The commercial potential of a new Hulk movie

[Chance Jackson]

I just want to see Gina Carano as Jen.

If they are going to do Jen/She-Hulk I too would want Gina Carano she definitely got the looks and body for it dunno about the acting chops

 

[Orba]

How about introducing Rick Jones to the MCU, he could be a former research assistant/student/friend/whatever, use him as the confidant/sidekick. Personally I think they should hold off on stuff like Rulk as it dilutes the impact of the Hulk himself. Let the franchise build more before the other Hulks are introduced.

 

[Spider-Fan]

We will only know the answer to this question if a 2nd Hulk film is made. I think Ruffallo earned a shot at it, at least. I'd be very excited to see the series given another go. 3rd time is the charm!

 

[SuperFerret]

I think Hulk stories are difficult to do well while allowing for enough Hulk Smash moments to please most audiences. The Avengers got the balance right with Banner being at the forefront of the "duo", but much of that was due to the need to work with other characters. Putting together a movie where Banner chooses to "point" the Hulk in the direction of some threat, while he also struggles with controlling the Hulk (remember, despite being "always angry", Banner lost control in the second act of The Avengers, showing that whatever hold he has is tenuous at best). Adding in perspective characters like Rick Jones, Betty and Jen would also help.

 

[CoherentChaos]

Going backwards, I can see how a U-Foes with slightly less visual flair than their 616 counterparts could work, and would be much cooler than generic Gamma monsters. As is, they're all kinda CGI characters, and that would have to be toned down to make them affordable. But it's actually quite doable, if you spin it right. They would also make more interesting/compelling "Gamma Monsters" than Leader's usual fare, though you'd be changing their origin significantly by having them revolve around Hulk rather than the FF.

I think it'd be interesting to invert things from Hulk bashing Gamma Monsters to Banner feeling sorry for these people that got experimented on before Leader perfected his process. Inverting expectations would have to be the watchword for this film. You'd want everyone coming out the theatre to say "It is nothing like what I thought it would be, it's so much better than those other two!"

But yeah, I'm thinking Leader as our Alexander Pierce, The U-Foes as our STRIKE/Project Insight team with Vector/Utrect as the Winter Soldier, so to speak in terms of leading the bad guy enforcers. Rulk would be our Batroc while Ross would become our Nick Fury, of sorts in terms of having major tension with the hero, but helping anyway because he has a personal relationship with the bad guy, Leader.

I think Jennifer could actually do well as a 'scared of Hulk' companion which makes her transformation into one all the more interesting. While Nat's resolution was along the lines of 'we could use a little worse,' Jenn's resolution is more along the lines of 'I love being hyperemotional.' I think it'd be interesting if Hawkeye got to the point where he was terrified of Hulk, if those tranqs didn't work one time and he ended up getting Hulk's ire. So in a way, Hawkeye would start out as the Falcon-like sidekick and end up having to go his own way like Widow in the end because of who Hulk is. Jennifer on the other hand, would start out like Widow as someone with constant tension with Banner, but in the end becomes a Falcon-like lover of all things Hulk.

I think that could be interesting, but I think they're already covering that kind of Hulk-attacks-Banners-buddies with Hulk fighting a Hulkbuster in AoU.

I think that'd be interesting. Definitely keeps the two from being static if they end up somewhere different by the time the end credits roll. Plus, both Betty and Jennifer would be super supportive of Bruce. Betty's already been shown to not be very fearful of the Hulk at all. He's her protector after-all. So having his cousin being supportive of Bruce but fearful of his other side would be a nice distinction.

I don't know if Clint would really be terrified of the Hulk, but if there's a scenario where he tries to reign him in but it doesn't work, it's definitely going to raise some red flags about letting Bruce run around unchecked. Whereas at the beginning he might see no problem with Bruce threatening his foes with imminent wrath, and might even encourage it because he believes if Hulk got too out of control he could put him to sleep.

Also yes, I think the U Foes could work very well on-screen. They're not going to look completely like their comic book counterparts of course, but as long as the movie is faithful to their abilities, I could forgive Vector not being orange with a weird V shape on his forehead.

How about introducing Rick Jones to the MCU, he could be a former research assistant/student/friend/whatever, use him as the confidant/sidekick. Personally I think they should hold off on stuff like Rulk as it dilutes the impact of the Hulk himself. Let the franchise build more before the other Hulks are introduced.

I'd prefer Amadeus Cho actually, but as for what the studio runs with, if they even decide to give Bruce a young sidekick, is a crapshoot.

