Tim Roth's Abomination made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, with an appearance that did not look entirely accurate to his comic book counterpart. After being gone for 13 years, the supervillain is set to return in the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, appearing in a teaser clip at the end of the trailer. However, this time around, there have been a number of cosmetic changes to the Abomination that make him more comic-accurate.
Who Is the Abomination?
In the comics, Abomination was an Eastern European spy named Emil Blonsky. He infiltrated the Air Force base where Bruce Banner was conducting his gamma experimentation that ultimately led to him becoming the Hulk. Blonsky was hiding in the lab when Banner's experiment went sideways, leaving Blonsky with similar Hulk-like abilities. Unlike Banner, Blonsky cannot revert back to his normal self, although he retains his full human intelligence. He also has twice the Hulk's normal strength. Despite this, Hulk can always increase his strength based on his anger level, something that Abomination cannot do.
In the MCU, Blonsky is working with the U.S. Military to take down Banner. After multiple failed attempts, he attempts the same experiment as Banner, turning himself into the monstrous supervillain, prior to HYDRA's resurgence and its subsequent hostile takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain America: The Winter Soldier revealed Abomination was under the custody of the secretive agency and is presumed to have escaped in the wake of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collapse.
The Abomination's Comic Appearance Versus The Incredible Hulk
There are major differences between the looks of comic Abomination and his The Incredible Hulk counterpart. The comics often depict Abomination as a scaly, Hulk-type creature with fish-like features such as gills and fin ears. In the MCU, Abomination is fitted with a protruding spine, a bonier build and less of a scale-like texture. He is also missing the character's signature ears, which could have been a design decision to keep him looking like Tim Roth. This appearance is controversial within the Marvel fandom. Many believe that this Abomination version looks like a generic, bulky CGI monster.
The Abomination Changes in Shang-Chi
In the Shang-Chi trailer, Abomination appears to have grown the comic character's iconic fin ears. He has also gained a scalier texture and gills, allowing him to breathe underwater. He is a lot more green than his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk. Although the protruding spine remains, these are some nice, little changes that help bring Abomination's most iconic comic book looks to life.
Abomination has made a number of cosmetic changes during his thirteen-year absence. His new appearance in the Shang-Chi trailer fits Marvel's seemingly new approach of letting characters look more comic-accurate, such as Wanda's new Scarlet Witch outfit and Sam Wilson's Captain America wings. Abomination is set to appear in more MCU properties after Shang-Chi, including the upcoming She-Hulk Disney+ series. So it makes sense for Marvel to give him a much-needed facelift as part of his grand return.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Daniel Callaham, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tony Leung as Wenwu/The Mandarin, Awkwafina as Katy, Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, Meng'er Zhang as Xialing, Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, Fala Chen as Jiang Li and Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist. The film arrives in theaters Sept. 3.