Because of certain rights issues, Marvel Studios can't utilize The Hulk in the same way that they can most
Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes. Solo movies are pretty much a no-go at this point, and he can basically only appear in features where he's not a titular character. This isn't stopping Mark Ruffalo and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige from sculpting a special Hulk trilogy, however, as the actor recently revealed to me that there is a very specific arc for the character built into
Thor: Ragnarok,
The Avengers: Infinity War, and the untitled
Avengers 4. Said Ruffalo,
So basically, Kevin [Feige] pulled me aside before this, and said, 'If you were gonna do a... if we were going to do a standalone Hulk movie, what would it be?' And I said, 'I think it should be this, this, this, and this and this, and ends up like this.' And he's like, 'I love that. Why don't we do that in the next three movies, starting with
Thor 3 and then we go into
Avengers 3 and
4.' And I was like, 'That sounds great!' And so we are at the beginning of this arc.
Fans haven't seen The Incredible Hulk on the big screen since 2015's
The Avengers: Age of Ultron, but in the next two years we will be getting a mega-dose of the monstrous hero across three different titles. It offers the franchise a special opportunity with the sparsely-used character, and Mark Ruffalo and the studio are capitalizing on it with a specific and designed arc.
I spoke with Mark Ruffalo yesterday during the Los Angeles press junket for
Thor: Ragnarok, and it was part of a conversation about Hulk's evolution that sparked his answer about the planned future for the hero. Specifically, I asked Ruffalo about how Hulk actually speaks more than just a few words in the new film, and he explained that it is a key part of the aforementioned special trilogy and the change that the character will undergo. The actor continued,
Hulk speaking is the start to separating of these two individuals, these identities in this split-identity person, and where that's going to end up going. So it was really interesting to me. He's like a baby! He's like a five year old or six year old. So he has the same syntax, he has the same world view, and so it was fun. It's like Chris [Hemsworth] - we all got to reinvent our characters in this.
When it comes to blockbuster movies, Hulk has always been a challenging character to adapt, as there is the constant tussle between the human story and the monster-filled action. Maintaining this balance has proved much easier when he's in a supporting role, but that just makes his parts in
Thor: Ragnarok,
The Avengers: Infinity War and
Avengers 4 that much more exciting. Hulk has been a highlight of both previous
Avengers titles because as a hero without a solo trilogy of his own Joss Whedon and the studio knew to highlight him -- and it sounds like that same mindset is driving something special for Bruce Banner and his inner monster in the near future.