And I agree, I'd much rather they hold off on the Rulk. I think Ross could still be the initial threat, the Batroc of the movie, but in a bit more traditional way. However standard military gear vs Hulk is pretty old, so I wouldn't mind if they brought out some experimental tech too. Maybe a fleet of Hulkbusters (of the army variety, not Tony's). Maybe give Flux a laser gun fitted to his size so he can have a mix up of immense strength and military strategy.

 

[Rorschach2012]

End Avengers 2 with Ultron sending Hulk into space. This sets up Planet Hulk & if Guardians Of The Galaxy is a success. Planet Hulk can also be a Guardians cross over. Have Star Lord on the same planet where Hulk ends up on. The rest of the team is doing their own mission. Hulk & Star Lord team up. The team takes Hulk home at the end. This would allow a Guardians & Avengers Cosmic team up in The Avengers 3

This is a fantastic idea

 

[CoherentChaos]

That idea sounds feasible. Having it set up the crossover for A3 also sounds nice.

But in my opinion, I think Hulk needs another solo on Earth before we go to Planet Hulk. I think Indestructible Hulk and Gamma World style plot-lines would lead Bruce down a path that would be more impactful when it ends in him being spaced. Especially if things go so sour that Tony is obligated to do it. A villain doing it just wouldn't have the same effect.

But while I do have a narrow view of where I want them to take things, I won't throw a fit if the next Hulk movie is indeed Planet Hulk. I'll be disappointed, but at the same time I'd just be extremely glad to finally have a solo movie after long last. So if Planet Hulk is what MS agrees is best, then so be it, as long as that dang sequel gets produced.

 

[SuperFerret]

The issue with Planet Hulk is that there's no Banner, which diminishes the appeal of a solo Hulk film with Ruffalo and means that Planet Hulk will likely be altered heavily to add him in.

 

[CoherentChaos]

haha that and the inclusion of Ruffalo prevents them from needing to have the budget of two Avatars (the blue cat people one, not the M Night Shamalan disgrace) just to have their protagonist present on-screen for more than 10 minutes.

 

[SuperFerret]

Avatar is a good analogue for what Planet Hulk would require. It needs so many CG effects for it that it might as well not be live action.

 

[CoherentChaos]

And that's why we've got an animated Planet Hulk already. The story is just better suited to virtually anything other than live action. Hell it would have made a great book too.

Even if we were having this discussion in 2028 or so (like let's say the MCU didn't start until a decade later than it actually did), where technologic advancements (hopefully) make Hulk level CGI much cheaper and thus render budget a non-issue, I'd still be against it because it's just not the Hulk story I want to see in the MCU franchise. At least not yet.

 

[DrCosmic]

I think that'd be interesting. Definitely keeps the two from being static if they end up somewhere different by the time the end credits roll. Plus, both Betty and Jennifer would be super supportive of Bruce. Betty's already been shown to not be very fearful of the Hulk at all. He's her protector after-all. So having his cousin being supportive of Bruce but fearful of his other side would be a nice distinction.

I don't know if Clint would really be terrified of the Hulk, but if there's a scenario where he tries to reign him in but it doesn't work, it's definitely going to raise some red flags about letting Bruce run around unchecked. Whereas at the beginning he might see no problem with Bruce threatening his foes with imminent wrath, and might even encourage it because he believes if Hulk got too out of control he could put him to sleep.

Also yes, I think the U Foes could work very well on-screen. They're not going to look completely like their comic book counterparts of course, but as long as the movie is faithful to their abilities, I could forgive Vector not being orange with a weird V shape on his forehead.

I don't know, when your close buddy tries to kill you with all his might, destroys someone/something you love, when your tranqs fail to stop him (perhaps that he gave you!) don't work and then he smiles in your face afterwards asking what happened, does that 'raise some red flags' or does that drive a very serious wedge between you two? That's much more interesting than 'raising some red flags' that should've already been up, because he already tried to kill Hawk's bestie Widow. Perhaps terrified is the wrong word.

Or Hawkeye could have Jenn's same arc where they are initially mistrustful but in the end come to embrace Hulk entirely perhaps for different reasons. This could be further differentiated if there was some Grey Hulk in there with a totally different effect on both.

I'd prefer Amadeus Cho actually, but as for what the studio runs with, if they even decide to give Bruce a young sidekick, is a crapshoot.

