It's easy to forget now, but The Incredible Hulk was right there alongside Iron Man in 2008 when the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched. The movie was neither a hit nor a flop, but given the tepid response to the reboot and behind-the-scenes issues with actor Edward Norton, it soon became the franchise's black sheep.
Rights issues also came into play and it wasn't until 2022's She-Hulk: Attorney at Law that The Incredible Hulk was referenced in a meaningful way (next up is The Leader's return in February's Captain America: Brave New World).
There have been rumblings for at least the past year or two about a World War Hulk - or Hulks - movie being in development at Marvel Studios. There's no way we'll see that before Avengers: Secret Wars and a new rumour points to there being other plans for the Jade Giant moving forward.
According to scooper @MyTimeToShineH, Marvel Studios has begun actively developing a Hulk vs. Wolverine movie.
There's no word on what form this project will take or which Variants of these characters we can expect to see square off. It could be another Multiversal adventure starring Hugh Jackman and Mark Ruffalo, for example, or perhaps a story set in whatever the MCU looks like after the supposed soft reboot Secret Wars will lead to.
If it's the latter, then we might see a new actor play Wolverine, with Hulk factoring into his origin story similar to their first clash in the comics (Logan, then working for Department H, battled the Green Goliath during his first appearance in 1974's Incredible Hulk #180).
For what it's worth, Jackman has been rooting for this team-up since at least 2014. "There's no doubt he'd get in a fight with Hulk at some point," the actor said at the time. "Those two bad, rage-filled characters are going to square off at some point. It would be quite fun."
"I don't know how much fun to shoot it would be because I'm sure I'd be on the worst end of it, but hey, he can heal."
In 2020, he added, "Wolverine would beat [The Hulk] for sure let’s just be very clear. I don’t know if you know this but The Wolverine actually appeared first in a Hulk comic. He was like a last page, some guy coming so it was The Hulk series he appeared so that’s sort of where that feud came from and then Wolverine sort of took on this whole life so I’m sure The Hulk is very jealous."
Deadpool & Wolverine teased that clash but it seems Marvel Studios might be saving the full fight for its own movie somewhere down the line...