'Thor: Ragnarok' Producer Addresses "Planet Hulk" Rumors
When footage first hit of Hulk in gladiatorial armor, the thinking immediately went to the 'Planet [...]
When footage first hit of Hulk in gladiatorial armor, the thinking immediately went to the "Planet Hulk" storyline. While Thor: Ragnarok will have pieces of it, there are reasons why the full storyline is not being explored.
"Planet Hulk" has become a fan-favorite Marvel Comics storyline, and the creators of Thor: Ragnarok were certainly cognizant of it during the production of the film.
"I mean, it was a very early idea. In the earliest development of Thor, we were looking at "Planet Hulk" as inspiration," producer Brad Winderbaum told ComicBook.com on the set. "Maybe not even to integrate the Hulk into the franchise but the idea of a planet where there's gladiatorial games as being a Thor predicament. It really was a cool idea to us."
The "Ragnarok" storyline in the comics does not include Hulk, and vice versa "Planet Hulk" does not include Thor. Both plots though are rather, well, complicated to pull off in a matter of two hours faithfully. It became evident early on that the film was taking a slightly different path, so why not take the best parts from each?
"Somewhere in the early conversations, when it looked like it was going that way, it was a no-brainer," said Winderbaum. "It actually started off as like, '…could we have Hulk in there too?' And then as soon as that spark ignited, it ignited kind of an idea machine. And suddenly [Hulk] was married to the plot."
"Planet Hulk" just doesn't seem to fit with what the MCU has built thus far. In the comics, the Illuminati gets together and decides the world would be better without the random fits of the Hulk. They put him on a ship and send him to a supposed paradise planet, but he gets derailed and lands on the planet Sakaar. There he ends up in the arena, but ultimately takes over the planet as ruler and gains a wife and new allies.
It would also be natural to assume that after those events, the next Hulk film would be the "World War Hulk" arc, but Marvel has already said that would be a waste of Rufallo's talents. That storyline has very little of Bruce Banner, and again, the foundation hasn't really been set for that kind of animosity between Hulk and his fellow Avengers.
Marvel is intent on giving fans the best of both worlds as they lead into Avengers: Infinity War, and it seems like the right call.
Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters on November 3rd.
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