Planet Hulk Is Not Happening At Marvel Studios
It appears the Hulk will not go cosmic after all. Almost a month ago, there was a rumor that Marvel would feature the “Big Guy” in their cinematic Phase II & III with a Planet Hulk standalone movie between The Avengers 2 and 3. It now seems like Marvel has other plans for the Hulk.
According to Ain’t It Cool News‘ insiders, the comic book studio has no plans to send the Hulk to planet Sakaar for a Planet Hulk movie. It’s not because the Planet Hulk story isn’t worth making into a feature film, it’s because actor Mark Ruffalo has a six-picture deal with Marvel to play Bruce Banner AND the Hulk.
The Planet Hulk storyline does not feature Bruce Banner at all. It focuses on the Hulk as a lethal gladiator turned king after Marvel’s Illuminati banish him into space. He later crashes on the planet Sakaar. Once the Hulk becomes king of the planet, he returns to Earth to seek revenge. Planet Hulk would have taken place at the end of The Avengers 2 and The Avengers 3 would have followed the storyline from the comic book event World War Hulk.
A big part of the reason why the Hulk worked so well in The Avengers was due to the charisma of Mark Ruffalo. He is more dynamic than Eric Bana and Edward Norton, who played Banner in Ang Lee’s Hulk in 2003 and Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk in 2008, respectively.
It sounds like there will be a Hulk standalone movie at some point, but it won’t be Planet Hulk. It’s a shame, because Planet Hulk is such a good storyline. It gets super sci-fi and cosmic with an appearance by the Silver Surfer. It would have been another good way to tie in the Guardians of the Galaxy, too.
The Planet Hulk animated movie is now available on Netflix Instant.
