Thanks to Disney’s shrewd acquisitions, the MCU has complete access to almost every Marvel character. However, new business plans involving its streaming platform Hulu could lead to the company securing full ownership ofThe Incredible Hulkand Namor, so they too can star in their own movies.
After all, even if the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been able to call onthe likes of Deadpool, theFantastic Four,and theX-Menfor a while, perpetual fan favourite Bruce Banner’s role comes with a few legal limitations that explain why Mark Ruffalo’sHulkdoesn’t have his own Marvel Studios movie or series. As one of the few legacy Avengers left, Disney likely wants to end that, which could involve using Hulu as a bargaining chip to secure said movie rights from Universal Pictures' parent company, Comcast.
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This proposition was broken down by Citi analyst Jason Bazinet toThe Wrap, explaining that after a disappointing financial start to 2023, they believe that Disney “is less interested in a mass market DTC [Direct to Consumer] offering." As a result, Disney may sell its stake in Hulu, whose services it currently offers as part of Disney’s streaming bundle. Since Comcast’s Universal owns the film distribution rights forHulk and newcomer Namor, the Wall Street analyst argues, “If Hulu is sold, Disney may use this as an opportunity to secure these distribution rights,” along with some much-needed extra cash flow.
Universal’s ownership of Hulk and Namor’s movie destiny dates back to the ’90s when the comic book giant struggled. This can be evidenced by 2008’sThe Incredible Hulkbeing the sole MCU production with another studio’s logo on it, whileNamor being off-limits was recently addressed by MarvelStudios executives after his introduction inBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever. Hulu, valued in the $19-27.5 billion region, was acquired by Disney when it took over 20th Century Fox.
The article details an existing agreement that binds Disney to buy out Comcast’s 33% share of Hulu (Disney owns the rest) as early as 2024 if Comcast requested. It must be said that, unlike most streaming services, Hulu became profitable in 2020, quite the opposite of Disney Plus, which is projected to generate losses until late 2024, at the very least.
These financial headaches are believed to be among the leading reasons why Marvel’s content output will change in the coming years, with the frequency of new productions going down and the accountability for these to produce money. In that context, despiteShe-Hulkalready setting up a potentialWorld War Hulkfor Banner, Disney will have to assess if Hulk and Namor films in the future are worth offloading Hulu’s rich content library.
