Mark Ruffalo
Actor Mark Ruffalo, pictured here speaking at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Conversations Series in New York on Dec. 1, 2015 recently shared some details about the Hulk's future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Getty

With the new year approaching and another crop of Marvel movies scheduled to hit theaters by the end of 2016, many fans are turning to one of the franchise’s biggest, not to mention greenest, superhero in the hopes of seeing a standalone film with him. Despite fan’s desire to see Mark Ruffalo suit up in another solo “Hulk” movie, the actor admits that such a project isn’t likely to come together at any point in the near future.

Hulk, starring Edward Norton as the title character, had his own standalone movie in 2008, just after the first “Iron Man” movie but well before the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was a reality. Although it doesn’t come up much, that movie exists within the MCU canon and fans just have to accept that Ruffalo and Norton are the same person. However, that film was kind of a one off given that the rights to any solo Hulk film belong to Universal Pictures, which doesn’t have a stellar relationship with Marvel Studios.

“I think they’ve been working on it. Marvel and Universal famously don’t get along very well, and so that’s working against us, definitely,” Ruffalo told Yahoo Movies. “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.”

Unfortunately it seems as though the actor’s potential for a “Hulk” movie is tied up in legal squabbles between the two movie studios. However, that doesn’t prohibit the character from tagging along on another superhero’s solo adventure. It was previously reported by Entertainment Weekly that Ruffalo’s Hulk will be joining the God of Thunder, Thor, in his upcoming 2017 film “Thor: Ragnarok.” With the character’s whereabouts left uncertain following the conclusion of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” many are wondering what circumstances will bring the two heroes together in the third “Thor” film.

Speaking to Ain’t It Cool News about the upcoming movie, the actor revealed some details about how the story will pick back up with Hulk and Bruce Banner when the film kicks off. In short, he teased a bit more of an intelligent monster as his consciousness continues to blend with Banner’s.

“It’s very subtle, but the Banner/Hulk consciousness is beginning to meld a little bit. Who decided to leave? Was it Banner or Hulk? It’s not really in the (cinematic) mythology of Hulk up until that moment to be that conscious and pro-active. It’s interesting, right?”

After being the victim of mind control in “Age of Ultron,” Hulk goes on a rampage through a major city. With the world calling for his arrest, the hero steals a jet and flies off into the sunset at the end of the movie. He does so as his green and muscle-bound hero persona, prompting many to believe that the monster has taken over permanently. Unfortunately, it looks like fans will have to wait until “Ragnarok” hits theaters on Nov. 3, 2017 to find out what’s happening with the Hulk for sure.

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