One of the breakout stars of 'The Avengers' was Mark Ruffalo and his turn as the Hulk. He was the third actor to take on the role, but between the actor and Joss Whedon's writing and directing, the character finally clicked. After the release, many people mentioned wanting a new Hulk movie, but if that comes to pass it's going to be a long wait.
For a good long while now, we've been hearing tidbits from Guillermo del Toro on the status of his long-proposed plans to take 'The Incredible Hulk' back to live-action TV, but very little has felt concrete. Following Comic-Con 2012, Marvel Studios has largely laid out its plans for the next few years, including 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' 'Iron Man 3,' 'Thor: The Dark World,' 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' and 'Ant-Man,' but nothing of The Hulk.
So, what does del Toro say is holding things up?
When we were on the set of 'The Avengers' back in 2010, we spoke to Mark Ruffalo about what it was like to act not as Bruce Banner but as The Hulk. He said of the experience, "I was a miserable bastard. A trained actor reduced to the state of a Chinese checkerboard." Ruffalo eventually got over the embarrassment of wearing his Hulk mo-cap suit, but now we finally have a look at why he was so embarrassed and how they created The Hulk on set.
Marvel legend Stan Lee has a cameo at the end but otherwise, 'The Avengers' is very light on Easter eggs. Except when it comes to a very well-disguised cameo from a former Hulk...
We are still three days away from the opening of 'The Avengers' on thousands of movie screens around the country (it's already opened in Europe to record-breaking box office), but some of the biggest buzz surrounding the movie comes from its portrayal of the Green Goliath himself, the Incredible Hulk.
So that leads to this question: should the Hulk get a third shot at his own solo movie?
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently said he didn't think that was going to happen, but the tremendous word of mouth on the character in 'The Avengers' -- it wouldn't be a stretch to say he steals the movie -- has prompted some other Marvel execs to perhaps rethink that. In an interview,, the head of Marvel's Consumer Products division (in other words, the all-important toys and merchandise) says that if the Hulk's popularity continues to soar as people see 'The Avengers,' a Hulk TV series will move forward along with a new movie in 2015.
Can the character carry his own big-screen blockbuster again?
We think the answer is no.
It's been said, as recently as two weeks ago by Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige himself, that 'The Avengers' was the Hulk's last chance on the big screen. After two films with two different actors in recent years, another Hulk-centric film isn't on Marvel's mind.
Or is it?
