Hulk is back home. 2008’s ‘Incredible Hulk‘s distribution right is now reverted back to Marvel Studios. Since its release, ‘The Incredible Hulk‘ has not had any sequel, but with Marvel getting back its rights, hopefully, the Jade Giant will get another movie of his own.
During the early period of Marvel Studios, ‘The Incredible Hulk’ was the second MCU movie after 2008’s ‘Iron Man‘, distributed by Universal Studios which continued to hold the distribution rights. Later in 2009, Disney purchased the distribution rights. Here’s everything to know about Marvel winning back the rights and the upcoming possibility of ‘The Incredible Hulk‘ sequel.
Read more: What Is World War Hulk? Why Is Marvel Planning A Movie On This Version?
Hulk’s Movie Rights Reverting Back To Marvel
As per the deal with Marvel and Universal, the latter had the right to distribute any movie produced by Marvel as long as the Hulk was starring in it. This basically meant that Universal would get a larger sum of profits if Marvel were to produce any solo featured movie with Bruce Banner in the lead. This resulted in sidelining Hulk in the MCU, while all the other Avengers were given the center stage.
According to a 2006 SEC filling, Universal agreed to distribute The Incredible Hulk and any sequels under the same terms as Marvel’s deal with Paramount, its other distributor at the time: “Universal Studios has agreed to distribute Marvel’s film The Incredible Hulk and sequels on essentially the same terms as those on which Paramount has agreed to distribute the other films financed and produced under the film facility.”
However, Paramount laid out the terms of distribution within an initial 15-year period. So as per the SEC filing, the distribution rights for ‘The Incredible Hulk’ would revert back to Marvel in June of 2023 as the movie was released on June 2008.
In case you missed: ‘DC’s Chance To Shine’: Marvel, Netflix, HBO Universal And More Say No To San Deigo Comic-Con
Marvel’s Rights Over The Hulk
It is important to understand that even though Marvel did not possess any distribution rights, it still had rights over the character. This is because Hulk is the intellectual property of Marvel. Since 2006, Marvel has owned the cinematic rights to the character, and that’s the reason why Bruce Banner has been featured in many different MCU movies since 2008.
It was only the distribution rights that Marvel didn’t hold. But this wasn’t what happened to other Marvel characters upon Disney’s acquisition of Marvel. While Disney bought the distribution rights to Marvel movies from Paramount Pictures, Universal retained the distribution rights to The Hulk.
You would also like to read: Which Role Is Ben Affleck Playing In ‘Deadpool 3’?
