Does Marvel Have Hulk-Sized Plans for 'The Avengers 3' and Phase 3 of Its Cinematic Universe?

After spending two films trying to kickstart a Hulk franchise, Marvel was ready to give up on the character and relegate him to television. Then came The Avengers and everything changed for the Hulk. Thanks to Mark Ruffalo's performance as Bruce Banner and his big, green alter ego in addition to Joss Whedon's writing, the Hulk was the breakout star of The Avengers. Marvel quietly scuttled their plans for a TV show, but has remained mum on what the next step is for the Hulk.

Well, the guys over at Latino-Review appear to have a giant (Hulk-sized?) scoop on their hands. It's kind of spoilery, so if you don't want to know what might happen in The Avengers 2 or any of the other films coming up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, don't head past the jump. If you're like me, and you have no self control when it comes to spoilers, head past the jump.

OK, ready? According to Latino-Review, Marvel is ready to make Ruffalo's Hulk the star of Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man dominated Phase 1 and a bunch of sequels will dominate Phase 2, the studio is allegedly planning on using The Avengers 2 to send the Hulk into space, where he accidentally lands on the planet Sakaar and becomes a gladiator and king of the alien race that inhabits the planet. This storyline is based on the 2006/2007 Planet Hulk series that ran in the comics.

In the comics, the Illuminati, a secret group of Marvel heroes that include Namor, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange and Professor Charles Xavier, decide that the Hulk is too dangerous to remain on Earth, and send him into space. When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they're going to have to shuffle the Illuminati's membership, as Fox holds the movie rights to Reed Richards (Fantastic Four) and Xavier (X-Men). We already know that Marvel is planning a Doctor Strange movie for Phase 3, so the Illuminati storyline would be a perfect way to introduce the character. While Namor, also known as the Sub-Mariner, hasn't been confirmed to have his own film yet, Marvel could also get the character in the Cinematic Universe through this story.

The Latino-Review report claims that the Hulk would get his own movie during Phase 3, focusing on the Planet Hulk storyline. This would lead up to The Avengers 3, where we would see an very angry Hulk return with his newfound subjects to enact revenge on the Earthly superheroes who sent him away. World War Hulk is pretty much Hulk versus the world. We'd probably get to watch Tony Stark finally break out his Hulkbuster Iron Man suit.

While Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still years away, we've known for awhile that Marvel wasn't planning on attempting another Hulk movie until after The Avengers 2, so what better and bigger way to do it than by adapting Planet Hulk and World War Hulk? As the video report says, Ruffalo didn't sign on just to do a bunch of cameos and be a sidekick.

Back when Marvel was just trying to make Phase 1 a success and pull together the necessary pieces for The Avengers, a project of this scope would have seemed highly unlikely. After the unparalleled success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe though, and with Marvel already going intergalactic with Guardians of the Galaxy, this all seems like the next logical step for the studio.