Tim Roth says he was “totally surprised” by his MCU character’s return in the upcoming She-Hulk series. In a recent interview with Uproxx, Roth was asked about the return of his character, Emil Blonsky/Abomination, who he first played in The Incredible Hulk. Roth said that being asked to return came as a surprise, and he initially did the first film for his kids.
“Well, honestly, it totally surprised me,” Roth said. “I went in to chat with Kevin Feige, and he said, “I’ve got an idea. Come in. Really? Really? Because the original thing that I did, when I did that first Incredible Hulk movie, was I just did it for my kids.”
The Incredible Hulk premiered in 2008, shortly after Iron Man. While the film is an official part of the MCU, it’s often forgotten about, considering Edward Norton, who portrayed Bruce Banner in the film, was later recast with Mark Ruffalo, who continues to play the role to this day and will also appear in She-Hulk. Roth isn’t the only actor from The Incredible Hulk to reappear as William Hurt, who plays Thunderbolt Ross, has appeared in other MCU projects as well.
The character of Abomination returned in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in a cage match against the sorcerer Wong (Benedict Wong). However, Roth only had a voice role since the character was primarily digital.
Roth also said that The Incredible Hulk, in a way, was “pre-Iron Man” since nobody really knew that Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk were going to expand into a giant cinematic universe that we now know as the MCU.
“It hadn’t come out. And that was when they figured it out. Figured out, “Oh, that’s how you do it.” And then they worked it out. Some of them better than others, whatever, but they worked it out. For me, Wolverine and very much Deadpool. So. it was just for my kids when they were little. Did that. So I was amazed when they came back around and said, “How would you feel about…” And I went, “Yeah. All right!” And we just shot it, I guess in the summer last year or whatever. I think that they’re in post now doing it, so whenever. Bonus, I got to work with Mark Ruffalo. Awesome. Who I love. And I don’t know if I’m allowed to say. Oh, I can say that. But this extraordinary woman, Tatiana [Maslany]…Incredible, that woman. So that was a blast. It was insane.”
It’s unclear how much of a role Tim Roth will have in She-Hulk, but it is exciting to see Abomination return to the MCU. She-Hulk is expected to stream on Disney+ sometime in 2022.
