I wanted to enjoy Ang Lee’s Hulk, I really did. And, up until the last half hour or so, it wasn’t bad. But it suffered from “Return of the King Disease”: It. Just. Would. Not. End! Two hours and twenty minutes to do what Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby used to do in less than half that time? I’m all for psychological complexity, but come on… Where’s the editor when you need him?

The second film has been announced, with Transporter director Louis Leterrier attached. I’m ambivalent about the choice, because I’ve only seen one of the man’s films, the first Transporter, which was entertaining enough, although it lacked much in the way of depth or plausibility. But then, this is a movie about a giant, green monster who breaks things. Still, to succeed, I think that the second Hulk film needs to follow the Superman II mold. Here’s a breakdown of what Leterrier & Co. can learn from the Man of Steel:

More Action: The first outing of any franchise, superhero or otherwise, is always saddled with a lot of baggage, namely “The Origin Story.” The audience has to sit through a lot of footage of future heroes being decidedly unheroic: There are insects to irradiate, teams to assemble, and planets to narrowly escape from. The second movie, freed from all that exposition, is inevitably more fun. We know how the powers work, people, now show us what you can do with them.

Bigger, Badder Villains: Lex Luthor is good and all, but when you add the three Phantom Zone criminals to the mix… Well, Lex may be a lot of things, but he’s never hurled a bus at Superman. Put another way, the Hulk needs his Zod. Early reports say that screenwriter Zak Penn (who wrote the last X-Men movie) has settled on the Abomination as the second movie’s villain, with an assist from General Ross. That’s a good start, but what the movie really needs is The Leader. The Hulk is pure brute force, and the Abomination is basically more of the same, only with a bit more brain. The Leader, with his overdeveloped intelligence, is yin to the Hulk’s yang. Pair him with the Abomination and you’ve got a winner.

Better Special Effects: Admittedly, the effects in the second Superman film were a bit of a step down from the first (and even included some extra powers that defied logic), so this is an area where The Incredible Hulk needs to step things up. While the effects in the first film were quite good, the Hulk himself still strongly resembled rubbery clay in too many shots. It’s been four years, so I’m sure things have improved greatly since then.

Set Up the Third Film: Superman II didn’t lay any groundwork for the second sequel, and the Last Son of Krypton wound up fighting a giant Atari. It’s a risky move, but I say that the movie has to follow the Empire Strikes Back hypothesis: Set up the big conflict and leave audiences with a bit of a downer. Then again, the first movie did exactly this, so I doubt it’ll happen.

Don’t Forget the Dark-Haired Love Interest: Okay, so I have a soft spot for Jennifer Connelly. But remember that the Superman series went down the tubes when they sidelined brunette Lois for redhead Lana.

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