Marvel is having a really tough time controlling how comic book movie fans receive information regarding their upcoming films. First was the way they handled the ridiculous casting rumors surrounding Captain America. Then there was the Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye rumor that was dropped then reported as untrue, then later “leaked” as true. People are still trying to figure that one out.
Now they seem to be having the same rumor mill control problem regarding which members may or may not turn up in the forthcoming The Avengers film, specifically whether The Hulk will making a smashing appearance. Edward Norton has already said he would be available to play Dr. Bruce Banner again if called upon but that Marvel hasn’t made the commitment to having The Hulk in The Avengers.
Well, Iron Man director Jon Favreau was recently on the radio program The Kevin & Bean Show and let loose with this little quip:
“It’s going to be very interesting to see how the Marvel Universe branches off and all of those movies are going to be taken into account for The Avengers in 2 years. I’m not sure where The Avengers goes; there is no shooting draft yet. It’s going to be a big undertaking for Marvel to actually incorporate what happened in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk. All of that has to inform one unified vision for The Avengers.”
So are we to now assume that fans can expect to see Big Green throwing his weight around in the summer of 2012 screaming, “HULK SMASH!”? With a director like Favreau, who has a great working relationship with Marvel Studios, dropping the name like The Hulk in an interview, I would hope it would be true. Then again, it could have just been an offhand remark where he tossed in every Marvel Studios superhero movie title character that has been or will be made by 2012. You can listen to the podcast at The Kevin & Bean Show if you want to hear for yourself. The comment above can be found at around mark 5:45.
Time will tell if Favreau was speaking with some “know” on the subject but one thing he was definite about – there will be no appearance of Iron Man in either of the Thor or Captain America movies. Says Favreau:
“[Iron Man] is not in Thor; he’s not in Cap. Which are the two movies for next summer [2011].”
At least we now know who NOT to look for next year and it would seem that we can expect to see The Hulk join their ranks as well. That is until Marvel disavows all knowledge of Favreau’s comment and pretends like they are sitting on a government secret or the secret formula that turns water into fuel.
HULK WANTS IN AVENGERS MOVIE!!!
What are your impressions on Jon Favreau’s comments regarding The Hulk in The Avengers?
Thor slams his hammer in theaters May 5th, 2011. Captain America: The First Avenger slings his shield July 22nd, 2011. The Avengers team up May 4th, 2012.
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Source: The Kevin & Bean Show, Image Courtesy of Kablam!
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This seems like a bit of a stretch. Whether the Hulk appears or not in the “Avengers” what happened in “The Incredible Hulk” could just as easily be what he’s talking about. This is not to say that the Hulk can’t, won’t, or might not appear in the “Avengers” movie. It just doesn’t sound like a definite reveal at this point. It at most accounts for “IH” as a whole story but nothing particular…
I just cannot picture the Avengers without the Hulk. He was an original member in the books, and now to cut him out would be like leaving any of the other founders out. What would the Avengers be without Cap or Thor? And why waste the time incorporating the whole scene between Gen. Ross and Stark at the end of the IH flick? My gut tells me we will see Big Green on the screen in 2012.
The Hulk needs 2 be a part of the avengers it just won’t be complete if they leave the Hulk out of the avengers adding the Hulk will make this movie that much more epic with iron man Thor and captain America already in . I’d say it needs to be at least a 2 1/2 hr film all I can say is don’t disapoint the fans as we all have high expectations from this movie!! ^_^
I agree. Thats a bit of a strech.. it is just stating that they will be tying the events of the five movies together.. not that all of the actors will be portraying thier respective roles. We might just hear of the Hulk or he may be a bit part in the movie. Though I would love to see Edward Norton as Banner again, he nailed that role perfectly in my book.
I have to say that the Stark scene in TIH showed Marvel intended to put Hulk in Avengers, question is whether that changed. Farveau’s comments are more about the events in Hulk being taken into account while making Avengers – nothing saying the Hulk is in Avengers. all I have to say is it would be a BIG disappointment if Hulk is not in Avengers tho.
I don’t care if they save him for the climax. vengers think he’s too dangerous, then the final battle and no choice – bring in Hulk!!
