When The Avengers first came out, Mark Ruffalo surprised everyone. He brought a subtle, witty, but emotional edge that captured the essence of Bruce Banner perfectly. Sadly we haven't had any announcements about Hulk's cinematic future, unless you count the post credits scene in Iron Man 3. It's understandable why Marvel would be reluctant to make a new Hulk movie. Neither big screen takes on the character have been huge financial or critical successes, and there is a need to focus on new characters. In this article I would like to give my reasoning on why a miniseries on ABC is the best next step for the Hulk. To put into context, this hypothetical miniseries would six forty five minute long episodes on ABC released shortly after Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Getting time to explore Bruce Banner:
Hulk/Bruce Banner's biggest disadvantage as a film character is that can't really develop while he is Hulk. You just can't have a good balance of screen time between being Bruce and being Hulk in two hours. It is somewhat ironic because he is arguably the most complex avenger. With the amount of time given in a miniseries, we could actually get a full psychological exploration of Bruce Banner. With Mark Ruffalo (with help from Joss Whedon(who wouldn't be a big part of this series)I'll explain later))impressing as much as he did in the little time he had, imagine what he could do four and a half hours. I'd personally keep the supporting cast small to keep focus on Bruce, maybe one or two companion characters and one main villain.
Marvel needs to cement itself into the TV world:
I personally think the MCU is one of the most ambitious entertainment project ever, and Disney knows it needs to be bigger than just movies to be successful. One thing Disney cannot do is unleash a bunch of D-list characters shows in a short period of time, and I'm honestly kind of afraid they will if Agents of Shield is successful. It's not that these D-list characters don't deserve a chance, but Marvel needs to prove itself as a force in the tv world first. Putting Mark Ruffalo's Hulk in a miniseries would show that they are really devoted to delivering the highest quality television. Mark Ruffalo would surely have a high price tag for doing this, but it would have guaranteed great ratings. At forty five years old Mark is probably less worried about what doing tv would do to his career than some of the younger guys would be.
Guillermo del Toro:
Guillermo del Toro seems to say he is working on a new project each month, and I'm sure you all remember when he said he was making a Hulk tv show. He actually seemed fairly passionate about making this show happen, and even though this wouldn't be like the show he imagined (Bruce was in his twenties, not connected to MCU), but I think he could get on board again. This is pure speculation, but I'm guessing his vision for the show had more to do with the visual and tonal aspects of the rather than the actual story. Having del Toro on board as a godfather (like Whedon is to AoS) to this series would not only bring a creative spark, but he would also be another big name for the ever expanding MCU.
It could do so much:
The last thing I would like to talk about is how much this could do for the MCU in such a short amount of time. Most obviously, this would satisfy fan's cravings for more Hulk. It's not just CBM fans that want more Hulk, for instance Rolling Stone did a poll shortly after the Avengers came out asking readers who their favorite avenger was and Hulk came in at second. I would hope that the story would be pretty self contained, but that doesn't mean it couldn't help the MCU as a whole. The Hulk is such a powerful entity and he could play such a pivotal role if given the opportunity. Lastly, we could finally get the definitive on screen take on this very complicated character.
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