Those that have already seen The Avengers will know why The Incredible Hulk has been gaining steam lately. The Green Goliath has re-captured the heart of the fans, and the unmitigated and sudden popularity of the character may have given Marvel a change of heart regarding another solo outing.

Thanks to Forbes (via CBM) for this interview with Marvel producer Paul Gitter!

“It’s just like you would think — Iron Man and Captain America sell more than Thor,” says Gitter. However, The Hulk may soon surpass them all. Marvel executives have been “pleasantly surprised by the phenomenal response” to this green superhero, and expect this fan affinity to further strengthen once the movie opens. “His sales are up in a major way. We repositioned him from where he was always misunderstood to now depicting him in a more heroic and aspirational manner,” says Gitter.

If Hulk’s successful turnaround continues, Gitter says Marvel “will spin him off to a stand-alone program next year,” supported by a big budget franchise movie in 2015.

Would you pay to see Mark Ruffalo return to play Bruce Banner and “the other guy” in a sequel? Would they keep the cast from The Incredible Hulk after deciding to replace Norton with Ruffalo?

Hey, they did it with Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2, so anything is possible.

This with a Hulk TV show on the way may mean that we’ll get more of The Hulk in the coming years than any other Avenger.