Despite the fact that characters such as the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Hulk were created by and are the intellectual properties of Marvel, Avi Arads dealings with movie studios such as 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures before the formation of Marvel Studios has caused the studio countless problems. Arads deals with these studios granted them the exclusive movie production rights to those properties in a time when every studio wanted a piece of the superhero movie pie. Because Universal Pictures own the movie production rights to the Hulk, Marvel Studios are unable to produce a solo movie for the character. This is why Marvel Studios recently struck a deal with Sony Pictures, and may be doing the same with 20th Century Fox in a bid to reacquire the movie production rights to the Fantastic Four. This is also why, a few months back, there was a rumor that Mark Ruffalo's Hulk may be appearing in next years Captain America: Civil War - as with the Avengers it seems Marvel Studios can use the character of the Hulk, but only in ensemble or group situations.
Ruffalo's appearace in the concluding part of the Captain America trilogy may have fallen through, but Deadline have confirmed an earlier rumor from JoBlo that Ruffalo's Hulk will next make an appearance in the finale of the Thor trilogy; Thor Ragnarok. Following on from the ending of Avengers: Age of Ultron which saw the Hulk leave in the Quinjet, it looks as though Marvel Studios are slowly moving toward the Planet Hulk storyline from the comics. But would Ruffalo be up for starring in a movie in which most if not all of his on screen time would be as the Hulk via performance capture, much like Zoe Saldana or Andy Serkis?
Thor: Ragnarok November 3rd, 2017
More about Thor: Ragnarok (movie)
Thor, held captive on the planet Sakaar without his hammer Mjolnir, must win a gladiatorial duel against an old friend—the Hulk—in order to return home to Asgard in time to stop the villainous Hela and the impending Ragnarok, the doom of the Asgardian civilization.
Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Ragnarok's release date is November 3rd, 2017.
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