It’s no secret that elements of Marvel’s “Planet Hulk” storyline will be integral to the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thor: Ragnarok. In the comics, Bruce Banner (Hulk) was banished from Earth by the Illuminati (Namor, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Professor Xavier) after his most recent rampage. After his spaceship steers off course, he lands on a planet where he is placed in enslavement and forced to participate in gladiator battles for a warlord’s amusement where he leads an uprising, very reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. We already know that Banner banished himself at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and we haven’t seen him since.
We already know that the upcoming Thor film will incorporate parts of Planet Hulk into the film, as evidenced by Marvel unveiling Hulk’s gladiator armor and weapons at this year’s Comic-Con. Now we have official confirmation that we will actually be seeing the planet in question.
MCUExchange reports that in the next issue of Total Film, director Taika Waititi confirms that the famed planet Sakaar will be featured in the upcoming Thor film.
“Sakaar was just an insane, far-off futuristic place which has the biggest shift for a film and these characters.”With Sakaar officially in the film, does this mean that The Warbound (hulks own “Warriors Three” group of gladiators he teams up with) will be included in the film? How far down the rabbit hole will the film possibly go? In the comic, Hulk and the Warbound take over the planet where he becomes king, marries, and even has children. Hulk eventually returns to Earth where he enacts revenge on earth’s heroes for banishing him. It probably won’t take that much from the comics, but with Sakaar in play, this opens up the Marvel Universe in a big bad way!
