Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s head of television, revealed in an interview with Ain’t It Cool News that initially they were looking to adapt the green rage monster into a new show. “Guillermo Del Toro came in and talked to us about doing a Hulk show and when Guillermo Del Toro comes and wants to do a show about your pinkie, you are going to want to do it. But it was just a case that once we saw what Joss Whedon and Mark Ruffalo were creating in The Avengers, that was a better solution.”
Loeb went on to say that Marvel’s relationship with Whedon, built on the strength of The Avengers, enabled them to look in a different direction of a Marvel television series: S.H.I.E.L.D.. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. became a perfect fit in terms of what Marvel wanted to do creatively and what might work on both ABC television and television in general.” Loeb said.
For his part, Del Toro was disappointed but understanding about the decision to shelve the Hulk series, acknowledging in an interview with The Global Dispatch that “Avengers is a game-changer for Marvel.”
As for the future of Marvel on the small screen, Loeb said, “For us in television, it always comes down to finding the right show runner. The answer is always going to be that when the right person is matched with the right property that is when we will make the next exciting announcement from Marvel Television.”
