1. They've Tried & Failed Before
Not that this should stop anybody else from ever trying to make a standalone Hulk movie, of course, because - trust me - I'd love to see a truly great adaptation as much as any dedicated Marvel fan might. But when you consider that the two most recent (and very different takes) on the Hulk exposed many of the narrative problems tied to the character at large, it doesn't look particularly hopeful for any future installments, Mark Ruffalo or not. I say that without an ounce of cynicism, I assure you: I'm considering it purely from writing point of view. And the proof is in the pudding, to be fair. Ang Lee went all existential, because he, too, saw the difficulty in crafting a story that played to the Hulk's strengths as a character
driving the action: he put the battle in Banner's head. And what happened? Fans weren't impressed: they wanted more smashing, and much, much less talk. In the Edward Norton-led version, director Louis Leterrier tried to encompasses both aspects. He opted for safer ground, crafting what was essentially an action movie, with a few broody moments thrown in for good measure. This didn't entirely pay off either: what we got was a close to bland and relatively uninteresting take on the Hulk character, and one that didn't manage to excite fans in the same way that, say, the first
Iron Man movie
did. As I mentioned in the introduction, I'm not totally sure that these directors are really the ones at fault. The Hulk is the real problem. Sure, we all want to see a great standalone movie because we feel as though this iconic character deserves one, but we should also consider a couple of things first: is it the
right thing to do? Is there genuinely a
way to do it? Or are we just kidding ourselves into thinking that such a thing is even possible?
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