Discuss: Should Hulk be the Villain in the Avengers Movie?

Posted by Conrad Rothbaum (conrad@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 15, 2008

Hulk vs. Iron Man

Ever since Marvel decided to branch out, it appears that cross pollination has been #1 on their agenda. With Iron Man containing a Nick Fury cameo (Samuel L. Jackson, no less) after the credits, and The Incredible Hulk containing a Tony Stark cameo before the credits, we can see the bricks being laid in the foundation of an Avengers movie. Soon after, Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor and of course, The Avengers were all given release dates. It would not be out of line to assume that they will all tie into each other.

That said, it was very interesting to hear from MTV’s Splash Page that Iron Man writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby would like to see the Hulk take the role of a misunderstood villain in the Avengers movie. In Fergus’ words:

“You don’t want like 10 super-badass good guys fighting together. Where’s the fun in that? Let’s break it off a little. Friends or colleagues who become enemies is always an interesting thing because you know it’s based on love and friendship and that’s always the worst thing to have turn bad — is someone you actually care about and someone you actually believe in.”

Fergus’ words take on more meaning knowing that he and Ostby are penning another as-yet-unannounced Marvel movie. Louis Letterier, director of The Incredible Hulk, is not opposed to The Hulk as a bad guy either. Do you recall the last shot of Edward Norton in Hulk, with his ambiguous grin underneath glowing green eyes?

Letterier:

“I left the door open for whoever’s going to direct ‘The Avengers’ with our last shot. Edward [Norton] and I, we consciously decided to make the last shot of the movie when he opens his eyes and he smirks at the camera,” Leterrier told us. “Is he enjoying it? Is he malicious?”

It is also interesting to note that in the first volume of The Ultimates (the recent Millar/Hitch comic book reboot of the Avengers), the Hulk plays the role of the villain in the team’s first big battle in Times Square.

This vast network of Marvel tie-in movies gets me excited—I hope the stories they tell weave into each other not just plot-wise, but with characterization. Is that too much to ask for? I hope not.

Are you interested to see Hulk square off against Captain America, Thor and Iron Man? If not, who do you think would be a good foil for the team?

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Davebaxter1989

Yes yes and yes again!

I mean how can they have the Hulk with the Avengers on the big screen and have it make sense ALSO it means that we don't need Ed Norton. Now don't get me wrong I'd love to have him back but it doesn't seem likely so just keep him as the Hulk throughout due to some sort of massive breakdown. Plus bringing in a villain for just that movie isn't nearly as compelling as this would be.

Warhead

I want the Ultimates to be the basis for the Avengers movie... it could be fantastic

Smurf

Hulk should definitely not be a good guy in the movie. Hulk is boring as a gentle green giant, he's only entertaining when he's just as likely to smash Captain America as he is to fight the bad guys, making people legitimately scared of him. He also should not be the main villain. Nothing would be worse than a big CG Hulk talking about his evil master plan. Hulk smashes and that's pretty much it. You can't make an entire movie about the Avengers trying to get Hulk to stop smashing. It would be cool to watch that for like a half hour though while the rest of the plot gets moving.

k(Black)

YES! This is true old-school

Reg

I dunno you guys but I agree with 'SMURF'. He made a point that I cannot see HULK being a mastermind of an evil plot or reaking havok smashing all the time anywhere else. They need to fuel the the storyline with something. I would love to see something outside the comicbook itself than adapting the Ultimates storyline. Also I would like to see other Marvel characters cameoin in the Avengers movie. That'll be KICK-ASS!!

Gavgoyle

YES! I don't see a villain that people could get behind so quickly as a rampaging Hulk.

Simon

Sounds like a great Idea, The hulk is not exactly the sharpest tool in the box though is he!, If he does go on the rampage then there would have to be a mastermind behind the scenes orchestrating his actions. He's simple and susceptible to suggestion like in Vol 2:Homeland Security when Captain America lies to the Hulk about the Alien protagonist being 'all over Betty' whiles hes been away - knowing full well the Hulk will tear the Alien a new one.

Davebaxter1989

@ Simon

How about the Leader behind the scenes? He was well introduced in The Incredible Hulk.

Conrad Rothbaum

I'd say it's a really good chance the The Ultimates will be the basis for the forthcoming
marvel movies... How crazy was it to see Hitch's Fury almost literally come to life on screen?

There's a lot of material to be tapped there-- especially with Thor, though I don't expect
hardcore Thor fans will welcome the hippie-activist version of Thor.

astroblack

I wouldn't mind the Hulk as the villain at all. Just make him misunderstood and not evil. And like Smurf said, him as the primary villain wouldn't be good at all..

Maybe since the FF4 movies are good as dead now they can bring in Dr. Doom as the main villain and make him the bad-ass he should've originally been. I don't know about you guys, but I would love to see the Avengers battle Doom at his full potential. Throw in a little off-screen intel assistance from Mr. Fantastic and we could have a very interesting movie on our screens.

Discuss: Should Hulk be the Villain in the Avengers Movie?

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