'The Incredible Hulk' Is Now Available on Disney+

Another gap in the service's MCU collection closes universally

It’s going to be a Banner day on Disney+. The Incredible Hulk, the 2008 film that introduced the Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration of the angry green irradiated giant is finally headed to Disney’s streaming service, long called “the home of Marvel” in its over 3.5 years running. It is available as of today, June 16.

Distributed through Universal Pictures, who had rights long enough that the Edward Norton-starring film was their second theatrical iteration, having produced the Eric Bana-starring Hulk released in 2003. It was that film’s mixed reception that allowed Marvel Studios to acquire the production rights while Universal maintained distribution rights until this month. It’s because the process goes through them that no solo Hulk films have been made, and he only appeared as a supporting character in other projects but starred in team-ups. Now, those rights have reverted to Marvel Studios.

The film, directed by eventual Fast X director Louis Leterrier chronicled the character’s origin story: Dr. Bruce Banner’s exposure to gamma rays turned him into the misunderstood man-monster who gets stronger and transforms in rage. Starring with Norton was William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Liv Tyler as Ross’s daughter and Bruce’s love interest Betty Ross, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky aka The Abomination, and Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Stearns. Robert Downey Jr. appeared in the post-credits scene mere weeks after the first Iron Man movie, cementing its place in the universe.

Norton would be recast with Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers, however, Phase 2 was otherwise devoid of involvement from this area of the universe. It wasn’t until General Ross came back as Secretary of State in Captain America: Civil War that it started picking back up, even with the help of retconning Martin Starr’s college student in the film to be Mr. Harrington from the MCU Spider-Man trilogy. Thunderbolt would subsequently chronologically appear in Black Widow, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, before more non-Bruce elements would return: Roth would return as Blonsky in both forms for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, while Tyler and Nelson are set to return for Captain America: Brave New World, which is scheduled for July 26, 2024. Nelson’s Stearns will have mutated and become The Leader when we next see him, now-President Ross will be played by Harrison Ford, due to Hurt’s passing.

Being such an “older” film compared to today’s films with more rigid, shorter streaming journeys, The Incredible Hulk tended to hop streamers from time to time, including what is now Max. But it’s never previously been on Disney+, and as far as the MCU was concerned, the two major holes were this and the aforementioned Spider-Man trilogy. Spider-Man: Homecoming and the adjacent Venom film, which had been on Sony’s longtime streaming home Starz, were added on May 12. With The Incredible Hulk arrived on Disney+, to watch the MCU in order on the service is smooth sailing until the absence of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Source: Disney+ on Twitter