Hulk Hogan Explains His Trademark Battle With Marvel Comics

Hulk Hogan’s trademark issues with Marvel Comics back in the 1980s are well-documented. The former WWF Champion and the WWF was accused at the time of having a name and persona that was too similar to The Incredible Hulk, leading to a 20-year deal where Marvel had the ownership of various trademarks related to Hogan and would earn money off of his merchandise, his matches and earnings he made under the Hogan name. In a new interview with Theo Von, Hogan explained how legal issues with Marvel popped up again in 2005, eventually resulting in him buying the name rights to “Hulk Hogan,” “Hulkamania” and “Hulkster” all for less than a million dollars. 

“Right when Hulk Hogan takes off, we get a call from Marvel Comics. ‘You’re infringing on our mark. Reasonably similar. We’re going to sue you, put you in litigation.’ We let them have the name, didn’t license the name. I only had to pay them one-tenth of 1%. That went from 1985 to 2005. In 2005, it’s over. Now, I can’t use Hulk Hogan anymore, and I’m red hot in 2005,” Hogan said (h/t Fightful). “I went to my attorney, ‘I don’t give a damn what deal you make, you’re going to make a deal because I need the name.’ What happened was, I got a one-year extension and I had to pay them 30% of everything I made. Movies, TV wrestling, they got 30% of everything, but if they decided to sell the name, they had to give me first shot at it. They couldn’t sell the name or do anything. Fair market value.”

How Hulk Hogan Bought His Name Rights From Marvel Comics

“All of a sudden, Marvel Comics gets in a b—fest with WWE about intellectual properties, that they can’t re-air old Hulk Hogan matches. Marvel Comics lost. They owe Vince $35 million. They made a huge mistake. They said, ‘Instead of paying $35 million, how about we give you the Hulk Hogan name.’ I heard about it and went, ‘You screwed up now.’ Now, I don’t have to pay $35 million for the name, you have to sell it for me for fair money value,’ which is only $750 grand. I bought the name back. Vince wanted to buy the name from me. ‘Nah, I got this one.’ I bought the name back and I own everything,” Hogan added. 

While he’s teased the idea of getting back in the ring for WWE a number of times, Hogan hasn’t wrestled a match since January 2012 in Impact Wrestling. The 12-time world champion was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice — once in 2005 and again in the Class of 2020 as a member of the New World Order. 

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