And I agree, I'd much rather they hold off on the Rulk. I think Ross could still be the initial threat, the Batroc of the movie, but in a bit more traditional way. However standard military gear vs Hulk is pretty old, so I wouldn't mind if they brought out some experimental tech too. Maybe a fleet of Hulkbusters (of the army variety, not Tony's). Maybe give Flux a laser gun fitted to his size so he can have a mix up of immense strength and military strategy.

Yeah, I'm bored of traditional, and I think the audience is too. How many times do we have to see that the military, even with advanced SHIELD tech and Hulk-like monsters, has noting for the Hulk. But I'd also prefer Cho. I personally wouldn't hold of on Rulk because I have no interest in him as a main villain. He should be throwaway, imho.

 

[DrCosmic]

And that's why we've got an animated Planet Hulk already. The story is just better suited to virtually anything other than live action. Hell it would have made a great book too.

Even if we were having this discussion in 2028 or so (like let's say the MCU didn't start until a decade later than it actually did), where technologic advancements (hopefully) make Hulk level CGI much cheaper and thus render budget a non-issue, I'd still be against it because it's just not the Hulk story I want to see in the MCU franchise. At least not yet.

I don't think that's how it works. Cutting edge CGI will always be expensive. Older, out of date CGI seems to be what gets cheaper, but you're always competing the guy with the 75M CGI budget at the same time you are. If you only spend 30M you just won't be able to buy what they are.

 

[Chance Jackson]

I don't think that's how it works. Cutting edge CGI will always be expensive. Older, out of date CGI seems to be what gets cheaper, but you're always competing the guy with the 75M CGI budget at the same time you are. If you only spend 30M you just won't be able to buy what they are.

This, cgi will continue to get more and more photo real requiring more processing power and more CPU/GPU time at render farms.

 

[Orba]

A big problem with CGI also is that the more human your character the harder (and more expensive) it is to make the character look real. Everyone knows what a human looks like, we see them every day so we have lots of reference images we can compare them to. So when we see a CGI human our brains automatically recognise when its not right. The further the character gets from a human the less our brains have to reference with and the more accepting of it we tend to be. The problem with the Hulk is he is just a big green human, so getting him looking good enough for the audience to accept is expensive.

 

[cherokeesam]

The issue with Planet Hulk is that there's no Banner, which diminishes the appeal of a solo Hulk film with Ruffalo and means that Planet Hulk will likely be altered heavily to add him in.

A Planet Hulk movie would almost definitely be heavily altered to fit the MCU. That would probably include ample servings of Bruce Banner as well as Jadejaws.

I'm all for the idea of a Planet Hulk/GOTG crossover on any level, but I just don't think Marvel is willing to gamble Hulk and the Avengers on the unproven success or failure of GOTG. If GOTG gets a big audience and boffo box office, sure, go for it. But if it turns into a dud, they're not going to want to storyboard Avengers 3 and Hulk's future around a failed franchise.

 

[DrCosmic]

Modifying Planet Hulk to be more Banner-centric is like modifying cars to work underwater. You can do it, it might even be neat, but you're spending a lot of time working on the opposite of what a car is for.

If they are going to do Jen/She-Hulk I too would want Gina Carano she definitely got the looks and body for it dunno about the acting chops

She Hulk is one of the most vivacious personalities, and that kind of emotionality is crucial to her character. I think Carano does well as terse hardcore badarse chicks, because that's her career, basically. Her being sarcastic, flirting with the camera, comedic timing, and being compellingly vulnerable as Jennifer Walters, that's not something most physical actors can do.

I think Elizabeth Debicki is the only crazy talented super tall actress that could pull of She-Hulk. Unless they make She-Hulk a CGI character, which seems like a bad idea to me. Then again, someone has to be CGI, because Jennifer Walters has to look as far from She-Hulk as Ruffalo looks from Hulk. Maybe do a pre-serum Steve shrinking CGI job on Debicki? Cast a different actress altogether?

Avatar is a good analogue for what Planet Hulk would require. It needs so many CG effects for it that it might as well not be live action.

Exactly. A CGI film with enough live action bits that all the CGI has to be photorealistic to a T. I think the production budget for Avatar, if you look it up literally says "All in." Either that or "Don't ask questions, it's James Cameron, just do what he says."

 

[Spider-Fan]

Planet Hulk would be a bad idea if you kept it as he is Hulk the whole time. However, if you could find a way to adapt it while maintaining Ruffallo as Banner as being the core of the story, then okay. But, straight up Hulk who doesn't need to become Banner, it will suck. It won't get good buzz. It will fail. You NEED Ruffallo and Banner for any Hulk film to work.