Having the Avengers with no Hulk would be the worst decision Marvel will make. The casting in Ang Lee’s Hulk was better to me than The Incredible Hulk, but the later was a better movie. Its already apart of the Marvel movie verse, and is connected to Iron Man (sorry if that was a spoiler). Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/Hulk has to be in the Avengers. period.
not only does Hulk have to be in the “Avengers Movie” but he has to be played by Edward Norton.
Marvel: i hope you listening
To the people saying it is a stretch in translating Jon F’s comment….what do you think he meant? What part of the Hulk story (either movie) is essential to making the Avengers story cohesive? The Stark Industry sound cannons, the origin of The Leader, General Ross, Abomination? If you can’t pick anything of those things then what in the world could Jon F. have been referring to from the story other than The Hulk himself?
While I, too, am optimistic that Hulk will make an appearance, let us not forget the other Avenger whose story was hinted at in the film–Captain America. JF might have been referring to the continuation and ongoing failure of the “Super Soldier” program, which failure served as the motivation for retrieving Cap in Ultimate Avengers. Not saying it’s any more (or less) likely than a visit from the green meanie, but it is an Avengers-relevant storyline that I, for one, would like to see paid off in Avengers, if not in Captain America.
I hope Hulk is in the Avengers. hes a founding member and they already included the scene with Tony and Ross at the end of his movie. the question is how to incorporate him into the film without him just being a big green destraction.
if the rumors about the skrulls being the villains are true, then maybe Iron Man, Cap, Thor, and the other avengers can fight together for the first time trying to capture the Hulk, but SHIELD actually wants Banner to help develope a way to detect disquised skrulls. then, at the end of the film, with the Avengers seem beat, here comes the jolly green giant to save the day and remotivate the rest of the team. only 2 actual appearences of the Hulk, yes, but Banner would appear frequently.
“To the people saying it is a stretch in translating Jon F’s comment….what do you think he meant?”
he meant what he said… ” for Marvel to actually incorporate WHAT HAPPENED in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk”
it’s neither meant to be a confirm nor deny (or even comment for that matter) if Hulk is in Avengers since that wasn’t the question he was answering. Put it this way, if he left Hulk out of that list everyone would cry “what about Hulk?!”
don’t read too much into it
i bet tony will have an after credit cameo in regards to captain americas de-frosting.
The Hulk really isnt necessary, he was only on the original team for 3 issues. He has left and returned a few times but mostly as a menace
The scene at the end of the hulk movie could be to do with the military, which could play apart in the movie with the army/government not trusting the avengers, and nothing to do with the hulk
personally I can take or leave hulk, the other three main characters will be far more interesting and far more important in my opinion
That’s why it’s necessary to put the Hulk in THIS Avengers movie and thats it. As Avengers 2-3 progresses I’m sure we’ll see certain characters drop out and new ones appear for the sole purpose of not over crowding and introducing new characters but also giving them proper screen time. Shamose i respect your opinion but your in like a SERIOUS minority thinking the Hulk isn’t necessary for Avengers #1.
Also, in TIH, Stark never mentions Hulk. It might be that Stark knows that the military has the information about Steve Rogers and that is why he approached Ross.
excellant point – come to think about it, the Stark Ross scene doesn’t even make sense as a recruitment talk since it’s obvious from IM2 the Stark wasn’t into the idea of Avengers (if the movies are meant to be taken chronologically)
No Norton required if the Avengers movie just doesn’t have the Hulk turn back into Banner.
And Marvel’s Kevin Feige has said as such in the past: “We reserve the right to say Hulk will be in it for sure, we’ll see about Banner.”
my thoughts also
i don’t see mention of the whole zen thing at the end of the hulk. They could use that so banner can control his changes. That would make it much easier to not have the hulk overwhelming the avengers movie.
yeah – I agree the zen hulk control will come into play.
I don’t see how they’d have Hulk through the whole movie without him dominating the movie. Kinda like the intro of Ultimate Avengers, he’s Banner working on stuff for SHIELD, then Hulk’s out to the aide or detriment of the team for key scenes.
STRAIGHT UP.. it cant be called THE AVENGERS if all the avengers arent in it. HULK needs to be in it like every other character needs to be. i sure hope marvel can work it out.
It is clear he was talking about incorporating what happened in ALL of the films.
Its seems that people are overreacting because he said The Hulk
Instead of using the official title of The Incredible Hulk.
