Hulk Rumors: Mark Ruffalo Says Hulk Won’t Appear Until ‘The Avengers 2,’ But Here’s Why There’s Hope For A New Movie

Many believe that while Hulk may not be in cards in the immediate future, Marvel can carefully plan out a movie starring the big green character in time for “The Avengers 3.”

“A lot of folks have been asking about the Next Hulk. The next time you see my Hulk it will be in the Avengers2. No plans for stand alone,” Ruffalo said.

The actor later clarified the statement, saying that there are no immediate plans for a Hulk movie, but there could be one in the future.

A third tweet by Ruffalo also helped reassure fans, saying “Just to be totally clear. I did not say there was not going to ever be a stand alone Hulk film. I said there wasn’t one in the works now.”

For Marvel, this makes plenty of sense, as it is in Phase two of the company's movie plans. Phase one focused on all the movies leading up to “The Avengers,” including the first two “Iron Man” movies, “Captain America” and “Thor.” The second phase of Marvel’s plans include “Iron Man 3” and “Thor: The Dark World” in 2013, followed by “Captain America: Winter Soldier” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” in 2014. All of those movies will lead into the big movie of 2015, “The Avengers 2.”

With these plans in place, as well as the introduction of Thanos in “The Avengers,” Marvel has laid out its movie plans for the next three years. It’s way too early to speculate on what Marvel does from 2015 onward, but that hasn't stopped some people from guessing what Marvel has in mind following “The Avengers 2.”

The often-reliable Latino Review claimed they had a scoop that phase three of Marvel will include a standalone Hulk movie that paves the way for “The Avengers 3,” in which the character is no longer fighting alongside his fellow superheroes but against them. Latino Review’s scoop focuses on the “Planet Hulk” and “World War Hulk” storylines, where Hulk wrongly gets kicked off of Earth and lands at a planet where he becomes king. Wanting revenge, Hulk returns with an army and The Avengers are needed, once again, to save Earth.

With Marvel needing new movies to flesh out a phase three slate of movies, focusing on a character that will be featured heavily in the first two movies of “The Avengers” series makes sense. Although Joss Whedon denied the usage of “Planet Hulk” or “World War Hulk” as possible inspirations in an interview with IGN, it’s hard to believe that Marvel will leave Hulk on the sidelines after “The Avengers 2." Denials are common in Hollywood and with three years of movies planned, along with the "S.H.I.E.L.D" television series on ABC, expect Marvel to remain quiet on a Hulk movie for the near future.