Before the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, Marvel Studios had a little Hulk problem. Despite the popularity of the larger-than-life character, amongst the rest of the Avengers with the likes of Iron-Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, the mean, green, rampaging machine was not able to get a standalone movie since the late noughties’ The Incredible Hulk due to Universal Pictures owning the distribution rights to a solo film with the character.
For a while, there have been rumors cropping up across the horizon of a World War Hulk movie being under development. The season finale of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law may have laid the groundwork for such a major blockbuster movie to happen and according to The Direct, it does sound promising.
As per Wall Street analyst, Jason Bazinet in a column in The Wrap, it was stated Disney could be in the process of obtaining the film distribution rights to the Incredible Hulk and Namor in exchange for the sale of their 67% stake in Hulu. The likely candidate to purchase their stake right now is Comcast which owns NBC Universal the rights holder of those respective IPs.
“Everything is on the table right now, so I am not going to speculate whether we are a buyer or a seller of [Hulu]. But I obviously have suggested that I’m concerned about undifferentiated general entertainment, particularly in the competitive landscape that we are operating in, and we are going to look at it very objectively and expansively.”
What does this mean for Hulk on the big screen?
Universal’s hold on the distribution rights of Hulk and Namor never stopped Disney/Marvel from borrowing the use of said characters hence Namor being in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Hulk being in the Avengers films and Thor: Ragnarok with the caveat that no solo films centered on them are permitted She-Hulk was an exception in that it was a limited series for Disney’s over-the-top platformer and not a standalone movie.
If the sale were to go through, it would mean a win-win for both media corporations. Not only NBC Universal will see an increased market share with Hulu sporting over 48 million subscribers as of January in comparison to Peacock’s 20 million, Disney through Marvel Studios will be able to distribute a solo Hulk project without any legal red tape.
However, the transaction process regarding the deal would still take some time and will need to be negotiated and once it goes through, a World War Hulk movie will be years in the making.
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