For those wanting Hulk to have his own solo movie in the MCU, there is a glimmer of hope that this can happen come 2023. Marvel Studios have been telling the story of Bruce Banner aka Hulk over several movies. However, there is not a single film or series inside the Universe 616 that focused only on the Hulk. In fact, the last solo movie about the green giant is 2008 The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth. The movie was under the direction of Louis Leterrier and screenplay of Zak Penn from the Marvel comic book characters that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created.
Apparently, the reason why this is so is because Universal Pictures has the rights to the Hulk character. Disney and Marvel Studios can only release a solo Hulk movie if the project goes through Universal. This is much like they can’t make a solo movie for Spider-Man without Sony Pictures.
Hulk Could Return With Solo Movies In MCU Starting In 2023
I found some possible evidence from old SEC filings that point to Universal’s Hulk distribution agreement ending in June 2023 from marvelstudios
In the above quote we featured from Reddit, one specific redditor checked on the deal between the companies’ fine print. The redditor goes by the account vidoardes. The details simply mean that rights to the Hulk character will revert to Marvel Studios. That is if Universal does not get to distribute a Hulk movie before June 2023. However, does this mean they get to keep it if they make a Hulk movie until then? In the comments he answered:
When asked if Universal can keep the rights to Hulk if they produced a movie by 2023, details get a bit tricky. Vidoardes presents that based on the details they found, Universal can only distribute the movie not produce it. Thus, Marvel Studios actually had the option to make a solo movie of Hulk but the distribution will be exclusively under Universal. This means that apart from having Universal in company credits to the movie, they cannot exclusively release it for streaming on Disney Plus down the line.
Hulk Could Return With Solo Movies In MCU Starting In 2023
Image: Disney Plus
It appears that Marvel Studios is biding their time until they fully retrieve rights to Hulk. Fans are getting more convinced that Marvel Studios has bigger plans for Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. In fact, the comic book series World War Hulk is coming up in a lot of fan discussions. Could this be one of the future projects that Ruffalo is looking forward to?
Also, fans talk a lot about the clip showing a ship that caused Jennifer Walters to crash her car. According to fan theory, it’s actually a Sakaaran spaceship that is after Hulk. It greatly sets the story for Planet Hulk in place. A good number of fans are also looking forward to some form of announcement in the coming D23.
In the meantime, catch Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner and Hulk in the upcoming She-Hulk: Attorney At Law series streaming on Disney Plus starting Aug 18.
