‘Hulk’ Movie Finally in the Works at Marvel, ‘Deadpool’ Producer on Board

Marvel fans finally have a bright light at the end of a very dark, rage-filled tunnel: momentum is building at the studio for a standalone Hulk movie.

To date, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has produced exactly one standalone Hulk project, and it’s one with a big asterisk on it. The Incredible Hulk (2008) featured the only appearance of Edward Norton as Bruce Banner and has the notable position of being the second movie in the entire MCU after the first Iron Man the same year.

The movie grossed over $265 million at the box office and was generally well-received (although it has not become a cult film like the 2003 Ang Lee Hulk), but Norton quickly departed the franchise amid rumors of power struggles and was replaced by Mark Ruffalo, who has portrayed Banner/Hulk in numerous live-action and animated projects since then.

Related: Marvel Actor Refuses to Return As Hulk, Has No Plans For MCU

There has not been another Hulk standalone movie since, and for many years, it was viewed as a semi-outcast in the shared Marvel universe. More recently, however, Marvel Studios has been re-introducing elements of the film into the wider MCU nearly 20 years later.

Both Tim Blake Nelson (as Samuel Stearns, AKA the Leader) and Liv Tyler (as Betty Ross) will reprise their roles in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, while Tim Roth has already appeared as Emil Blonsky, AKA the Abomination, in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

But, still, the chances of a Hulk standalone film have been pretty slim. Mark Ruffalo went on record to state that he thinks it is basically due to the cost of CGI rendering his big green character for the full length of a film, saying, “I’d love to do a standalone Hulk, I just don’t think that’s ever going to happen…It’s very expensive if you did a whole movie, which is why they use the Hulk so sparingly. I priced myself out!”

Given the skyrocketing costs of various Marvel projects like Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) ($495 million) and The Marvels (2023) ($274 million), there might be other reasons for the lack of a standalone Hulk movie other than the price tag. It could be as simple as the lack of executive support behind a project, but that appears to have changed.

Related: Marvel Officially Downsizing, Cancels ‘Hulk’ After Bob Iger Criticism

Wendy Jacobson, a longtime producer for Dwayne Johnson and the executive producer of both She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, is throwing her weight behind a Hulk solo movie (per Inverse). In a recent interview, Jacobson was asked about the possibility of her producing a Hulk standalone and answered in the affirmative, saying:

“Absolutely! I love the Hulks. I had a great experience working on She-Hulk and I love Mark Ruffalo. He was so much fun to play with in She-Hulk. He loved being in She-Hulk and playing with that comedy side. Yeah, I would do anything with either of those characters.”

If Deadpool & Wolverine is the blockbuster that Kevin Feige hopes it will be (and it almost certainly will be), the executive producer behind the film will have a lot of sway at Marvel Studios. Maybe this will finally be the time to get Hulk 2 made.

Do you want Marvel to make another Hulk standalone movie?