Louis Leterrier wanted the Red and Gray Hulk in the MCU

If he got to direct a sequel to The Incredible Hulk, Louis Leterrier knew he wanted the Red Hulk and other Hulks of the spectrum to be part of it.

The Hulk is such a pivotal part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite this, however, the Green Goliath only has one solo outing to his name in 15 years. Usually, he played second fiddle to somebody else whether that was Iron Man, Thor, his cousin Jennifer Walters, or the entire Avengers lineup. Edward Norton’s outing is the exception.

It wasn’t always meant to be like that, oddly enough. The director of the one-off 2008 film that starred Edward Norton, The Incredible Hulk, recently told ComicBook.com he had an entire sequel in mind with big plans in store. Louis Leterrier didn’t go into great depth, but he wanted surprises that would have delighted the most devoted fans.

“Yeah there was like a whole sequel,” he said, adding there were going to be other Hulks of varying shades aside from green. “There was like Grey Hulk, Red Hulks – there was a lot of good stuff that we were planning.” None of it came to pass as after Disney bought Marvel, Mark Ruffalo was cast as Bruce Banner for The Avengers.

Is Red Hulk coming to the MCU?

But Marvel still wants a dose of The Red Hulk. Since he was General Ross in the comics, the word is none other than Harrison Ford will play the beastly heat magnet in Captain America: Brave New World. Betty, Ross’s daughter and Bruce’s main squeeze might join her dad in becoming a red-raging monster, if that wasn’t enough.

All things Hulk have come a long way since ‘08 through every change. Still, Leterrier’s film sits in an awkward place. Its final battle in Harlem was mentioned in Avengers and The Abomination, played by Tim Roth, resurfaced in recent years, so it definitely is canon. However, like Lou Ferrigno, Leterrier thinks Marvel lost the plot on what it teed up.

He observed:

"“Hulk is a complex character within the Marvel Universe… You want the primeval Hulk… the rage Hulk. And then when you go Grey Hulk and Smart Hulk you lose that a little bit and you get a little bit more kiddish with it.”"

He added:

"“But that was the fun of where I was in my movie, with the access to consciousness and all that stuff. That was really fun. And that’s what I was aiming to do. But take my time with it. Because there’s so many characters they want it all fast [laughs]. I like She-Hulk, but then you know, yoga between Hulk and… I was like ‘Okay! yeah, we’re very far from my Hulk.'”"

The Incredible Hulk is considered a black sheep of the MCU and comic book movies that came out in 2008. Is it one of your favorites? Tell us in all appropriate places.