While not the first film to feature the mean, green, misunderstood monster,The Incredible Hulkis one of themost underrated and unfortunately forgottenmovies of Marvel’s MCU. We’re finally seeing some buried plot lines from the 2008 movie reemerge with the return of Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky A.K.A. The Abomination as a more fleshed-out character in last year’sShe-Hulk: Attorney At Lawas well as Tim Nelson’s Samuel Stern A.K.A. The Leader as the villain in next year’sCaptain America: New World Order. But the Hulk himself has experienced the same kind of poor treatment over the past decade and a half.
Among the most famous comic superheroes and one of the six original Avengers, the Hulk has no standing in the MCU like Thor or Iron Man with their own multi-movie franchise but has only received one film, becoming a supporting character in other hero’s adventures who changes drastically according to the story.
The Hulk isn’t his own character anymore. More often than not, the Hulk is a joke in the MCU. Marvel has not utilized the Hulk like they should, but there’s still a chance to fix that, and that’s allowing him to lead his own story. Here’s why the Hulk deserves another movie in the MCU.
The Hulk Is Lost
Originally portrayed by Edward Norton, Dr. Bruce Banner in the MCU’sThe Incredible Hulkis recruited by the military in a gamma experiment to recreate the super soldier serum which produced Captain America. Failing disastrously, Bruce suffers extreme gamma radiation exposure and transforms into the brutish but powerful Hulk whenever he is subjected to emotional stress.
Effectively aDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydesituation, Bruce tries to control his life with the voice of the Hulk in his head that can take over and be a dynamicforce for good or evil, and is one of the most iconic comic book anti-heroes ever.
After the first movie, the role was given to Mark Ruffalo inThe Avengers.Despite the actor’s best efforts, the character of theHulk has been so wildly inconsistentthat the Hulk is almost unrecognizable from movie to movie. This is partly due to Norton’s serious portrayal initially and Ruffalo’s quirky portrayal currently of the same characters.
The biggest problem is that neither Bruce nor Hulk have an arc. Or, they do, actually, an incredible one, butwe never see it. We know Banner wants to cure himself of the Hulk, but we never see him try in his desperate struggle. We know Bruce and Scarlett Johansson’s super spy Natasha Romanoff had a thing going on fromTheAvengers, but we see so little before it’s forgotten and she dies.
And when the Hulk finally gains the upper hand staying inThor: Ragnarok,adapting one of the Hulk’s most famous comics,Planet Hulk, which represents a huge development for Hulk as he’s been in full control instead of Banner for two whole years (also not shown), and makes the Hulk only a supporting character in his own story to make room for Chris Hemsworth’s thunderous Thor. Then, out of nowhere, Hulk and Bruce are smashed into one inEndgame, which has changed the whole being of the Hulk forever - also happening offscreen.
The Hulk has been lost ever sinceThe Incredible Hulk. He’sbeen a supporting character in the MCU ever since, following other heroes around in their adventures instead of leading his own. While fans have enjoyed Hulk appearances elsewhere, the Hulk needs another film of his own to find his way back again as the strongest Avenger there is.
Related:Why Ang Lee’s Hulk Was Ahead of Its Time
The Hulk Has Become a Joke
A big problem that another Hulk movie could help remedy is how we see the Hulk himself. Instead of being known as the ferocious, bloody, and incredibly powerful monster, which makes the Avengers relieved that he’s on their side, the Hulk is a joke. Receiving practically no character development, the Hulk has become a quick-witted quip machine and serves as the comedic relief of the MCU.
As the Hulk is merely a supporting character for literally every other hero, including his own cousin She-Hulk in a total role reversal, no one has the same respect for the Hulk as they once did, even when both Ang Lee’sHulkand Louis Leterrier’sHulkboth didn’t do so well at the box office or with fans and critics, the Hulk was still loved.
A new film might be able to fix a decade and a half of goofy Hulk, not to remove the lovable quips and sarcastic comments we love, but to balance the goofy with some seriousness, where Hulk gets a deeper story and some actual character development, and is respected again, especially being one of the last remaining Avengers.
Related:MCU’s Hulk Says Marvel Studios Should Be Sweating Over James Gunn’s DCU Plans
There Is Plenty of Material to Adapt
The Hulk has been so famous for so long that an incredible amount of varied stories about Bruce Banner and the Hulk could serve as the foundation of a second MCU Hulk film. Especially the well-knownWorld War Hulk.Following the event ofPlanet Hulk, where Hulk was banished from Earth by the other superheroes after losing control and destroying Las Vegas, his ship crash lands on a strange planet where he’s forced to fight in an arena as a gladiator slave who leads a revolt then takes a wife and has a son.
This part has already happened, as we’ve seen Hulk as a gladiator inRagnarokand with a son afterShe-Hulk, but then afterward, his ship’s antimatter core explodes and kills everyone, including his wife and son. Hulk blames the other heroes for their deaths and goes on a rampage, defeating all of the Avengers, the Illuminati, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men before Tony Stark finally blasts Hulk with all his weaponized satellites to knock him unconscious and revert to Banner.
This is just one possible story the MCU could adapt, as with so many more comic storylines and other new ideas that could be incorporated. Wild things like aHulk horror movieand so much more could restore the Hulk back to his proper standing as an important Avenger.
Granted, there are many reasons why we haven’t seen aHulksequel, primarily due to Disney’s and Universal’s refusal to work together, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Disney and Sony managed to work it out with Tom Holland’sSpider-Mantrilogy, with the lovable actor playing the famous web-slinger in at leastthree more films, so the companies might find a way to make a mutually beneficial project together withHulk.
