I still can’t get over the Hulk being in all of the MCU‘s top 5 box office hits bar one, despite the hero being considerably sidelined by Marvel’s movie empire for the past decade or two. While the Hulk has gotten some notable screentime in the MCU timeline since the franchise began, the path this has taken has been majorly different compared to almost every other major MCU hero.
Despite being a core component of the early MCU – and a key member of the original MCU Avengers team – the franchise has shied away from giving the Hulk his own movie series. That said, the Hulk has still paradoxically had some big film successes in this time, though this to some degree only highlights the unused potential of the major Marvel hero.
The Hulk Is In Every One Of The MCU’s Top 5 Movies Other Than Spider-Man: No Way Home
Though The Incredible Hulk is one of Marvel’s lowest-grossing movies of all time, Bruce Banner and his green berserker counterpart have played roles in almost all of the MCU’s top box office releases, despite the character having only had one solo story of his own.
Over the course of 13 years, the Hulk’s roles in The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame have netted the goliath a $7.5 billion box office history by themselves, and mean that the only installment the Hulk hasn’t appeared in within the MCU’s top 5 box office results is that of Spider-Man: No Way Home, though Peter and the Hulk are set to cross paths in its follow-up, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
A character being in so many $1b+ hits without a major film success of their own shows how big the Avengers movies have been, but also goes to highlight just how much of a missed opportunity it is that the MCU hasn’t been able to make more Hulk movies, given so many of its biggest and best films set up the character’s story and further establish audience interest in the Hulk.
The Hulk’s MCU Movie Track Record Makes The Hero’s Movie Journey Feel Even Wilder
The Hulk’s semi-tumultuous place in Marvel’s on-screen landscape – which has involved a complicated history when it comes to the character’s movie rights, and a track record of films with less than staggering box office results – means it’s not hard to understand the reasons the MCU may have shied away from providing more releases focused solely on the Hulk and his story.
However, given the popularity of the character in the comics and on-screen, this concept can often feel more than a little surreal, especially after looking at how many of the MCU’s biggest movies the Hulk played a role in, and subsequently how much the potential of another solo installment was set up, as there were many Hulk storylines that could have easily been their own film, and audiences had become more likely to see such a film due to the years spent developing the MCU’s iteration of the hero.
Given Robert Downey Jr’s return for Avengers: Doomsday suggests the MCU is hoping to be able to still lean back on the earlier era of the franchise for its future successes, it will be interesting to see whether things are ever set up for the Hulk to once again take center stage in another film of his own. For now, though, the Hulk‘s future seems to be one that will continue in future crossover releases.