The Incredible Hulk just celebrated his 50th birthday and played a prominent role in The Avengers, the fourth highest grossing movie of all time. But it was neither one of these two events which caused the Hulk to be in the news today.
A Brazilian man running in a Rio de Janeiro race decided to dress up as the Hulk and made worldwide newspaper headlines when he couldn’t wash the green paint off after he got back home. It turned out that his Hulk Costume was actually industrial paint used to paint ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines green. Numerous pictures of his mistake are available at Brazilian newspaper O Globo and British newspaper The Sun. Reportedly, after 25 baths, he was eventually able to scrub the green paint off.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the story, Dr. Bruce Banner becomes The Hulk after he is exposed to what would normally be a lethal dose of gamma radiation.
I wouldn’t recommend that you attempt to transform into the Hulk for Halloween through either method. Instead, I suggest you try one of the numerous green face and body paints available from costume retailers. They are generally water-based so that they are non-toxic and wash off relatively easily. If you are looking for an alternative that won’t wash away in water, try liquid latex. It is commonly used in special effects makeup and is removed by peeling it off. Be careful though, as some people are allergic to latex.
The Brazilian man went to the store in order to buy body paint but they were out of the brand that he had used before. Let this be an early lesson to those of you who attempt to buy your costume at the last minute every year. You might end up with a costume that isn’t what you want. Order early and online for the best selection and deals. I expect there will be a good number of men and boys dressing as The Hulk this year. Don’t delay! Hopefully, I’ll be able to start adding Halloween costumes to Funtober soon. I’ll update this post with links to green body paint when I do.
EDIT: This post has started to get a significant number of people looking for Hulk costumes. So here is a link to the Incredible Hulk costumes that we sell.