The Marvel Cinematic Universe began back in 2008 and most of the franchise’s actors stuck around to play their characters again and again. However, there are some exceptions. Don Cheadle took over for Terrence Howard as James Rhodes/War Machine, but the biggest change was Bruce Banner/Hulk. Edward Norton played the character in The Incredible Hulk and was replaced by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers. Well, it turns out that Ruffalo wasn’t the only person interested in taking over the role. While discussing his new book Greenlights on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast (via /Film), Matthew McConaughey revealed that he wanted to play the part.
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When asked about his love for the character and about potentially playing the Hulk, McConaughey revealed he “wanted it.” When asked if he “threw his hat in the ring,” he said he did but was met with a “No, thank you.” Apparently, the conversation quickly shifted as it seemed to be a sensitive subject for the Oscar-winning actor. As Horowitz put it, “Can’t get’em all, I guess.”
While it’s sad McConaughey never got to live his Hulk dreams, most fans can’t imagine anyone other than Ruffalo playing the part. In fact, everyone is still waiting to hear if he’ll be reprising the role again. The actor is only officially signed on to play his character in Disney+’s upcoming animated series, What If… For now, he is not attached to any live-action films or shows, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to hang up the mo-cap suit. In fact, he previously hinted that there is a chance he’ll show up in Disney+’s She-Hulk series. He even welcomed Tatiana Maslany, who was supposedly cast in the titular role, to the family. (However, she recently denied the reports.)
Ruffalo also shared some potential standalone Hulk movie ideas. At the beginning of March, the star was in Chicago for C2E2 and talked about his character during a panel. He even revealed he’d like to make a Professor Hulk movie.
2020 now officially marks the first year since 2009 that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will have not released a new movie. Marvel’s current updated release schedule sees Black Widow dropping in theaters on May 7, 2021. It is followed by Eternals on November 5, 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on July 9, 2021, Spider-Man: Homecoming 3 on November 5, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on February 11, 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022. Disney+ recently pushed The Falcon and The Winter Soldier to 2021 but promised WandaVision would be arriving on the streaming service in 2020.
