Marvel Cinematic Universe spoiler-heavy speculation thread

That would be great news if it turns out to be true.

 

You can blink and not really lose anything with Rhodes 2.0, but the Hulk/Banner is one of the most recognized/important of all Marvel characters, and so was his official introduction into the franchise. To the point, its a mess when the MCU is trying to sell itself as this fully connected universe, but The Incredible Hulk is rarely referred to at all, while all other early MCU films are in one way or another, to one degree or another.
Its almost treated as if it were some production from a different studio (e.g. the Fox Daredevil or Elektra movies). This is why I feel simple re-shoots of TIH's key moments (or what's likely to be referred to / used at any time in the future) with Ruffalo and--at least--a CG Hulk appearing closer to his Avengers version, would end any issues from the in-universe side.

Regarding the ComicBookMovie.com story: sure, if that ended up applying to the Universal matter, it would finally open the door to a solo Hulk sequel (or whatever they wanted to do with the Hulk going forward), but like many a rumor, it remains to be seen if that will ever turn into a positive for the character.

 

If I were in their shoes, as soon as I got the rights back I'd commission two or three movies/limited series for Disney+, using the 'What If' animation team and voice actors for Betty/Ross along with Ruffalo, to fill in the blanks with stories slotted in-between the Phase I-III live action films. "Here's what you COULD have had in live-action, had Universal not been so stubborn!" Not ideal, but - as with Black Widow - better late than never.

 

Some very interesting information indeed.

The old-school English speaking person in me would very much like to follow Oxford on this. But, as someone who always joked with a former co-worker on how language evolves and as you said, nothing is set in stone and in any science one should always keep in mind that new information should educate you, I will take this with me.

Perhaps I'll pull a sneaky and whenever I seen an obnoxious, toxic fan I'll use the Oxford definition and when talking about a person who has a more honest and true love of a show/movie/novel, I'll use the 'fancy' definition. It somehow feels right. For me, anyway.

Thanks for those more in depth quotes. I will admit, this was an instance where a two second google confirmed what I always thought and didn't go further. This says more about me, than anything else really.

 

And also: the sonic weapon reappeared in Civil War.

 

And Blonsky in Shang-Chi and now She-Hulk.

And 'I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out' was a reference to a deleted scene from TIH.

 

Didn't we see an alternate version the university battle in TIH in What If?

And Ms Marvel.

 

Just because they can't use actual footage from the movie doesn't mean they can't use its ideas or characters, or create alternate animated versions of that footage.

 

The Incredible Hulk at this point has more callbacks to it than The First Avenger and Thor 1 combined. I can list them all if you wouldn't just dismiss them so that you can mususe the word "mess" again.

 

You mean like that Betty Ross character--the love of Banner's life as depicted in TIH? Gee, I wonder what happened a character that central to the Hulk's story? Oh, that's right, Joe Russo provided a half-assed excuse by claiming she was a victim of the "snap", but that's not an on-screen explanation for her life post-TIH. But please, continue to think the Hulk mess was just smooth, consistent sailing all along.

As far as story points being referred to and/or carried forward, The First Avenger sprouted the Tesseract, Red Skull, Peggy Carter (and callbacks in the Agent Carter series), Super Soldier formula, Zola, Hydra (and its continued experiments in other films), Bucky's fate, Howard Carter, one of the major plots of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and on and on. That 1st Cap film was a major plot / continuity springboard for a wealth of events in many MCU productions to follow, far more than TIH.

 

Interesting idea, what if they included Betty in Age of Ultron , and gave her pretty much all of Nat’s lines with Bruce?
Have her on sight as Hulk’s handler?
Would Ultron have abducted Betty in the end?
What role would Nat then have instead to contribute to the story?

 

One, she should have been the one Fury sent to contact him in The Avengers, not Natasha. By acknowledging a major character from TIH--one who was the love of his life, it would have worked to add major level of continuity / emotional weight to one of the main Marvel characters in Banner/Hulk, built on Betty's strength / sticking it out with Banner, no matter his struggles / need to run away. That relationship was well-established in TIH, and would have built a richer Banner..

Yes, with Betty working with SHIELD as Banner's liaison and making sure Fury protected Banner from her father--all based on the continuation of their history, rather than the forced, go-nowhere Banner/Natasha "relationship".

Regarding Natasha--interesting question, as she was never developed well in her early appearances (certainly not like her male counterparts) then the Avengers films forced that "relationship" . Take that away, and it would have required a real history and purpose written for her, which was barely covered by the time The Winter Soldier was scripted.

 

He left her to live alone in British Columbia. It was right there in the movie at the end. Like how at the beginning, he left her and was alone in Rio. In Avengers he left her and was Kolkata. Natasha wanted something in Age of Ultron. And he left her to be not on this planet. Watching the movie version of the character the pattern is blindingly clear where Betty is and why. A fan wanting something to happen doesn't mean the character's path will follow that. Especially if it makes no sense for the character. And this all started right in TIH. When he left her. Again. (And if she ever did come back, hopefully a recast would have been in order as well, Liv was awful. I missed Connelly.)

Where she was during the snap was irrelevant, she wasn't part of his life anyways. "Hulk just wants to be alone" and all that.

 

The path would have been "blindingly clear", if someone would have written all of one line of dialogue about where Banner's feeling were about Betty and/or what her ultimate decision was post TIH, rather than Russo trying to Marvel-'splain her fate (i.e. the MCU never referring to / using the character again) in an interview long after her appearance.

..and "Liv was awful"--with a preference for Connelly? Yikes. There's not much from Ang Lee's film that was ever pleasing--other than the moment the end credits rolled, bringing it to its end.

 

Your line of dialogue was there, "Veronica" from Age of Ultron should have been more than enough to help us connect the dots. I like that we were actually given subtle dialogue instead of the sledgehammer people seem to need. Can't accuse the writers of not trying to pander, at least.

Jennifer Connelly, regardless of the view of the movie, is heads and shoulders a better actor than Liv Tyler. I haven't known anybody that disagrees with that until now I suppose.

Editing to add: But this last part is subjective and is just personal preference anyways, no need to get into how much better in almost every conceivable way, especially casting, the 2003 Hulk movie was to the trash that followed. Again, subjective.

 

I've always preferred Jennifer Connelly over Liv Tyler as Betty, something I always lamented back when I considered The Incredible Hulk one of the superhero films (I'll admit it doesn't quite hold up as well over the years but I still have a soft spot for it). Like you, I've always seen people feel the same way about Connelly but I guess there's always an exception.

Subtly?! How dare you, sir!

 

See, this right here is why I gave you a "like" when you first posted, but was forced to take it back.

The casting of the Ross family is the only thing that's better about the Ang Lee film.

 

Haha I allow your removal of the like!
Connelly and the legendary Elliott were so perfectly cast in my mind that anything following couldn't help but being a disappointment.

But I adore that first Hulk film. The pacing, the psychology, the cinematography, everything. Bana was a little TOO distant in his portrayal, but as a fan of the Mantlo/PAD/Jenkins run, that movie hit the Hulk sweet spot for me. While the next Hulk movie started off on the wrong foot by cribbing from Bruce Jones' run, the first time I had to stop collecting the book (my run starts at issue 5, before it became Tales to Astonish) it was just so bad.

 

So I'm not the only one who likes the first Hulk film on here? Nice.

 

The line about him feeling all of it taking over, and liking it..... I got a kick out of that.

Is it perfect? No. Nothing is. Is it a take on The Hulk I really enjoyed and should actually watch again? Very much so.