Despite many a rumor that another solo Hulk film would be coming down the pipeline in a few years, the jolly green gamma monster has been contained to appearances in the “Avengers” films along with a brief cameo in Iron Man 3. It has previously been reported that previous contracts with Universal have hindered Marvel Studios in developing another solo Hulk movie, but in a new report on Forbes, the true details have finally surfaced.
The outlet writes that Universal no longer holds the production rights for the character, but instead still controls distribution rights on a solo Hulk movie. Should Marvel wish to make a movie about the character, then Universal Studios would be given the option of ‘First Refusal,’ wherein Disney would gain the rights to distribute the film if Universal decided they did not want to.
As Forbes points out, however, there are a number of factors that lead into why Marvel wouldn’t want to make another solo Hulk movie that have nothing to do with being cooperative with another studio; namely, the cost of budgeting production and marketing for such a film coupled with the poor box office receipts of the previous films, plus he seems to work better as a commodity found only in “Avengers” movies. Marvel has proven with their Spider-Man deal that they’re willing and able to co-operate in order to tell the stories they want to, provided it is beneficial on their end.
Even though there has been a consistent denial on the matter, rumors and desires for a Planet Hulk movie won’t go away. Perhaps now, like Banner himself, they’ll find peace.
