Entertainment

Another Hulk Solo Movie? No, Please

by Alanna Bennett

It could be argued that Marvel's in a weird place right now. They've pretty much conquered the box office over the past half a decade, probably making some DC Comics execs turn to the drink along the way. They've got great critical favor, but they also let Edgar Wright walk away from Ant-Man, which chipped away a bit of that prestige. In some ways, things are business as usual, in some ways, it's a whole new ballgame. So where does another Hulk solo movie fall into all that?

Mark Ruffalo, who plays Bruce "The Hulk" Banner in the Avengers films and wherever else they need him, recently mentioned in an interview with Digital Spy that the big honchos over at Marvel might be contemplating giving Hulk his own time to shine:

I think they are, for the first time, entertaining the idea of [a solo film]. When we did The Avengers it was basically "No!", and now there is some consideration for it. But there’s still nothing definitive, not even a skeletal version of what it would be. I look forward to going down that road, if we could crack that nut.

Now, Marvel's done Hulk solo movies before. There was 1978's The Incredible Hulk, starring Lou Ferrigno as Dr. David Banner. There was 2003's Hulk, starring Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. And then there was 2008's The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. In other words: This is hardly untrodden territory, and if there's one thing you'd think Marvel's learned from all of those, it's that they rarely pay off in the box office. Just the fact that they felt the need to recast Bruce Banner for the Avengers movie should tell you all you need to know about Marvel's desire to forget the more recent solo films ever happened.

It's always possible Marvel will take another swing at bringing Bruce Banner back to his own movie — Ruffalo's pretty loved as the character, and it might be some sort of ego-driven thing to prove they can do it in a way that critics actually like. But we'd advise against it.

Marvel already has a lot on its table. As a major company, they're obviously going to keep piling more and more onto that table, of course, but our advice for them is the same advice we have for Hollywood at large: Stop pretending people really want to hear the same stories over and over again and start sharing the spotlight with the vast catalog of other amazing characters and stories you have at your disposal. Marvel's doing that a little with Guardians of the Galaxy, but if they're looking for another Avengers spinoff we have a suggestion, and her name rhymes with Smack Bidow.