- Avengers actor Mark Ruffalo confirmed there have been talks with Marvel to appear in the upcoming She-Hulk TV series, but nothing is in the works.
- Ruffalo said he’s willing to reprise the role that was a big part of his professional life over the past decade.
- The actor even revealed the kind of Hulk storyline that would make sense in light of everything that has happened with the character so far.
- Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.
It was nearly a year ago that Avengers: Endgame wrapped up a decade of Marvel movies, bringing to an end the arcs of several of the six original Avengers and advancing the storylines of everyone else who will continue to appear in the MCU in Phase 4. Of the six original Avengers, two are dead (Black Widow and Iron Man), and Captain America is retired. Fat Thor left the planet with the Guardians, while Hawkeye got his family back.
The least satisfying arc is Hulk’s, although Endgame did deliver plenty of exciting developments for him. Bruce Banner and Hulk found a way to coexist, but it happened off-camera. Professor Hulk is now a beloved superhero, not a green monster that the world hates, and he was the one to bring everyone back to life. He was probably the only character other than Thanos that could survive the massive energy discharge of the Infinity Gauntlet. But it’s not just Professor Hulk’s transformation that happened off-camera. We never got to find out why he and Natasha decided not to pursue a relationship that seemed to be a guarantee only a few years ago. Also, the new Hulk was hardly given any fight scenes of note, and we never got to see a Hulk vs. Thanos rematch.
Mark Ruffalo, the actor who played the hero after Edward Norton walked away from the role, doesn’t seem to be done Hulking out just yet. After reports said he might return in Phase 4, the actor revealed that nothing is decided just yet. But there may be more to Hulk’s story, and Ruffalo has some ideas.
Of the original six Avengers, Hulk at least got his own movie, The Incredible Hulk, starring Norton. Marvel couldn’t make any other movies because the studio doesn’t hold the rights to the character. Hulk can appear in other MCU films, though, and that’s why Ruffalo played the Banner/Hulk roles in four Avengers film and in Thor: Ragnarok.
If anything, Hulk got a lot more screen time than fellow Avengers Black Widow and Hawkeye, who finally getting their own films or series in Phase 4. Black Widow will open in November, assuming the coronavirus pandemic allows us to go back to theaters, while Hawkeye will probably hit Disney+ next year. But we’d definitely love to see more of Hulk in the near future.
Talking to Variety about his upcoming HBO show I Know This Much Is True, Ruffalo addressed what will probably be remembered as one of the most important roles of his career.
The actor said there have been talks with Marvel about having Hulk appear in She-Hulk, another Phase 4 Disney+ TV show, but there’s nothing actively in the works for the time being. Ruffalo, who’s also one of the most prominent Avengers leakers, didn’t reveal whether he’ll appear in the TV series.
He did say that he’s open to appearing in a stand-alone Hulk movie, although it’s unclear how that would happen. But he also revealed what he’d like to explore in a potential Hulk film.
“There’s an idea that I think could be really interesting,” he said. “We’ve never really followed him into his life. He’s always kind of off on the side. He’s like the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the Avengers. It’d be interesting to fill in all the blanks about what happened to him in between all these movies.”
If anything, that sort of a storyline would definitely help detail some of the Hulk events that were fast-tracked in Endgame. We could see what he was up to between Infinity War and Endgame, how he decided to become Professor Hulk, and how he ended things with Natasha, if there ever was anything to end. We could also see him in action more than we did in Endgame, and we know there was one Hulk action scene that was ultimately cut. The film could go even further back in time and show us what Banner did between the other Avengers movies. Maybe Hulk deserves a limited TV series to explore all that, rather than a film.
This is just speculation, but I’d want to see it. And given Marvel’s ability to weave intricate stories, this sort of prequel movie or TV series could definitely contain elements that could help move the main MCU story forward.
