed over."

Still, Leterrier found it hard to shake Lee's "Hulk," watching it repeatedly after he took the job. He also met with "Hulk" writer-producer James Schamus to get his thoughts and blessing.

"You have to give the movie some consideration," the affable Leterrier says. "It was not so long ago."

"I'm actually embracing Ang's movie," he adds. "I love it. It's beautiful. It's poetic. Yes, it's a little contrary to what people's expectations are for a superhero movie. But I don't care. Ang is a great filmmaker."

Leterrier's "Hulk" is nearly a half-hour shorter, heavier on the action and lighter on the character beats. The final cut of the Saturday-matinee-style movie, dictated by Marvel, apparently didn't sit well with the famously prickly Norton.

But the creative differences reported by industry gossip columnists don't seem all that different from those found on any big-budget movie. Norton plugged "The Hulk" last Sunday at the MTV Movie Awards and he'll be at the premiere tonight.

"Edward is very hot-blooded, but in the right way," Leterrier says.

"He'll explode about bad stuff and good stuff, defend you to the producers and never back down when he believes in something. I'm sure the movie will have stuff he'll love, stuff he won't love and stuff that will surprise him. But he's not angry. Not anymore."

Leterrier says the deleted scenes will pop up on the DVD. But he declined to incorporate them into a different "director's cut" of the movie.

"It's more homogeneous as it is," Leterrier says.

If audiences respond to his movie more than they did Lee's, Leterrier would be happy to return for another round.

"They have 40 years of comic books," he says. "There's no shortage of material."

Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp@dailynews.com