When Ang Lee’s Hulk hit theaters in 2003, the superhero movie genre was still finding its footing. The film joined a small but growing group of early 2000s titles, including Blade, X-Men, Spider-Man, and Daredevil, that were paving the way for the Marvel Cinematic Universe we know today.
Eric Bana starred in Hulk at the time, and despite doing respectable box office, earning $245 million worldwide, the film remains a disappointment in the eyes of many. Although Bana received critical acclaim for his performance, he never starred in a sequel nor another superhero movie ever again.
However, with the multiverse being the rage and so the upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine having so many rumored cameos, is there any chance that Bana has changed his mind and might actually return to the silver screen as Bruce Banner?
Bana has outright rejected the idea of reviving his take on the Hulk, stating in a recent interview that he “can’t see” himself reprising the role of Bruce Banner, even in major crossover events like Avengers: Secret Wars or the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine film.
“I can’t see that happening. I’m sorry, Jess,” Bana said in a new interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show. “Hugh’s a very close friend of mine…still can’t see that happening.”
In the same interview, Bana was asked to reflect on what drew him to Hulk in the first place – was it the opportunity to work with renowned director Ang Lee, or the chance to portray the Marvel superhero?
“A hundred percent. Yes,” Bana added. “At first, I was like, ‘No way. It’s not my kind of bag. I don’t think this is me,’ and then we thought more and more about it, and I just, because also I didn’t have a script when I said yes, so I was like, ‘Well, what’s this gonna be like?’ so I really, really was putting all my chips in the Ang Lee basket on that film.”
“I knew was it’s gonna be very, very different, and also, back then, it wasn’t a thing. The Marvel universe hadn’t started yet.”
Bana also acknowledged that the landscape of superhero filmmaking was quite different back when he took on the role of the Hulk, with the concept of interconnected cinematic universes not yet established.
Bana said, “You didn’t go and do those films thinking you were gonna do more than one movie. That paradigm didn’t exist, so you’re right. It was very, very much driven by wanting to work with someone like Ang.”