Whne you consider the first film was called The Hulk thats an understandable mistake.
The way they randomly accept some and ignore other comic storylines, continuity and plots, it doesn’t really matter to me one way or the other.
They need to get their story right because hulk is one my favorite characters in the marvel universe. Dont mention the hulk’s name unless we see him in the Avengers. Hopefully he s not messing with us!
It makes sense for the Hulk to be in this film. It was set up for him to be in it. Marvel and the film company need to work out whatever complications they are having with Norton to make this a more complete film. Can this movie be successful without the Hulk? Yes. But, the Hulk would just take this movie to higher levels. I do get the sense that Favreau was just throwing out recent Marvel film character names out there. No one really knows but him. Lets just hope that 1, the film is great and 2, that Marvel and company are listening…We want Hulk in this film!!
Norton is actually pumped to be back in and said he would join up if Marvel needed him for Avengers. I don’t think he’s the issue. It’s how to bring him into the mix with the other 3.. It can be done !
if this doesn’t have Edward Norton in it, i’m not going to be watching it. that would mean The Incredible Hulk was a complete waste of time. anyway, he must be in it, or they wouldn’t have mentioned him in Iron Man 2…
Where did they mention him in “IM2″? That trouble in the Southwest was Thor’s hammer smashing a crater in the ground.
They didn’t mention him in IM2 but a scene from TIH was on the TV screen when Stark was talking to Fury.
I believe John was just listing all the recent films and how tough it will be to tie together all their individual story lines so they fit within the same Iniverse as the AVENGERS movie; I don’t think that was intedned to suggest HULK would even be in the movie let alone as an avaenger.
The potential for the Hulk in the first “Avengers” movie is no way in doubt but a lot can happen in a couple of years. Heil a lot can happen on the set! Yeah some strong personalities with healthy egos are going to be vying for fame and while I won’t accuse Whedon of being a Milquetoast he may be forced to make the hard decision at some point. It’s certainly not out of bounds for things to move forward normally but as complicated as this production will be it would be rare that something didn’t go awry.
The level of Hulk’s participation in the movie has a whole range of possibility. He could appear briefly in the beginning, disappear from the story for a 105 minutes then show back up in the last few minutes of the show. We could get what everyone expects a full on participation within the story of Norton and the other team members working out their problems. They could also just mention him in passing too. Like someone accusing Stark of botching the Hulk operation. Which of course would lead to a friction scene. Favreau did an excellent job answering that question and it was no doubt anticipated, Marvel P.R. at work. With all those things in mind I believe Marvel is leaving their options open.
WE WANT HULK! WE NEED HULK!!
I don’t really understand your statement. Maybe if you would be a little more specific about what you really want. Come on, stop beating around the bush!
At least we won’t be getting a flying mouse.
Hulk needs to be a major focal point. You can use his unique situation as set up for a sequel. Maybe hes a hero in the first film and more of an antogonist in the second.
Hulk is uber important
Why is’nt anyone asking the question Can an Avengers movie really work???
A movie is very different from a comic book. Instead of getting excited why arent u fans worried??
because Marvel is doing it right by having the origin stories in individual movies leading to a ensamble movie in Avengers – as opposed to the usual jumbled mess we get where even movie sequels can’t even follow their own continuity (Xmen, Terminator, etc)
I am not worried about it because I have been dreaming about this movie since I was seven, and I want to give them a shot at making that dream come true.
I totally agree here and am super excited for this film!!
They need to bring the TEAM together. Iron Man, CAP, THOR and HULK for sure. It’s not the avengers without it or him! They need to go back to the old comics and bring about the team’s assembly and tie fury into it all! C’mon – this is to be the biggest blockbuster film of 2012 and the first film to really push the boundaries of a comic film with multiple mainstream characters together into the mix combined to fight evil !!! C’mon Marvel !!!
I just read The Avengers origin on Marvel’s website and Cap was not an original member, he was brought on board later after Hulk quit.
Looking at the films closely, there have been little hints as what they are trying to do. Go back and closely watch the opening credit sequence of the Hulk with Edward Norton. You see schematics from Stark Industries, as well as a memo from Nick Fury. Not to mention the end when Tony Stark shows up to talk to the General.
It all seems to add up to the Avengers coming together to go after the Hulk. To me, thats what’s going to tie all the stories together……