So what is our reaction to such a strong showing of the Hulk in a major movie? WE WANT MORE!! Of course we do! Why wouldn't we!? He's so much fun to watch, so come on Marvel, why aren't there any plans for a new Hulk movie?
Well, I'll tell you why. The Hulk is actually a tremendously difficult character to make into a hero. There are only so many ways to create heroics out of themes of anger and destruction (just read some of the comments about Man of Steel). In both movies, Bruce Banner (the Hulk's alter ego) is on the run, pushed into stressful situations that force him to change into the Hulk, and then pursued by the Army. Also, in both movies we find out that the Army is hunting him because of how dangerous he is and the destruction he causes. You could argue that the Hulk wouldn't cause so much destruction if he wasn't hunted by the Army all the time. Am I wrong? How many times can they tell us this story. I, for one, don't want to hear it anymore. The same way I don't want to hear about Batman's origins anymore, but then I'm forced to see it in every Batman franchise ever made.
So how do we get by this plot problem? How do we avoid a situation where the Hulk fights a hulked up poodle? Well we need 3 things to happen:
- We need for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to expand to a cosmic level.
- Check. We got this with Guardians of the Galaxy and the Thor movies.
- Get the rights to the Silver Surfer back from Fox.
- No check. (this is up in the air at the moment, and I think will depend on the success of another reboot Fox is releasing in August, The Fantastic Four. Since this hinges on two companies making a deal I have no control over, I'm not going to mention The Silver Surfer anymore during this post).
- We also need to introduce the real world to Marvel's Illuminati. The Illuminati, in the Marvel COMICS Universe, is a group of big time super heroes that gather secretly to discuss ways to help the world. Each member represents a different section of the Universe. The members include: Iron Man, Reed Richards, Professor X, Namor the Sub Mariner, Black Bolt of the Inhumans, and Doctor Strange.
- Partial check, but we're getting there. Black Bolt and the Inhumans
will have their own movie in 2018, and so will Doctor Strange in 2017.
We're not likely to see Reed Richards (at least not while Fox owns the rights to the Fantastic Four) or Namor. Marvel owns the rights to Namor, but hasn't made any moves to use the character in anything...yet.
And Professor X is planted firmly within Fox along with the X-Men
franchise. Of course there are ways around this, like substituting for
the characters Marvel doesn't own or leaving them out completely (I'm looking at you Prof. X).
The point is, this powerful group that represents the collective super
heroes of the Marvel Universe need to be established before we even talk
about a new Hulk movie.
Well, because the Illuminati are the people that are responsible for making The Hulk angrier than he has ever been before.
All of this character development is the precursor to "Planet Hulk". In this story, the Illuminati determine that the Hulk is just too darn dangerous to keep on planet Earth and devise a way to get him off. Despite being friends with Bruce Banner and teammates with The Hulk, the Illuminati trick Banner into boarding a shuttle and shoot him into space. They tell him he's being sent to fight a S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite that's gone rogue (whatever that means, but he falls for it), and only the Hulk can stop it. Once in space, a prerecorded message plays telling The Hulk what the Illuminati has decided and that he's being sent to a deserted planet where he can't smash anything or hurt anyone anymore. They say they're trying to help both The Hulk and the planet, by giving both peace.
However, this wouldn't be a story worth telling if it all went according to plan. So, of course, the trajectory of the shuttle gets messed up and Hulk is shot through an inter-dimensional portal where he is weakened a bit. He awakens on Sakaar, a war planet teeming with life and ruled by the psychotic Red King; where, in the Hulk's weakened state, he is taken captive and implanted with an obedience disk that will explode if he doesn't comply. Here, The Hulk is forced into a gladiator pit to fight for his life.
He meets and befriends several other gladiators, they dub themselves "the Warbound" and are inseparable for the rest of the story. Together with his Warbound, Hulk breaks free of his bonds, frees the other slaves and fights for the freedom of the planet. He becomes their new King and leads the planet into an era of peace and prosperity. Along the way he falls in love and takes a Queen to rule with him. His subjects love him and worship him, and they all live happily ever after.
UNTIL...BUM BUM BUUUUUUMMMMMM
The shuttle that brought the Hulk to Sakaar is being made into a memorial. During the construction, the shuttle's autodestruct sequence is triggered and the comic-book-science made engine explodes, killing many innocent people. Including the Hulk's Queen. Hulk blames the Illuminati and immediately plans to return to Earth to confront the men who destroyed his life. The final page of this awesome book is The Hulk mounted on the hood of a space ship, hurtling through space at unknown speeds, ready for war with the words underneath him. Next: WORLD WAR HULK!!
BOOM! How does that sound for a movie?! Huh?! AND A DEFINITE SEQUEL?! Sign me up!!!
Now, do you see the difference between the first 2 Hulk movies and this idea? Writer Greg Pak is able to keep the themes we all know and love, the unchecked rage and destruction, but make The Hulk look heroic while he fights giant monsters and armies, and smashes everything. He's given Hulk a reason to fight and smash things. A really good reason too. He's fighting against tyranny and for freedom, things that everyone can get behind. Gone are the almost mindless chase scenes where the Army sends everything it can at the Hulk only for him to destroy them and get away. NOW we've got a motley crew of gladiator heroes led by The Hulk vs. an army led by the genocidal Red King that deserves the fate that awaits them.
Why can't we see this as a movie and it's sequel? I think people would freak out over a movie like this that led to The Hulk squaring off against his former friends! Marvel has produced and released an animated version of Planet Hulk, but there are certain details that are changed which makes a significant difference in the storyline. I suppose this would be an extremely expensive movie to make, and as I said before, the MCU needs to expand a bit more.
Who knows though, we might hear about a new Hulk movie sooner than we think. I'm already hearing rumblings over a 4th Iron Man movie, so why not a Hulk movie too?
This was just one way Marvel could go. They could adapt this story differently and still make an amazing movie. But just imagine the Incredible Hulk fighting armies and monsters, and then flying through space to take on Black Bolt and the Inhumans and Iron Man and the Avengers!!!! I'd be first on line to see that!!!!
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