 

[Donut]

I guess my idea would allow Banner to show up in the beginning as the ship travels & then at the end when hes on the ship with the Guardians he turns humans there. They can always write in some crap where the guys on the Planet forces the Hulk to become human. Followed by Banner teaming up with Star Lord. Then for the final battle he breaks free & Hulks out

 

[EssayM]

She Hulk is one of the most vivacious personalities, and that kind of emotionality is crucial to her character. I think Carano does well as terse hardcore badarse chicks, because that's her career, basically. Her being sarcastic, flirting with the camera, comedic timing, and being compellingly vulnerable as Jennifer Walters, that's not something most physical actors can do.

I think Elizabeth Debicki is the only crazy talented super tall actress that could pull of She-Hulk. Unless they make She-Hulk a CGI character, which seems like a bad idea to me. Then again, someone has to be CGI, because Jennifer Walters has to look as far from She-Hulk as Ruffalo looks from Hulk. Maybe do a pre-serum Steve shrinking CGI job on Debicki? Cast a different actress altogether?

I was thinking they could use some combination of makeup effects and motion capture, to get the right look while still capturing the emotional performance. Either that, or just go all out and have the actress get majorly bulked up before filming. If necessary, maybe they can use some LOTR-style trick shots to make her seem taller than the rest of the cast.

I think the challenge (visuals-wise) would be making her look three-dimensional and expressive, while still appearing to be cut from the same cloth as the typically CG Hulk. It's a challenge, but I think it can be done.

 

[Orba]

For a Hulk storyline they could use the fall of SHIELD, in Avengers it is mentioned that SHIELD had been tracking Banner all the time, even keeping others off his trail. With SHIELD gone the military can get back on the trail of Banner.

An alternative story would be that someone is interested in the research that created the Hulk and they grab someone like Rick Jones or Liz Ross to draw Banner back into the open.

 

[Victorboris1]

For a Hulk storyline they could use the fall of SHIELD, in Avengers it is mentioned that SHIELD had been tracking Banner all the time, even keeping others off his trail. With SHIELD gone the military can get back on the trail of Banner.

An alternative story would be that someone is interested in the research that created the Hulk and they grab someone like Rick Jones or Liz Ross to draw Banner back into the open.

Banner on the run being hunted by Hydia could be an interesting story arch. Hydra would definitely be interested in capturing him and using the Hulk as their own personal WMD.

 

[Orba]

Talbot is in AoS as part of the SHIELD clean-up, that could result in him joining Ross's hunt for the Hulk after finding that SHIELD was suppressing intel on Banner's location. Then you could have Hydra or AIM grabbing a friend of Banner's to pull him into the open. So that Banner is trying to keep his head down to avoid the military, but at the same time events are happening that are forcing him to come out of hiding.

 

[ss3walkman]

Eh, I think that's a little pessimistic. Neither prior Hulk movie did great, but they did poorly for different reasons. If there is a "cap" at work, its probably more an indicator of exactly how ( not ) far the Hulk name alone can take a mediocre movie.

I think the key to selling a new Hulk movie to the audience is to deliberately eschew the traditional Lonely Man. Show Banner being heroic in the trailer, rather than furtive. Have the Hulk reveal be as a Big Damn Hero moment, rather than a monster reveal. That should jolt the audience out of assuming this is yet another iteration of the same repetitive "desperate scientist running from the military" story.

Agree with this guy here. Make him a hero, not a monster

 

[ss3walkman]

I think this would be the key to a successful Hulk movie, and we've already seen that Marvel isn't averse to this strategy by including Black Widow into Cap's recent outing. And even though she is a major character in the movie, it always felt like Cap's story to me. I think the same could happen in a Hulk movie and they already have a pretty good template to start with in the animated EMH series.

The Hulk & Hawkeye bromance was handled very well on that show and made for some legitimately entertaining moments. Plus, in the MCU the Hawkeye character has been underdeveloped so far and with no likely solo vehicle in play for him, a team-up with Banner would be a fun solution. How that works into the story, I have no idea, but I'm sure there's a way to do it without being completely hamfisted.

YES! I always refer to EMH because it was a pretty effin awesome show! The highlights of the show were Hawkeye's interaction with Hulk and with T'Challa. I freakin loved it. The sense of love/hate and loyalty between Hawkeye and Hulk was awesome. That would be good to infuse in a movie.

I guess we'll have to see where AoU leaves the character..