It’s crazy to think about now, but Mark Ruffalo wasn’t the first actor to play Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is a well-known fact, but it’s something that feels weird to even say considering how the actor has made the character iconic over the course of four ‘Avengers’ films and various other appearances over the last decade. And though Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans have hung up their tights and walked away from the MCU, Ruffalo still has ideas for where the Hulk could go in the future.
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Speaking to Variety, the actor talked about the future of his big green superhero character and where fans might seem him appear in upcoming Marvel Studios projects. Ruffalo admits that the other project featuring the Hulk that is in the works now is an appearance in the upcoming “She-Hulk” TV series for Disney+. Outside of that, it’s unclear where Banner might show up.
“There’s nothing completely at a place where it’s a done deal,” Ruffalo said. “There’s some talk of having Banner/Hulk show up in [the Disney+ series] ‘She–Hulk.’ If we come up with something good, that would be really interesting. Right now that’s about it. That’s all there is on the table.”
However, the actor also teased the idea of a potential solo film.
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Despite no apparent plans for a solo ‘Hulk’ film, especially given the character’s complicated rights issues (Universal owns the rights to future ‘Hulk’ solo films), there is an idea that Ruffalo has for the project that would be interesting and worth exploring, if/when the time comes.
“There’s an idea that I think could be really interesting ,” said Ruffalo. “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.”
Fans have been clamoring for a solo ‘Hulk’ film for years since Ruffalo took over the character from Edward Norton (who starred as Banner in the MCU’s second film, “The Incredible Hulk,” back in 2008). The closest we’ve gotten to that idea was in “Thor: Ragnarok,” where filmmakers adapted parts of the classic comic book storyline “Planet Hulk’ for portions of the film. However, as the title suggests, Ruffalo was reduced to a supporting player and it was a far cry from an actual Hulk-focused film.
So, while it’s not likely to happen anytime soon, Ruffalo is still interested in having his moment in the spotlight.