Of all the Marvel superheroes that make up The Avengers, the Hulk has had the hardest time getting a foothold as a franchise. Ang Lee's underrated 2003 film, while solidly made and a nice little potboiler, wasn't action heavy enough for fans of the character. Understandable. The 2008 follow-up, which introduced Edward Norton in the Bruce Banner role, was better received but didn't make for much of an improvement at the box office. Part of the reason is that The Hulk is a character with motivations that don't really translate to the big screen. He's not exactly a hero, nor is he even really an anti-hero. He's just a guy with a monstrous side he'd rather not see get out, and when Ang Lee tried to explore the sort of Jekyl and Hyde nature of that, his film was rebuffed.
Marvel Chief, Kevin Feige, has long said that another Hulk film was too risky because of the character's poor performance, but with The Avengers around the corner that seems to have changed. Apparently, Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of the character has been so highly regarded that the Hulk has seen an uptick in sales on merchandise, and presumably comic books as well. Or at least that's what Paul Glitter, Marvel's top dude when it comes to merchandising in North America, revealed to Forbes, also revealing that if the trend continues we may be seeing more of the Hulk than in the future....
"If Hulk’s successful turnaround continues, Gitter says Marvel “will spin him off to a stand-alone program next year,” supported by a big budget franchise movie in 2015. The entertainment studio is also exploring ways to promote Hulk as a “corporate icon,” similar to MetLife’s usage of Peanuts’ Snoopy, where The Hulk’s image conveys a message about channeling strength to overcome workplace challenges."
Well, I don't much care for the Snoopy comparison, but otherwise this sounds like a great idea to capitalize on the Hulk's newfound popularity. The "stand-alone program" he's referring to is probably the Hulk TV series that Guillermo Del Toro is said to be exec-producing, and I'm assuming if that proves to be a hit we'll the 'Jade Giant' in a movie theater again before too long. The question I have is how this would interfere with his other appearances in the larger Marvel cinematic universe? Would the actor from the TV series play the Hulk in the new movie? Does this mean Mark Ruffalo wouldn't return? Or would Ruffalo perhaps take on the TV show?
More questions than answers at this point, but it's an intriguing turnaround for the character, nonetheless. [ThePlaylist]
