Mark Ruffalo talks Hulk-sized tension between Universal and Marvel
It’s no secret at this point what keeps The Hulk from being in his own solo film, as prior deals with Universal Studios have kept the distribution rights at the studio instead of returning to Marvel. Despite the circumstances, star Mark Ruffalo has expressed an interest in pursuing the film countless times with little progress. Now, speaking with Yahoo!, Ruffalo opened up about the real issue at hand, tensions between Marvel Studios and Universal, which he hopes can change.
“Marvel and Universal famously don’t get along very well, and so that’s working against us, definitely. But I know for a fact that everyone is holding out hope that one day we can do it. But the nature of the relationship right now, it’s a little prohibitive. And I hope that that changes, that changes with regimes, it changes over the course of time. But right now it doesn’t look particularly promising.”
The outlet goes on to point out that a regime change at Sony ultimately lead to Marvel’s Spider-Man deal, prompting Ruffalo to reply:
“Yeah, I think ultimately that’s what they’re after, it working out for both sides. But like I said, Marvel and Universal are just not having a good time together right now.”
Ruffalo has starred as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in both Marvel’s The Avengers, where he replaced Edward Norton as the character, and this year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. He will next appear in Thor: Ragnarok alongside Chris Hemsworth as the God of Thunder, which he says is still in the writing stage.
“No, they’re still writing the script. That’ll start shooting this summer. In June. There’s still a lot of work to do on that.
Set to be directed by “Flight of the Conchords” and What We Do in the Shadows helmer Taika Waititi from a script by Christopher Yost (Thor: The Dark World) and Craig Kyle, Thor: Ragnarok will be released in theaters on November 3, 2017.
