I took my kids to Target over the weekend and when we got to the toy aisles, there was an obvious marketing blitz for THE AVENGERS. At the forefront of the advertising was a large hanging cutout of The Hulk along with stickers of his footprints cracking the floor. Needless to say that my kids loved seeing The Hulk feet and we did walk out with the “Hulk attacks the Helicarrier” Lego building set (only took an hour to assemble!).
As THE AVENGERS climbs towards $200 million in international box office, early reviews are already proclaiming it to be a success. Along with that, everyone seems to be saying how much they love The Hulk.
With two mediocre films released already, Marvel had no plans on returning Hulk to a solo film any time soon. But, Marvel’s Paul Gitter had different things to say in a recent interview.
Nonetheless, fans inherently prefer certain superheroes over others. “It’s just like you would think — Iron Man and Captain America sell more than Thor,” says Gitter. However, The Hulk may soon surpass them all. Marvel executives have been “pleasantly surprised by the phenomenal response” to this green superhero, and expect this fan affinity to further strengthen once the movie opens. “His sales are up in a major way. We repositioned him from where he was always misunderstood to now depicting him in a more heroic and aspirational manner,” says Gitter.
If Hulk’s successful turnaround continues, Gitter says Marvel “will spin him off to a stand-alone program next year,” supported by a big budget franchise movie in 2015. The entertainment studio is also exploring ways to promote Hulk as a “corporate icon,” similar to MetLife’s usage of Peanuts’ Snoopy, where The Hulk’s image conveys a message about channeling strength to overcome workplace challenges.
From a business standpoint, Marvel knows that they have a massive hit on their hands. What remains to be seen is whether or not they trust that they finally hit the right combination with Mark Ruffalo playing a heroic Hulk versus the misunderstood monster that he was for the Eric Bana and Edward Norton versions.
Looks like we will know after this Friday when THE AVENGERS opens in the US if Hulk will smash his way back to an adventure of his very own.