Hulk himself says a standalone Hulk flick ain’t happening

Marvel movie rights are pretty complicated. At the turn of the century (it’s been long enough that we can say that now, right?), Marvel really didn’t own much of its own stuff. The company only regained the rights to Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor in 2005 and 2006. The Hulk rights reverted in 2005 when Universal didn’t make a sequel to Ang Lee’s 2003 Hulk movie. Universal, however, retained distribution rights to Hulk movies. That’s why Marvel can make movies like the Avengers films and Thor: Ragnarok with Hulk prominently featured, but can’t just make a Hulk movie whenever they feel like it.

But it seems like there’s more to it than that. Ruffalo is eager to throw Universal under the bus in the above quote, but Marvel has shown a willingness to work with other studios. That’s what got us Spider-Man: Homecoming. That’s what put Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 and Negasonic Teenage Warhead in Deadpool. Neither Hulk nor The Incredible Hulk performed very well at the box office, so the prospect of making another standalone Hulk movie is likely a daunting one for the young studio. Keeping the characters as a supporting cast member is much less risky. With that said, Thor: Ragnarok has been described a a buddy movie, so it seems likely Hulk will factor into a significant portion of the movie. In that case, then, Thor’s third outing could serve as a testing stage to see how the modern Hulk plays with audiences as a more prominent character.

There’s a whole version of the Hulk that hasn’t been explored. In the comics, Hulk has been green, grey, and red. In some of those incarnations, he’s not a mindless rage monster, but able to maintain both his increased strength and his genius-level intelligence. Edging toward that version of the Hulk could prep the character for a standalone movie. However, it sounds like none of the parties involved are interested. Mark Ruffalo gets to be part of the MCU without having the burden of a trilogy on his back and Marvel gets to use the character without the risk.

Will we ever see another Hulk movie? Maybe. We’ve had six Spider-Man movies. But for now? Don’t hold your breath.

 

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/07/17/hulk-movie-wont-happen-mark-ruffalo-says/