I guess you could consider this post having spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron, but that’s only if you thought there was a chance Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) was going to die in Age of Ultron or assumed Guardians of the Galaxy wouldn’t ultimately end in a teaming with The Avengers storyline.
All that said, remember the quote from Ruffalo HitFix it sounds like hints of that may play in future Marvel movies, though not a Hulk standalone feature:
Without giving away why and how, let’s look at the state of things for Bruce Banner at the end of Age Of Ultron. Banner continues to play a key role in things in this movie, and when the final war with Ultron spills onto the battlefield and out of the virtual realm, he has a major part to play. Unfortunately, that ends with him onboard a Quin jet on his way off the planet, with no way to immediately turn things around. He’s going to have to ride out the trip. It’s pre-programmed and he can’t stop it.
Here’s where I’d wager his spaceship is headed: wherever the Guardians of the Galaxy are located. If I was a betting man, I’d say there will be no Hulk solo film as part of Phase Three. Instead, Banner’s ship will take him to another planet, where he will end up meeting the Guardians and having an adventure with them. Hulk will definitely come out to play a few times. I suspect we’ll see some sequences that very much feel like they’re part of the Planet Hulk story, but that the larger story will be about the Guardians finding a way to get Banner home, only to end up going with him. That would move a big piece of the puzzle into place to get Thanos looking back at the Earth in time for the third Avengers film.
All sounds very logical to me and it also amazes me to now sort of realize these Avengers movies are movies that can’t really be spoiled by knowing the storyline. It’s the tone of the films, the timing and the way the cast interacts that’s going to be what decides whether they work or not. Such as me having wished I never saw that trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy. I didn’t like the tone of the thing and I’m hoping the entire film isn’t similar, but what do I care if I know how the film ends, it will be the interaction between the characters, the talking raccoon and the talking tree that interest me most. If that works, I doubt there are any major surprises in the film’s plot that will get me going “oh wow” sort of like how I didn’t really care when Gwen Stacey died in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Big whoop!
