Dear MARVEL, Where's my HULK movie?

Dear Marvel,

Where’s my Hulk movie?

Like every other Marvel fan, your Phase 3 announcements  got me really excited to see more characters like Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Dr. Strange working their way to the big screen. And I’m starting to really look forward to Ant Man, too! But there was something big missing from your lineup.

Why isn’t Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk getting a standalone movie?

Iron Man has three… Captain America and Thor both have two with more on the way… So why is Hulk left with just one movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Even The Fantastic Four (a franchise that seemed to go out of its way to destroy your reputation – twice!) is getting a reboot, while the Hulk remains a sixth (seventh?) of the Avengers team?

From worst to best: Hulk 2003/The Incredible Hulk 2008/ The Avengers 2012

I know you’ve been down this road before. 2008’s The Incredible Hulk seems to have become the forgotten cousin in the Marvel family – probably because Ed Norton never carried over his role as Bruce Banner into the Avengers. And it wasn’t the best movie – not bad, but only okay. So, aside from Tony Stark showing up in the post credits sequence, it’s hard to even consider The Incredible Hulk as part of Phase 1.

And we both know that 2003’s Hulk was an abomination (see what I did there?). But it’s been over 10 years now… We’ve healed. And The Avengers played a big part in that.

In a way, the first Avengers film was the Hulk movie fans like me had been waiting for. Here was Mark Ruffalo, a talented, likable actor who could shift between high drama, action, and comedy with ease. Joss Whedon’s writing and directing not only made Bruce Banner into a dynamic and watchable character, but it made the Hulk into a real character! This Hulk didn’t just smash; He was a team member AND made jokes! Finally, we have a Hulk with some personality and great a actor playing him, too!

In other words, all of the important ingredients are there. And there are plenty of other stars to call upon to help bolster the film, too. We already know that Iron Man will factor heavily into Captain America: Civil War. A new Hulk movie would give you the chance to give existing Marvel characters a bigger piece of the spotlight – like Hawkeye, Black Widow, War Machine – or just get Samuel L. Jackson to show up. He’s in everything anyway.

Or you could take a celebrated storyline like Planet Hulk and take the character in a direction we’ve never seen in a live-action movie before.

The bottom line is you have a great character being played by a great actor, and they both deserve the chance to go solo one more time. Hell, if the Fantastic Four can do it, Hulk can too.

Do you want to see Mark Ruffalo get his own Hulk movie? Comment! Share! Smash stuff!