For many years, The Incredible Hulk was the forgotten entry into the MCU.
The film starred Ed Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and introduced a wide-range of characters including Thunderbolt Ross, Betsy Ross, and Abomination.
Photo: Time
The film’s story provided a proper introduction to The Hulk, and delved more deeply into Banner’s character than any film since.
Despite being a box-office success, Marvel quickly buried The Incredible Hulk. Mark Ruffalo would assume the character from Norton beginning in 2012’s The Avengers, and outside of Thunderbolt Ross, none of the film’s other characters were mentioned again.
The Re-introduction of ‘Hulk’ Characters
In recent years however, things have changed. Tim Curry’s Abomination returned for both Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and She-Hulk. Meanwhile, Thunderbolt Ross and Betsy Ross are slated to be star in Captain America: Brave New World.
Harrison Ford will portray President Thunderbolt Ross. Photo Marvel
All of a sudden The Incredible Hulk feels like Marvel canon again. History, however, could have taken a very different course.
Plans For ‘The Incredible Hulk 2’
In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier revealed that at one point there were extensive plans in place for The Incredible Hulk 2.
Leterrier’s second Hulk film would have changed the course of the MCU and introduced various versions of Hulk into the story.
Photo: ScreenGeek
“There was like Grey Hulk, Red Hulks – there was a lot of good stuff that we were planning,” he recalls.
Following The Incredible Hulk, Marvel mostly relegated Hulk to a side character. It wasn’t until She-Hulk in 2022 that Hulk’s lore was really expanded upon.
Photo: Marvel/Empire
A Very Different Character
Nevertheless, Captain America: Brave New World is rumored to feature Red Hulk and the possibility of Red She-Hulk. Meanwhile, any version of Grey Hulk seems to have been sidelined for the “Smart Hulk” evolution in the MCU.
“Hulk is a complex character within the Marvel Universe,” Leterrier admitted. “You want the primeval Hulk… the rage Hulk. And then when you go Grey Hulk and Smart Hulk you lose that a little bit and you get a little bit more kiddish with it.”
Photo: Disney+
While a fan of what the MCU has done with Hulk, Leterrier admits that the current version of the character is a far cry from what he was planning.
“But that was the fun of where I was in my movie, with the access to consciousness and all that stuff. That was really fun. And that’s what I was aiming to do. But take my time with it. Because there’s so many characters they want it all fast [laughs]. I like She-Hulk, but then you know, yoga between Hulk and… I was like ‘Okay! yeah, we’re very far from my Hulk.’”
Source: Marvel Studios
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