As fate would have it, the rumor mill was sent into overdrive just a few days ago when a rumor claimed that Marvel Studios were so deep into developing an adaptation of classic comic book storyline World War Hulk that production was set to begin well before the end of 2022.
Of course, we’ve heard this exact line of inquiry many times before and nothing’s ever come of it, while the same could also be said of Planet Hulk. Admittedly, elements of the latter served as the basis for Bruce Banner’s role in Thor: Ragnarok, but it turns out that Kevin Feige had Joss Whedon change the ending of Avengers: Age of Ultron so fans wouldn’t be under the impression it was happening after the second all-star ensemble movie.
In new book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe via ComicBook, it’s revealed that Feige never had any intention of bringing Planet Hulk to the big screen, so Whedon was ordered to make the big guy’s exit from Age of Ultron a little more ambiguous.
“We never even considered doing Planet Hulk because, as cool as we thought the comic was, Bruce Banner is not a part of Planet Hulk. I went, ‘Joss, we can’t do this. People are going to think we’re doing Planet Hulk‘.”
Instead, the Hulk simply vanished with no confirmation as to where he’d taken the Quinjet, but in a delicious slice of irony, where was he the very next time we saw him in Ragnarok? Living as a hero and gladiator on Sakaar, of course.