Mark Ruffalo Blames Himself For Hulk Solo Movie Never Happening
Since Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk first appeared in the MCU, fans have been begging the Spotlight actor to helm a stand-alone feature film for the smashing green superhero. Unfortunately, Ruffalo has expressed doubts about a Hulk-centric film happening, as the price of CGI renders it very difficult to utilize the character in every scene.
Mark Ruffalo Needs Too Much Money?
Though the technology has far advanced beyond where it once was, Ruffalo has suggested during a recent GQ interview that his salary would simply eat too much of a film’s budget to allow a stand-alone Hulk movie any time soon.
During his interview, Mark Ruffalo jokingly explained that he priced himself out of the opportunity to lead a Hulk feature film, even though he would personally love to make it happen.
Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk Form The Issue?
Despite Ruffalo appearing as the Hulk numerous times throughout the MCU, the character tends to be used sparingly, especially since Bruce Banner permanently fused his physical form with the monstrous Avenger in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. It left Ruffalo’s character in a perpetual state of muscle-bound green.
Last Hulk Solo Movie In 2008
The last time the character had a feature-length solo outing was 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, which, while technically still part of the MCU canon, starred Edward Norton in the titular role.
Mark Ruffalo wouldn’t don the smashing green hands of the Hulk until 2012’s The Avengers, where he became an integral part of the ever-expanding superhero team. Since then, Ruffalo’s Hulk has appeared in over a dozen Marvel outings, most recently in the animated Disney+ series What If.
Thor: Ragnarok Was Partly Planet Hulk
In some respects, 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok was considered something of a stand-alone Hulk movie, due to the character’s major inclusion to the plot. Though the central focus of the film was still shared with Thor.
Ragnarok adapted a great deal of its story from a beloved Hulk comic arc called Planet Hulk, which saw the character transported to a foreign world to participate in gladiator-style combat with aliens from across the galaxy.
If Mark Ruffalo’s comments are to be believed, this may be the closest we ever get to a stand-alone venture of this iteration of the Hulk.
Never Say Never
Of course, fans should never say never, as it was believed for many years that Scarlett Johansson would never get to lead in her own Black Widow film.
When Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff perished in Endgame, it seemed to close the book on the very possibility of her leading her own MCU film, until the Black Widow prequel movie finally arrived in 2021.
The same could technically happen for Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, even though the actor has begun to age out of the ideal window for the character at this point.
Marvel Scaling Back?
If Mark Ruffalo truly never gets the chance to lead the cast of his own Hulk film, at least we’ve gotten plenty of high-intensity smashing from his take on the classic comic book hero throughout his many ventures in the MCU.
Still, as Marvel continues to scale back on expanding their universe due to the growing trend of superhero fatigue, one can’t help but wonder if now would be the perfect time to give the fan-favorite character his time in the spotlight.
Source: GQ
