In April 2015, Ruffalo said Universal holding the distribution rights to Hulk films may be an obstacle to releasing a future Hulk standalone film, and later reiterated this in October, and July 2017. Marvel regained the film production rights for the character since February 2006, but Universal retained the distribution rights for The Incredible Hulk as well as the right of first refusal to pick up the distribution rights to each of any future Marvel-produced Hulk films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a potential reason why Marvel has not reacquired the film distribution rights to the Hulk as they did with Paramount Pictures for the Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America films is that Universal holds the theme park rights to several Marvel characters that Marvel's parent company, Disney, wants for its own theme parks. In December, Ruffalo stated that the strained relationship between Marvel and Universal may be another obstacle to releasing a future standalone Hulk film. By August 2022, reports believed it was possible Marvel Studios would regain the distribution rights to the character from Universal in 2023; this was due to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings from Marvel Entertainment that indicated Universal had agreed to distribute The Incredible Hulk under the same terms Marvel agreed to with Paramount, which held distribution rights for 15 years from its first release. In March 2023, Citigroup financial analyst Jason Bazinet felt Disney may try to include the distribution rights to Hulk, as well as Namor, in any potential sale of the streaming service Hulu to Comcast, the owner of Universal Pictures through NBCUniversal.
