If you were hoping that Tim Blake Nelson’s Leader tease in The Incredible Hulk was going to, ahem, lead to a sequel, current Puny Banner Mark Ruffalo has some bad news–as far as Marvel Studios is concerned, Hulk will only be appearing in other people’s movies. The reason is that apparently Universal still holds some of the Hulk solo movie rights, and unlike Sony with Spider-Man, they’re not interested in making a deal. Watch the video below for more:
“A standalone Hulk movie will never happen.” – @MarkRuffalo #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/4QrZcoHm6Q
— Variety (@Variety) July 15, 2017
What we don’t know is if this applies to all Hulk-related characters; could She-Hulk, for example, get her own movie (please)? Thankfully the deal does allow the big green guy to keep showing up in the universe itself, and that actually works out cheaper for Marvel and Disney. With Hulk being the most expensive of the Avengers to digitally render, less screen time means more money spent on other creatures.
And given that both previous Hulk movies featured leading men who bowed out of the role immediately afterward, maybe this is all just a clever ruse to keep Ruffalo from falling prey to a jinx. After all, we’re certainly not tired of him in the role, and would even pay to see a “Science Bros” movie with just him and Tony Stark out of costume the entire time. Can we figure out if Universal’s deal allows that?
Are you sorry there won’t be another standalone Hulk adventure, or just happy we get to keep Ruffalo around in other Marvel movies? Sound off in comments!
Image: Marvel Studios
