Although Mark Ruffalo has played the Hulk in nearly a dozen projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s yet to take center stage in his own standalone Hulk movie. Although he would still “love” for it to happen, Ruffalo has begun to question whether it’s something fans actually want.
“I don’t know if you know the story of that, but it’s not really owned by Marvel. It’s a Universal property. I don’t know if it’ll ever really come to be, honestly,” Ruffalo told GQ. “We keep talking about it, what it would be. There’s been so many Hulk movies already, it’s like, does anyone really want another one? But I’d love one, and I do think the audiences would be into it if we could crack the nut of it.“
Edward Norton played Bruce Banner/Hulk in The Incredible Hulk, which was distributed by Universal Pictures in 2008. Ruffalo then took over the role beginning with The Avengers. Although Marvel Studios owns the rights to the character, Universal still holds the distribution rights for any future Hulk movies, making it challenging for Marvel to get another standalone film off the ground. This is why the Hulk often appears as a supporting character in other movies.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige even told Ruffalo last year that a standalone Hulk wasn’t an option. “Kevin [asked me] ‘What would you like to do?’ He said, ‘What would you do if you had a standalone Hulk movie?’” Ruffalo said. “And I said, ‘Well, I’d like to take him from this raging maniac to kind of this integrated character.’ And he said, ‘Okay, we’ll do that over the course of four movies. We’ll never give you a standalone Hulk, let’s just get that – I don’t mean to burst your bubble… but that’s not happening. So, we’ll do it over four movies, how’s that sound?’”
Ruffalo’s next appearance as Hulk will arrive in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is currently in production for a July 31, 2026 release.
Would you like to see Mark Ruffalo get his shot at a standalone Hulk movie, or has the moment passed?
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