The Incredible Hulk has arrived, which means it’s time to talk about it! Many people refused to recognize that the movie was canon for a long time. Because of this, it’s hard to find references to The Incredible Hulk in the MCU as a whole. In fact, key story strands from the film are still unresolved to this day. By the year 2021, things have barely marginally changed. Captain America: Civil War saw the return of General Ross to the MCU, while Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings saw Tim Roth’s Abomination briefly take center stage.
Since Bruce Banner’s last film in 2008, there is yet to be a solo Bruce Banner production. He’s just been an integral part of a number of ventures involving other Marvel superheroes, all of which involved some sort of team-up. Universal Studios distributed Bruce Banner’s genesis film, but the studio did not have the rights to make a film about the character; those rights belonged to Marvel Studios.
Marvel Studios/Disney wouldn’t allow a different studio to distribute the title. This is why Universal has used this to its advantage throughout the years. They have done so by not letting them produce a project focused purely on the green angry monster. Fans hoped things would improve with the arrival of She-Hulk. The Hulk was never going to have a standalone endeavor as long as Bruce Banner was going to be played by Mark Ruffalo. Fortunately, that appears to be changing.
World War Hulk Will Be Here Soon
A “solo” Hulk film called World War Hulk is currently being developed by Marvel Studios, according to the GWW. After She-Hulk premieres on Disney+ in 2022, work on the film is expected to begin in late 2022.
The movie is scheduled for release in late 2023 or early to mid-2024, depending on when it begins production in 2022. the movie is reported to set up a future cinematic project [that they] intend to announce later,” the site teased Disney and Marvel Studios have yet to confirm or comment on this report, so it’s still just a rumor.
Hulk Is Finally Being Explored
When it comes to solo projects for the Incredible Hulk, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has said that he’s always wanted to explore the character more, but hasn’t been able. She-Hulk appears to be the first indicator that everything is about to turn for the better now. Thor: Ragnarok has numerous allusions to World War Hulk and clever parodies. Marvel doesn’t appear to be deterred in any way by this. In the end, there’s a lot more to the Thor comic tale than what was shown in the third movie.
She-Hulk was rumored to be introducing Hulk’s son, Skaar, in the past. With this new information, the decision seems a lot more logical.
There is a slew of possibilities for where this film could go. As far as we can tell, Hulk’s journey has only just begun. This is despite his appearance in the MCU at the very beginning. With a little luck, we’ll see an evil Bruce Banner from another timeline, Maestro, collecting memorabilia from the several universe-saving heroes he vanquishes, in the not too distant future.
To make things better, Bruce Banner’s present direction should be to become that malevolent figure. It would be an interesting direction for Marvel Studios to explore to have an original avenger be one of the world’s greatest threats. Considering how much they like to change things up, it’s not impossible.
