'Thor: Ragnarok' is an upcoming action-adventure and fantasy film starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Jaimie Alexander and Cate Blanchett. New reports state that Ruffalo's Hulk and Hemsworth's Thor will do battle gladiator-style. Meanwhile, Joss Whedon denies any plans of a standalone Hulk film.
According to Movie Web, Mark Ruffalo is returning to 'Thor: Ragnarok' as Bruce Banner a.k.a. the Hulk. Numerous speculations about his reemergence have made rounds as to his character's purpose in the new film's storyline as well in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Ruffalo revealed in previous interviews that the new film with co-star Chris Hemsworth will be some kind of a "universal road trip" and compared the movie to the 1988 action-comedy film 'Midnight Run'.
Hulk's last appearance was in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'. According to Techno Buffalo, Hulk stole a QuinJet and used it to go off into exile. Rumors had it that the green superhero survived his journey and ended up in a remote planet known as "Sakaar" from the original comic books.
Sources from Geek speculated that Hemsworth's Thor somehow ends up exiled on that same planet all thanks to Loki and Hela's devious plan. The villainous duo, played by Tom Hiddleston and Cate Blanchett, manage to destroy Thor's Mjolnir and banish the Asgardian from his kingdom in order to wreak more havoc. When Thor arrives at "Sakaar", he has his head shaved and he is eventually prepped to battle one of the planet's war champions in order to survive.
In an interesting turn of events, Hulk and Thor meet in the arena as the former has become its current champion. The two fight it out gladiator-style until Hulk remembers his opponent as a comrade from the past. They eventually team-up and escape to find a MacGuffin Thor is desperate to attain.
Previous reports stated that the MCU may be setting up a new standalone film for Ruffalo's Hulk. However, writer-director Joss Whedon denied the speculations of a separate Planet Hulk film outright. He said, "Well I'm really not supposed to comment, but no, that's nonsense."
'Thor: Ragnarok' is an upcoming action-adventure and fantasy film scheduled to be released on November 3, 2017. It is directed by Taika Waititi based on a screenplay by Stephany Folsom, Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. It is intended as part of the MCU's Phase Three and is currently in pre-production.
