It looks like finally, after years, we’ll be getting another solo Hulk project as soon as it’s announced that the movie rights are going to be transferred. The last time we saw Bruce Banner’s alter ego get an entire movie was in 2008. The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton as the beaming superhero of Gamma. Since then, Disney was only allowed to use Bruce Banner in team-up movies for the MCU, but not in a solo project. It also affected the character to a great extent, as the character we see lately is nothing like what we’ve seen in the comics and our usual perception about him.
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Is World War Hulk in the works?
Hulk’s rights have always been a big hassle due to its movie rights issue. The Hulk’s movie rights have always been dynamic unlike the character rights of other superheroes. Although Universal agreed to share the character with the main MCU universe, Disney and Marvel were still not allowed to produce a solo movie about him.
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This legal tussle featuring the beaming warrior Gamma also affected the character a lot under the Disney umbrella, as over the years we’ve seen him get nerfed. There’s little to no similarity between the superhero we saw in The Incredible Hulk or the Mark Ruffalo version in The Avengers to what we see now in MCU.
Now, according to some reports, we could once again see a full potential Hulk project under the MCU banner, and Disney, as a Reddit user, has provided some interesting insight into the matter, proving that Disney could reclaim the rights. by 2023. user presented some SEC filings claiming that Universal’s deal with Marvel was similar to the one it had with Paramount:
“Universal Studios has agreed to distribute the Marvel film The Incredible Hulk and its sequels on substantially the same terms as Paramount has agreed to distribute the other films financed and produced as part of the cinematic facility.”
Now, the conditions under which Paramount has decided to distribute the films stipulate that the distribution rights will be retained by the distributing studio for 15 years:
Paramount shall have the right to exercise its Paramount Distribution Rights in respect of each Image for an initial term of 15 years from the first theatrical screening of such Image (the “Initial Distribution Term”);
So, if the filings are to be believed, it’s almost certain that a new World War Hulk project could soon be made in the MCU under the Disney umbrella.
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What is the Hulk’s future in the MCU?
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If the evidence turns out to be true, it’s very possible that we could watch a Hulk project sometime after 2023. According to the current slate, we may be able to watch our beloved green superhero in the next She-Hulk series. There had also been rumors that MCU was trying to create a World War Hulk project that would follow the series, so now that reports of the rights fiasco are about to be resolved, the project can be expected very soon.
The upcoming series is going to set up Jennifer Walters in MCU who is Bruce Banner’s cousin and will be mentored by him on her journey to becoming the green superhero.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will premiere August 18, 2022 on Disney+
Source: Reddit
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