Hulk

Mark Ruffalo loves to talk about Thor: Ragnarok.

Mark Ruffalo previously dropped a hint about what we might see happen with Bruce Banner and the Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok — namely, that we might see them sharing the screen at some point, which could be pretty neat. The actor is out doing press following his recent Golden Globe nomination, and as expected, he’s answering even more questions about Thor and Hulk, though he always seems quite happy to do so.

After the first Avengers movie, many Marvel fans voiced their excitement over a potential Hulk spinoff movie. The first two Hulk movies were mostly critical and commercial disappointments, but this was a new Hulk, one that Marvel had finally cracked. But, despite Hulk’s popularity within the Marvel Cinematic Universe being at an all-time high, Marvel currently has no plans for a standalone Hulk movie. In fact, star Mark Ruffalo says that a Hulk movie now “feels even further away” than it ever has.

Just a couple of days after he shared his hopes for an on-screen meeting between Bruce Banner and his alter-ego the Hulk, Mark Ruffalo is talking about Thor: Ragnarok again, this time hinting that it’s a buddy team-up movie and that we’ll probably see those buddies fighting — again.

Although plans to include the big green guy in Captain America: Civil War were nixed, we recently learned that Mark Ruffalo will next reprise the role of Bruce Banner / Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok. Not only will we see the Asgardian hero team up with one half of our favorite Science Bro team, but we might also get to see another very interesting on-screen pairing — if Ruffalo gets his way.

Update: Deadline is now reporting that Ruffalo is nearing a deal with Marvel to reprise the role of Bruce Banner / Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok, confirming this week's earlier rumor that the actor would appear alongside Chris Hemsworth in the third Thor film...

Over the past few years, Joaquin Phoenix has flirted with multiple big-budget superhero movies. He was offered roles in The Avengers (as Bruce Banner/Hulk), Batman vs. Superman and Marvel’s Doctor Strange, and come very close to signing a deal (Marvel was hoping up until the very last moment to be able to introduce Phoenix as Strange at Comic-Con in 2014) before eventually opting to pass on all three. But, why? The actor opened up about his decision making process admitting that it’s probably best if he doesn’t ever star in a superhero movie.

While promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron, Mark Ruffalo expressed interest in making a new solo Hulk movie, and he also revealed the reason why it hasn’t happened yet: Universal still has the rights to distribute future Hulk films, which is something Marvel would need to figure out to move forward. A new report suggests that the rights issue may not entirely be an issue at all — the only thing keeping Marvel from making a Hulk movie is Marvel itself.

Everyone wants a piece of the Avengers pie. When a movie with a global audience this large is at stake, there's no brand deal that doesn't make sense to at least attempt. We've already seen Under Armour, Samsung and Gillette, among others, team up with Marvel and Disney to produce a few Avengers-themed goods. It would seem however, that Adidas, already responsible for Quicksilver's sneakers, isn't content with just running shoes with Avengers designs. According to Chinese sneaker site Dunk, Adidas is planning on revisiting some of its more well-known basketball sneakers from years past, albeit with a comic book twist. Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor will all get retrofitted onto kicks from the Adidas catalog, though your mileage may vary as to how attractive these shoes really are. Though I guess it doesn't really matter given that comic book-themed footwear for adults is rather limited outside of Journeys.

Marvel’s TV universe has long-proven rocky to chart against the cinematic ventures, crossovers often occurring at face value, if at all. Now, a new report suggests that the TV branch may court a larger presence in the next few years, including new series outside of ABC and Netflix, a Doctor Strange crossover with The Defenders, and perhaps even a long-awaited Black Widow project.