Below, is the timeline on the development of the Hulk television show from director Guillermo del Toro, David Eick and Jeph Loeb. Recently, The Playlist had a minor update from del Toro that you can read at the end.
October 2010 - Gullermo del Toro's rumored interest first reported
November 2010 - The news was confirmed by Deadline
June 2011 - del Toro confirms that an outline was turned in to ABC in May
July 2011 - del Toro states that he's drawing heavily from the comic books for inspiration for the show and that he's working with Hulk writer and Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb
August 2011 - del Toro reiterates that the television series will have NO connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Paul Lee, Entertainment President for ABC says that they could have a pilot as early as next year.
September 2011 - It's rumored that the Red Hulk or 'Rulk' will be the main antagonist of the show.
October 2011 - Loeb states that the Hulk in the television show will resemble Mark Ruffalo's Hulk in The Avengers 'as much as possible.'
November 2011 - del Toro says he's delivered a screenplay to the network and he knows how he wants to proceed, he's just waiting on a greenlight. Loeb says that Betty is a big part of the show and so is the love story between her and Banner. He also claims that the show WILL BE SET BEFORE the movie and that they'll use make-up and costumes rather than motion-capture and CGI.
- Paul Lee (ABC) again says they hope the show will be ready for airwaves next year. Later that month, Marvel's The Avengers is released, Hulk steals the show.
July 2012 - del Toro announces that ABC is looking for a new writer
August 2012 - del Toro announces that a writer has been found and that it's a very recognizable name, however the writer's schedule is currently full and they have to wait for it to clear up. Later this month, a S.H.I.E.L.D. series was announced for pilot by Joss Whedon.
October 2012 - del Toro reveals some skepticism about the project moving forward but says he still wants to direct the pilot if the show moves forward. Later that month, the director says the show is inactive.
November 2012 - del Toro is rumored to helm a Justice League Dark movie for Warner Brothers.
January 2013 - del Toro reveals that the Justice League Dark film, now titled
Heaven Sent Dark Universe is currently negotiating with a screenwriter. del Toro reveals that after The Avengers, there's been complete 'radio silence' between himself and Marvel.
"I had one more meeting after 'Avengers' with Jeph Loeb from Marvel and he said, 'We're working on it, we're waiting for a writer,' he gave me the name of the writer and their resume and I said, 'That sounds great, let's wait for him' because we had delivered a teleplay and I haven't heard since then." There's currently speculation that the popularity of the Hulk in The Avengers may have killed the chances of the show as the studio may look to try one more time with a Hulk film. Coincidentally, Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot will begin shooting sometime later this month.
So there's the rundown. Things appear to have become murky after the release of The Avengers and it honestly seems unlikely that the show will be moving out of perpetual development anytime soon. It's even more telling that the S.H.I.E.L.D. show, first announced less than 5 months ago, is reportedly shooting its pilot sometime this month. Still, there's always the chance of another movie or at the very least, he could feature heavily in one of the solo films for Captain America, Thor, Iron Man or some other Marvel character.
Also, this because it's cool.
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