Mark Ruffalo has been playing the role of Bruce Banner a.k.a Hulk in the MCU since The Avengers. The actor replaced Edward Norton after his appearance in The Incredible Hulk. Since then, Ruffalo has appeared in all the Avengers films, as well as Thor: Ragnarok and the Disney Plus series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
While the actor has been an irreplaceable part of the OG Avengers, he is one of the few to not receive a solo outing yet. The MCU has also not explored much more dangerous and scarier versions of the Hulk, who has gone berzerk multiple times in the comics. Fans especially want Kevin Feige to introduce Maestro, who was already seen in the game Marvel’s Avengers.
Maestro Might Just Be The Scariest Iteration of Hulk
The game Marvel’s Avengers was released in 2020 and saw the Avengers disbanding after failing to prevent a terrorist attack on ‘Avengers Day’. The aftermath of the terrorist attack also causes San Francisco to be covered in a Terrigen mist that emits radiation, causing many to develop superpowers.
The game follows Kamala Khan a.k.a Ms. Marvel, who tries to reassemble the Avengers as a company named A.I.M. rises to power amidst the post-apocalyptic scenario. The game added more storylines and characters with which players can play, including Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Iron Man, and more.
In an added storyline with Hawkeye as the playable character, Marvel’s Avengers introduces Maestro, an evil version of the Hulk who has absorbed more radiation from the mist. Maestro has been branded as the ‘Supreme Leader’ and is worshipped by A.I.M robots. Hawkeye is almost squeezed to death in the cutscene where he first meets Maestro. The latter says,
“The young Hawk arrives. Welcome to the end of the world…Puny Banner died a long time ago. There’s only the Maestro now.”
Maestro is extremely powerful in the games, resisting even the Gamma-powered arrows of Old Man Hawkeye. The monster is seen to have become more powerful by the radiation from the mist and has taken over the post-apocalyptic setting as a ruler.
Will Mark Ruffalo Get A Solo Hulk Film In The MCU?
The depiction of the Maestro in Marvel’s Avengers has only led to more excitement at the prospect of the character making an appearance in the MCU. Though Marvel President Kevin Feige has yet to announce a standalone film with Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, introducing the scariest version of the Hulk in the franchise could be great.
Ruffalo has only appeared in team-up films or has appeared as a supporting character in other solo films. Though a standalone Hulk film has been discussed multiple times, the problem that Marvel faced was that the distribution rights for the character were reportedly with Universal Pictures, which stopped them from producing a solo film (via Variety).
While the rights for The Incredible Hulk and the character returned to Disney, with the film finally being available to stream on Disney Plus, there is still no development on a solo film on the big green monster. Ruffalo recently mentioned in an interview with GQ that producing a solo Hulk film would be expensive due to the amount of CGI required,
“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!”
Though the MCU had the budget for one season of the Disney Plus series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, a film with a CGI character as the protagonist can prove to be extremely expensive. With Marvel cutting corners as they face losses due to films like The Marvels bombing at the box office, fans might not be able to see a Maestro Hulk anytime soon.
