The original Avengers namely Captain America, Iron Man and Thor have multiple solo movies. Unfortunately, the only Hulk movie that the fans have watched is the quite disappointing ‘The Incredible Hulk’ starring Edward Norton. Fans have been craving a sequel. There have been legal issues regarding the rights of the character with Universal Studios. Thus, Marvel has only been able to showcase Hulk in supporting roles as a part of ensemble casts.

What is the contract and how is Disney finally acquiring the rights?

Fortunately for fans, we have some optimistic rumors supported by snippets of evidence.

The evidence is an SEC filing from 2006 talking about the deal made between Disney and Universal Studios. The latter retained the theatrical distribution rights of the original film and all sequels. Although this allowed Disney to create films using the Hulk it did not give them sufficient freedom. Thus, due to that and issues over the profits made from subsequent films, Disney decided not to pursue a sequel.

However, the studio agreement that was put in place in the 2006 is supposedly a 15-year deal. The 15 years started once The Incredible Hulk was released in June 2008. This effectively means that the deal ends in 2023. Moreover, this falls in line with the rumors claiming that World War Hulk is releasing between late 2023 to early 2024.

Although this is just a rumor and should be taken with a pinch of salt, there might be a much-anticipated Hulk 2 in the works. In fact, with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law right around the corner, there have been many Easter eggs. These hint at a possible, widely reported World War Hulk movie.

What is World War Hulk?

It is a comic storyline in which the Hulk is exiled from Earth by none other than the Illuminati. The Hulk holds them accountable for the deaths of his wife, unborn child and several residents of the planet Sakaar. He was adamant to extract revenge and thus went back to Earth to defeat them. This issue naturally brings in the X-Men and several other lesser-known Marvel comics characters. It follows Hulk as he fights against his very allies such as Iron Man, Doctor Strange and the Fantastic Four. He almost kills Korg and the Brood in his blinded rage and causes decimation wherever he goes.

Moreover, its not just Hulk who’s rights are up in the air. Disney is also trying to get back the rights of Namor, The Submariner and give him a solo movie. Let’s hope it all works out and we finally get the Hulk movie we deserve.