With Hulk struggling to make as much of a name for himself in the MCU as many of his Avengers cohorts, I’m more fascinated than ever by the live-action Hulk movie that never got made from the 1990s. Bruce Banner’s MCU career has largely taken place in Avengers movies or solo projects of other characters like his cousin, Jennifer Walters, or his more fleshed-out Avengers co-founder, Thor. I’m at least hopeful about Hulk’s MCU future now that his son, Skaar, teases another Hulk adventure down the line – but I also won’t hold my breath.

Unfortunately, it is hard to look past the fact that Hulk was the star of the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie for 15 years before that undesirable accolade was awarded to The Marvels in 2023. The $266 million worldwide gross was just $20 million more than the last time Hulk was adapted into live-action in 2003’s Hulk. I don’t (or, at least, I refuse to) think for a minute that this is because Hulk is uninteresting to casual audiences, but after learning about the fever dream that was an earlier Hulk adaptation, I now can’t help but wonder if it would have fared better.

There Were Plans For A Different Hulk Movie That Never Came To Pᴀss

It Involved Mutated Insect People

In the late 1990s, Universal Studios picked Armageddon and The Rock writer Jonathan Hensleigh to make his directorial debut with a live-action adaptation of the Hulk. At the time, the superhero genre was dominated by DC’s Batman franchise, with 1995’s Batman Forever and 1997’s Batman & Robin only helping to sour sentiments surrounding the genre. Nevertheless, for all the criticism received by each for their ostentatious character designs and color palettes, it seemed Universal Studios was willing to follow suit with their Hulk concept.

The project developed far enough for a script to be penned and prosthetics made for what was sure to be a wild use of creative license. Running roughshod over Bruce Banner’s comic book origins, the movie would have seen Banner working to send humanity to Mars. When faced with the issue of extreme climate, he decides to experiment on some death row inmates with gamma-irradiated insects, hoping to turn them into Hulk-like beasts that could withstand the trip. Unsurprisingly, this leads to his own transformation into the Hulk and a brawl with the Hulk-like monstrosities he helped to create.

While such a brazen contradiction of Bruce Banner’s sacrosanct comic book origins would never fly today, Hensleigh and Universal appeared prepared to go all-in on the concept, if the video above is anything to go by. The impressive animatronics can be seen depicting Bruce’s transformation into the Hulk in real-time, while a towering robot with giant hands (presumably intended to be covered in prosthetic flesh) would have been quite the spectacle had Universal not ultimately opted for a more CGI-heavy route in Ang Lee’s Hulk several years later.

Why The Plans For The Hulk Movie Never Got Used

The Original Hulk Concept Was Ultimately Too Expensive

Ultimately, the original Hulk movie was canned, despite Universal dropping $20 million of the $100 million budget on the project, according to Variety. This was reportedly part of the issue, as Universal Studios pulled the plug on the project in 1998, citing financial concerns. At the time, a spokesperson insisted that the studio hadn’t given up on the project, but that it was instead being put “on the back-burner for awhile [sic].” Almost three decades later, this doesn’t seem to have held up.

At least, not in the sense that Hensleigh’s script was used. After several years of reworks, Universal’s Hulk movie eventually morphed into the more toned-down, Greek tragedy-inspired story that was released in 2003, starring Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. I’m tentatively happy that this was the result, as Hulk is now a prime example of a superhero movie sleeper hit and focused a lot more on Bruce Banner’s tortured psyche and his fraught relationship with his father. Nevertheless, I can’t help but wonder about what might have been.

It’s Fascinating To Imagine What The Unused Plans For The Hulk Movie Could Have Been Like If They Had Been Used For A Finished Movie

Hulk Fighting Giant Insencts Just Sounds Fun

While I am ultimately glad that this more “mad scientist” version of Bruce Banner was never adapted, I am still curious about the giant bugs concept. Avengers: Age of Ultron tackled a version of Bruce Banner who has to wrestle with another destructive creation (outside of the Hulk himself, that is), and it was one of his most compelling arcs in the MCU. Abomination was more of an indirect result of his experimentations, but there’s no doubt that giant, rampaging bugs would make for a similar, or even greater, spectacle.

Unfortunately, given that this early draft of a Hulk movie isn’t exactly widely publicized or well known within the superhero genre zeitgeist, there is little reason for the MCU to pay homage to the unused concepts within this script. Still, if the MCU does decide to reintroduce the Savage Hulk persona, I see no reason why gamma-infused beasts couldn’t be a part of the agenda, given that Hulk’s blood has already been the root cause of many Hulks within the MCU.

Source: Variety