Tim Roth Explains Why He's Returning To The MCU In She-Hulk
After Marvel made the move to recast Bruce Banner/Hulk actor Ed Norton with Mark Ruffalo, few among us could've expected that we'd ever see any of the cast of "The Incredible Hulk" show up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe again. The movie seemed to slip between the cracks as the rest of the MCU quickly evolved far beyond its humble aspirations.
That is, we assumed that to be the case until the Russos brought back William Hurt's General Thaddeus Ross in a supporting role for "Captain America: Civil War" and then, more recently, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" surprisingly brought back the Abomination for a quick cameo. That won't be the last we see of Tim Roth's Emil Blonsky, as he is also set to appear in the Disney+ series "She-Hulk" as the "Incredible Hulk" villain. And the actor couldn't be more amused by the notion of returning to the MCU.
A Surprising Return
Nobody could have blamed Tim Roth for being too busy to fit any more unexpected Marvel appearances into his schedule these days, as the British actor is currently promoting his latest film "Sundown" and will next be seen alongside Neal McDonough (who coincidentally made an appearance in the MCU himself as Dum Dum Dugan in "Captain America: The First Avenger") and Ron Perlman in "The Jesuit," written by Paul Schrader. But to the delight of many fans, Roth's one-time villainous Abomination appeared out of nowhere in an underground fight club of sorts in "Shang-Chi" and will once again reprise the role for the legal comedy series, "She-Hulk." THR caught up with the actor and, during the course of their interview, talk soon turned to his upcoming appearance in "She-Hulk" and the reasons why Roth accepted the role in the first place.
"I did The Incredible Hulk years ago, just because I thought my kids would be embarrassed by it. I did it for them and I really enjoyed making it. So when they came to me and said: 'We're adapting the She-Hulk thing. Can you come back as that character again?' I was like, sure. It should be fun. I was very surprised though because it was difficult at first. It was only when Mark Ruffalo came in to shoot his stuff [reprising his role as Bruce Banner] that I went: 'Oh, that's how you do it! With a sense of humor!'"
If you ask me, taking on a blockbuster role just for the sake of embarrassing your kids is as valid a reason as it gets. It's a nice bonus that Tim Roth apparently had so much fun with the part, despite "The Incredible Hulk" mostly being forgotten as a relic of the early MCU. But one of the pleasures of any franchise that runs for as long as the MCU has is that it allows the opportunity to draw unexpected connections and pay off earlier setups that most fans assumed would never happen (also see: the "F&F" franchise). Getting more of Roth's Abomination in both "Shang-Chi" and "She-Hulk" absolutely counts and, as Roth referenced in his above quote, acting opposite Mark Ruffalo's Bruce as opposed to Ed Norton's should be fascinating in its own right.
"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is currently playing in theaters and "She-Hulk" will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.