If the screenwriters of Iron Man have their way, The Avengers could be battling a certain Green Goliath on the big screen.
Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, who are talking with Marvel Studios about tackling another mysterious property, say that everything is building toward The Hulk as misunderstood villain in the 2011 Avengers movie.
“I hope The Avengers embraces that,” Fergus tells MTV’s Splash Page. “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.”
Does that mean The Avengers and Thor films could reflect the comic-book origin of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? In September 1963’s The Avengers #1, the Norse god Loki tricked The Hulk into destroying a railroad track, which led to a response from Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
It’s unlikely we’ll see an imperiled Amtrak train in the movie — it’s a little low-end as far as disasters go — but the other elements could work. Well, mostly. Inserting mythological deities into the shared world established by Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk still poses a problem.
But considering that Edward Norton doesn’t know what the future holds for The Hulk, a role in The Avengers may be the only time in the near future that we’ll see the CG behemoth on the big screen.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I kind of assumed this would be how the movie played out, and could work even without Norton if it’s just played as the Hulk has taken over Banner.
Bringing in the Hulk was one of the main focuses of the first year or so of Avengers. Of course, the fact that Ross is locking up villains like Abomination means a breakout by the Leader is always an option too.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
The Leader as a fill-in for Loki on the mastermind role could work.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Yeah, I would assume that the Hulk should be the villain, more than likely, being manipulated by Loki.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
This is what happened in Ultimate Avengers - they fought the Hulk, then switched their focus to a more global alien threat. i watched that thinking how badly i wanted the hulk element to play out in the live-action flick too.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I’m all for a Loki-manipulated Hulk (ala Avengers #1)…as long as we don’t get Mechano the Robot Clown scene (also from Avengers #1), that is!
http://www.the-isb.com/images/Costume-Hulk.jpg
October 10th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Excellent! I agree with Bytowner that it makes sense to have The Leader in place of Loki, since The Leader was clearly alluded to with Tim Blake Nelson’s character in TIH.
Hopefully, if this happens, this will help appreciation for TIH (which seems strangely underappreciated in my mind) as it will serve as a lead-in to the Avengers flick. It also brings Hulk back without having to do an actual sequel.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Seeing that Marvel Films has been leaning more towards the Ultimate versions of the characters than the “616″ versions I think the Hulk as the villain in the Avengers film working. Banner gets locked up/recruited by Fury, works on a cure for himself, things go bad, he Hulks out, goes on a rampage and its up to the Ultima- I mean Avengers to assemble and stop him. Having the Leader or Loki as the big bad pulling the strings subtly in the shadows could lead into the sequel.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I would love it if the Hulk was the villain, but I think they’ll have someone else play that role. But going by the scene with Gen. Ross and Tony Stark, a search for Bruce Banner/Hulk plays some part of an Avengers movie.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I just want to add that I really enjoyed The Incredible Hulk, but it would have been cool to save the helicopter scene for The Avengers. I think more people should see Captain America throw Bruce Banner out of a helicopter, in order to change Banner into the Hulk.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I’d just like a Marvel movie aside from Iron Man that didn’t alienate the cast or crew so as a chance for returning to the role - otherwise I expect that cheesey soap opera VO of “The role of Bruce Banner is now being played by Don “The Dragon” Wilson” the way we’re supposed to hear it. Expect? NAY, demand!
October 10th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Just the idea of the Avengers hauling ass toward the Great White North and Banner just sitting in his cabin all ‘come and get me’ is so exciting!
October 10th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Hulk should be the “villain” in the Iron Man sequel. They already set it up with the ending of Hulk, why not continue it?
Having the Hulk being the reason the Avengers come together is a stupid stunt. The Avengers should be going after world threatening, something that would require the greatest heroes in the world to come together and work together… someone like Namor.
The Earth is 75% water and he is king of the seas, why not have that invasion that happens every 10 years from those nice folks from Atlantis? That’s a real threat that the Avengers should be handling
October 11th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
While an Atlantean Invasion would be really cool, I don’t see how having The Hulk as the villain is a “stupid stunt” when that’s the actual origin of the team.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
I think the Avengers vs the Hulk would be cool but there would have to be a villain pulling the strings. People ‘bought’ Silver Surfer, I am sure they could buy a god of mischief and a few other miscreants acting in the background…MASTERS of EVIL baby!
October 12th, 2008 at 10:37 am
“I don’t see how having The Hulk as the villain is a “stupid stunt” when that’s the actual origin of the team.”
it’s a stupid stunt in regards to the Marvel Movie universe. It’s just cashing in on something that the audience knows and wants more of instead of coming up with something fresh and new that they haven’t seen before. It’s basically like making a Rush Hour sequel.
October 13th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
“Inserting mythological deities into the shared world established by Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk still poses a problem.”
Well, that becomes an issue whether they use Loki or not, doesn’t it, considering that they’ve already announced they’re doing Thor first?
October 13th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
“it’s a stupid stunt in regards to the Marvel Movie universe. It’s just cashing in on something that the audience knows and wants more of instead of coming up with something fresh and new that they haven’t seen before. It’s basically like making a Rush Hour sequel.”
With this line of reasoning, then why bother making a Avengers movie in the first place? Why not make just make some random supergroup with all-new characters?
I know, because folks want to see the actual Avengers and if that’s what people want and expect, it only makes sense to stick with the established continuity and storyline because if they don’t, then it’s no longer “The Avengers”.