Mark Ruffalo is one of the few remaining core cast members in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, he's the only one that hasn't headlined his own MCU film, after Scarlet Johansson got her chance with this year's Black Widow movie. It's not exactly clear what the reason for this is, but Ruffalo and Marvel have mentioned over the years that Universal Pictures is to blame for why the Edward Norton-led The Incredible Hulk is the only MCU film to have Bruce Banner as its central figure.
However, it appears that all of this is about to change real soon with recent reports suggesting that Ruffalo is about to get his own solo Hulk movie.
Is Ruffalo finally going to get his own solo MCU film?
According to TheGWW.com, Marvel Studios is working on a standalone Hulk film based on the World War Hulk comic book storyline. Furthermore, the same source states that production on the movie is set to begin in late 2022 with the film's events set after the conclusion of the upcoming Disney+ series, She-Hulk, which will star Jameela Jamil as Titania opposite of Tatiana Maslany as the titular radioactive superhero.
Unfortunately, the report doesn't mention who else is involved in the project. Not to mention, it does not clarify how Marvel Studios is making it happen. After all, Marvel Studios nor Disney has confirmed that it has regained the rights from Universal to make a Hulk movie.
With that said, we'd like to remind you to take everything that you just read with a grain of salt.
Now, on the off-chance that the report is true, then we're curious to find out how the rumored Hulk movie is going to adapt the World War Hulk storyline. The 2007 comic book is effectively a sequel to Planet Hulk, which was partially adopted in Taika Waititi's MCU film, 2017's Thor: Ragnarok.
The skinny on comic book's story is that Bruce Banner heads off for Earth after the Illuminati, a group of superheroes composed of Doctor Strange and Iron Man, decided to banish him. Angered and insulted, a rampaging Bruce heads a group of Sakaaran refugees known as the Warbound in an attempt to take revenge against the Illuminati.
The movie version will have to make certain adjustments. For example, Iron Man is no longer there. Not to mention, the MCU has yet to introduce Reed Richards, who is also known as Mister Fantastic. So far, the only member of the Illuminati that's already in the MCU is Doctor Strange, and it's not exactly a "group" if it's only the Sorcerer Supreme alone. Then again, this is all assuming that the studio wants to stay faithful to the source material, which would be surprising given how much liberty the MCU has taken over the years.
Finally, we have no idea how the MCU is going to tie the World War Hulk movie into She-Hulk, which has been described as more of a comedy. Of course, Marvel Studios' plans for the future of the MCU remain a mystery. Case in point, after delaying its 2022 and 2023 slate, with the sole exception of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we found out that there are still three unnamed MCU films in the docket with two postponed indefinitely and another rescheduled for November 2023.
With the MCU set to introduce several characters in the next few years, including Deadpool, it will be interesting to see how Marvel Studios' handles a potential Hulk solo feature film.
