Although we'll be seeing the Green Goliath appear in this November's THOR: RAGNAROK and next year's AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, the prospect of seeing The Hulk in a standalone film (after two fairly middling attempts) are slim to none. While we always seem to get some new rumor or another that would suggest otherwise, Mark Ruffalo, who currently plays Bruce Banner/Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, laid it all out in plain and simple fashion at D23 today. You can watch his explanation in the video below or read the full transcript (or both, it's your life, do what you want):
"I want to make one thing perfectly clear today. A standalone Hulk movie will never happen. Because Universal has the rights to the standalone Hulk movie and for some reason they don't know how to play well with Marvel and they don't want to make money."
Ruffalo continued, saying:
I mean, I figure I got two or three more years left before I'm too old to play Hulk…We talked about it, but I just don't see it in the cards…It means a lot to me, I really love this character."
While there are many stories you could explore with Hulk in a solo effort, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit for another standalone, especially with two attempts already in the bag, neither of which measured up to the current slate of MCU films. I'm sure many would argue for Edward Norton's version and I'd agree that it's the better of the two (Ang Lee's film is exhausting to watch, let's be honest here), but neither of them did enough to merit another standalone. I'm of the feeling that Hulk works best in a group, if even a team up, as we're getting with THOR: RAGNAROK. Feels like the right balance for the character. But, hey, that's just me. What do you guys think? Do you REALLY want to see more standalone Hulk films or is he good where he is?
THOR: RAGNAROK smashes into theaters on November 3rd.