Hulk Actor Doubts He'll Ever Return to the Role

If you were hoping to ever see a follow-up to Ang Lee's Hulk, you might not want to hold your breath. Eric Bana — the actor behind Bruce Banner in the 2003 Universal film — says he's always felt that project is best as a one-off, and never once thought he'd be back to play the role ever again. The sound bite came during an interview on Jake's Takes after Bana and entertainment reporter Jake Hamilton discussed Marvel's ever-growing multiverse.

"When I went and did that film, that was pre-Marvel Universe. That universe didn't even really exist, right? It always has felt like a one-time film for me," Bana said during the interview. "That world that you go off and do a movie and there are going to be sequels and doing it forever, that framework didn't even exist back then. The short answer is no, it never felt like something I was going to reprise or do again. I still feel after all this time, I can't see that happening."

After Bana played the character, Edward Norton assumed the role for Marvel Studios' The Incredible Hulk in 2008. Despite Norton's standalone movie taking place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the actor was recast and Mark Ruffalo has been playing the character ever since. Hulk last appeared in Avengers: Endgame and is slated to be involved in Disney+'s She-Hulk in some shape, way, or form.

All that said, rumors are aplenty about Spider-Man: No Way Home and its plot involving multiversal characters from Sony's Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man franchises, so Bana's return is something Marvel Studios could actually plausibly do. On top of that, Marvel actors have denied their returns before — including She-Hulk star Tatiana Maslany.

"That actually isn't a real thing and it's like a press release that's gotten out of hand. It's totally not — I've been connected to these things in the past and press has gotten onto it, but it's not actually a thing, unfortunately," she explained. "Yeah, I don't know how these things get—I don't know, I don't know. You know better; I have no idea."

Hulk (2003) is streaming on fuboTV & Showtime.

If Banner happens to ever get a solo movie once again, who would you like to see helm it? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things Marvel!