Almost immediately after ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ came out, there were talks of a sequel due to the unexpected overwhelmingly positive reception to the film. Later we learned that James Gunn would return to write and direct the 2017 Phase Three film known as ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’. Then things got quiet for the most part since the filmmaker had to go off and write the script. In the time since he went off to do that, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ came out and got people talking about the Guardians once again after True Believers saw what happened to the Hulk at the end of that movie. Naturally, rumors began to circulate about the Green Gladiator venturing to Star-Lord’s corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, Gunn has taken to his social media to remind fans yet again that Bruce Banner will not be teaming up with Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Groot, or anyone else in his upcoming movie.

Since he began the writing process, Gunn has managed to complete two drafts of the Guardians’ next big screen adventure, which is set to begin shooting in February in Atlanta. But the acclaimed filmmaker has periodically taken time to talk about the movie with fans via the internet to keep everyone abreast (to a degree) about the status of ‘GOTG2.’ But one thing that he has constantly shot down every time he has done so is the involvement of the Hulk in his story. Despite where it looks like Banner is headed in the Quinjet after ‘Age of Ultron,’ Gunn had to remind people that he is not building towards a ‘Planet Hulk’ storyline or some kind of Hulk/Guardians team-up:

During the same Q&A, Gunn even mentioned that it’s imperative that “Peter Quill is the sole human (earthling) character” in this part of the MCU for the time being. With that wording, that rules out any possibility of Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel appearing in the movie as well. Mar-Vell, the original Kree warrior Captain Marvel, could make an appearance, but let’s not lose focus here. According to Gunn, we’ll get more personal with the characters that were introduced in the first film, so don’t get too hyped about crossovers or an abundance of new characters just yet.

So what does that mean for Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk before ‘Avengers: Infinity War’? Recently, the actor revealed that his character had been cut from ‘Captain America: Civil War’, which already boasts an expansive cast. It’s not too likely that he’ll show up in new films like ‘Doctor Strange’, ‘Captain Marvel,’ or ‘Black Panther.’ It would be too expensive to bring him in for any of the Netflix shows or ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..‘ And ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and ‘Spider-Man’ don’t seem to be a good fit either (unless Banner was a mentor to Peter Parker in some fashion). With any luck, we’ll have a better idea of what will happen to the angry Avenger next year.

Are you disappointed that Hulk won’t be appearing in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’? Where do you think Bruce Banner (or the other guy for that matter) will pop up next? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.

Source: /Film, Screenrant