“Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.” presents different spin on Marvel hero

Everyone knows Hulk likes to smash. But now you’re going to hear him talk about it. In Marvel’s Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., the mean green Avenger (Fred Tatasciore) shows his family side, teaming up with a unique group of crime-fighters who all share a fondness for large-scale mayhem. There’s his cousin She-Hulk (Eliza Dushku), his son Skaar (Ben Diskin), along with Red Hulk (Clancy Brown) and A-Bomb (Seth Green). They join together to battle enemies too huge for your everyday puny superheroes to handle.

Oh, and all those muscles and egos will be living under one roof, also handling domestic issues like trying to housebreak their pet T. rex. The characters will talk to the audience in reality-show-style confessionals — sometimes even in the middle of big action scenes — to explain what’s going on and offer commentary.

It’s definitely a different side to the character, who is most often portrayed as a near-mindless mountain of raging id. But Tatasciore has seen it all, having voiced Hulk in several incarnations — everything from video games to a Phineas and Ferb crossover and several Marvel animated projects, including the current Marvel’s Avengers Assemble series.

Tatasciore says it’s the kind of gig where “you have to be willing to reinvent him each time.” The screams are still there, of course, but this time out Hulk is more like a father figure to the rest of his clan.

Characterization wasn’t the biggest challenge, Tatasciore says, instead saying it took him a while to grasp the format of the show.

“When I first read the script I was confused by it,” he says. “‘What do you mean a confessional? What is that?’ But actually, once we all recorded it together, it made me laugh. It’s a tremendous source of humor. We comment on the action as it’s happening. We could be in the middle of something terrible and we cut to a confessional with Hulk saying, ‘You know, I’ve really had enough of Rick doing this. Rick ruins everything, and I’m tired of it!’ Then we go right back to the scene. I thought that was a really funny, clever convention.”

Marvel’s Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. airs Sundays at 11am on Disney XD.

Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Disney XD

Photo: © 2013 Marvel & Subs.