In 2008, The Incredible Hulk followed Iron Man into theaters in the earliest days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For years, fans debated if the film, which was distributed by Universal, was truly part of the MCU. Fortunately, those concerns were cast aside as, slowly but surely, other characters from the film found their way back into other stories. Like Bruce Banner, Thunderbolt Ross, Abomination, and soon, Betty Ross and Samuel Sterns, all have found further roles to play but because of complicated rights issues, they’re always roles in someone else’s stories. However, a new rumor points toward Marvel Studios having found a way to circumvent those issues to an extent while giving the people exactly what they want.
According to scooper My Time To Shine Hello, perhaps inspired by the brief tease of a battle between the two in Deadpool & Wolverine, the Marvel Parliament has begun development on a Wolverine vs. Hulk film.
If the rumor pans out, it’s both a bold and nimble navigation of the rights issues that have forced Hulk’s ongoing arc in the MCU to be told over the course of several films on which he was a supporting character. With Hugh Jackman believed to be staying on as Wolverine for the foreseeable future, the Parliament may have devised a way to make Hulk the co-lead/antagonist of a “solo Wolverine film.” It may be a bit disingenuous for Marvel to set Hulk up as the co-lead of a Wolverine film that will be known as Wolverine vs. Hulk no matter what it’s title is…but hey, that’s showbusiness.
Of course, this isn’t the first time rumors of a Hulk project have made the rounds. After legitimate reports of a World War Hulk circulated for years, it’s begun to look like the meat of that project may have been butchered up and tossed into other projects. And even if the rumor of a Hulk vs. Wolverine project being in development at Marvel Studios is true, it’s probably fairly important to keep in mind that Marvel Parliament member Brad Winderbaum recently made it clear that the studio is developing more projects than they’ll ever produce. So while the idea of seeing the conclusion of that brief tease in Deadpool & Wolverine might have you excited, it’s best not to hold your breath. Don’t go penciling this one into an open spot just yet.
