Marvel Officially Downsizing, Cancels 'Hulk' After Bob Iger Criticism

Marvel has canceled yet another project, and this time, a Hulk is in the crosshairs.

The hulk, a massive green superhero, is depicted in a fierce pose with a grimacing expression under a cloudy sky. his muscles are prominently highlighted as he appears ready for battle. — Credit: Marvel Studios

Marvel (and the rest of the Disney family) is in some pretty choppy waters. Nearly every arm of the vast House of Mouse has seen more than its share of flops in the last several years, including majorly promoted, big-budget movies like Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Lightyear (2022), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), The Marvels (2023), and Wish (2023).

Disney+ has not had a much easier time of things. Season 4 of The Mandalorian has been transformed into a feature film, and original series like Willow have been pulled off streaming and essentially disappeared. The much-anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot Daredevil: Born Again has been retooled over and over again, and What If…? is already getting ported over to Apple Vision Pro.

Promotional image for marvel studios' series "what if...?" featuring various animated marvel characters positioned around a central thanos, each holding a different colored infinity stone. — Credit: Marvel Studios

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was one of the most heavily promoted Disney+ MCU series upon release, starring Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk, the cousin of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). The show was positioned as a lighter, more meta take on the MCU than previous efforts had been, as well as one of the most overtly female-oriented projects of the franchise to date.

Tatiana Maslany posing She-Hulk — Credit: Marvel Studios

While critics largely liked the series (it currently holds a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes), it apparently did not perform nearly as well with audiences as Kevin Feige and Disney wanted it to. Combined with the high ticket price of the CGI (which had its own issues, but moving on) and the backlash from a vocal segment of Marvel fans, it seems that the studio has declined to move forward with the character.

Tatiana Maslany has openly said that she does not believe she will return for another season as Jennifer Walters. Earlier this year, Tatiana Maslany revealed that She-Hulk season 2 was likely a victim of company-wide budget cuts, saying, “I think we blew our budget, and Disney was like, ‘No thanks.’”

It also probably did not help that Tatiana Maslany was openly critical of Disney CEO Bob Iger during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, saying:

“I think [Iger is] completely out of touch. He’s completely out of touch with the workers who make his shows happen, who make people watch these shows, who bring viewers to him and him money.

Having worked on a Disney show, I know where people fall through the cracks and where people are taken advantage of, and it’s outrageous the amount of wealth that is not shared with the people who actually make the show. That’s crew, cast, writers.”

Tatiana Maslany in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law — Credit: Marvel

Marvel Studios has not officially canceled She-Hulk, but there are also no apparent plans for the character to appear in Daredevil: Born Again (after Jennifer Walters began an intimate relationship with Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock), which is very telling.

Another indication that Disney is deprioritizing the character in favor of a different fourth-wall-breaking character is that Sensational She-Hulk, the current ongoing Marvel Comics series starring Jennifer Walters, has been abruptly canceled.

Rainbow Rowell, writer of the series, revealed on Twitter, “Hey, She-Hulk readers💚It is with great sadness that I tell you, Issue 10 is the end of our run. I have loved writing this character and working with Andrés, Dee, Joe, Jen, Nick and Kaeden. She-Hulk was on my Marvel dream list, and I feel really lucky to have taken her this far.”

Hey, She-Hulk readers💚It is with great sadness that I tell you, Issue 10 is the end of our run. I have loved writing this character and working with Andrés, Dee, Joe, Jen, Nick and Kaeden. She-Hulk was on my Marvel dream list, and I feel really lucky to have taken her this far. pic.twitter.com/JzZhOqVb2y

— Rainbow Rowell (@rainbowrowell) June 17, 2024

Now that She-Hulk season 2 is apparently a no-go and the comic book has been shelved, it seems increasingly clear that Disney and Marvel are done with the character.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law season 1 is currently streaming on Disney+. The series was created by Jessica Gao, with Kat Coiro as lead director. The show stars Tatiana Maslany, Jameela Jamil, Ginger Gonzaga, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Segarra, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Benedict Wong, Patty Guggenheim, Charlie Cox, and Tim Roth.

Do you want She-Hulk back in the MCU? Give us a gamma-irradiated opinion in the comments below!