It’s been a bad day to be a superhero story on the internet. Earlier this morning the web was abuzz with news that the rights to the Fantastic Four movies were returning to Marvel Studios, in exchange for the TV rights for X-Men. This turned out to be not be true at all, and that’s the reason why we generally wait for official confirmation – or at least multiple sources – before we publish anything from the rumor mill. It saves us the trouble of retracting these the stories later.
But this one is apparently legit: The Hulk will will return to theaters as the co-star of Thor: Ragnarok, the third film in the popular Thor series. The rumor first popped up earlier this week but JoBlo now claims that Mark Ruffalo is in official talks to reprise his role, and Hollywood Reporter is confirming the news.
Related: Marvel’s Phase Two – The Hits and The Misses
The plot of Thor: Ragnarok is said to follow-up on the cliffhanger ending of Thor: The Dark World, in which Loki (Tom Hiddleston) secretly replaced Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins) as the ruler of Asgard. The story of Thor: Ragnarok will also take place largely on a new alien planet, on which Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Ruffalo) both find themselves.
Thor: Ragnarok will be directed by Taika Waititi, whose recent horror comedy What We Do in the Shadows received nearly universal acclaim.
When last we saw Thor in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he was leaving Earth to investigate the appearance of the Infinity Stones throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Meanwhile, The Hulk had mysteriously vanished after the climactic battle with Ultron.
This will, of course, be the second buddy picture featuring both The Hulk and Thor. The duo first co-starred in 1988’s live-action TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns, which was intended to be a backdoor pilot for a Thor TV series. That series never got off the ground. Maybe with good cause…
Thor: Ragnarok is due in theaters on November 3, 2017.
Photo: Marvel Studios
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
