I have a 2009 edition Marvel Enyclopedia and was interested at the pages devoted to each character. Spiderman had 6, as did Cap and Hulk. Wolverine had 4 and everyone else including Thor and Iron Man just one. This suggests that back in 2009 at least Hulk, was one of the big 3 Marvel characters with Spidey and Cap.....also, Hulk was the second marvel character in 2003, to get a stand alone film.....

However, 5 years on, post Iron Man and Avengers films, is he still one of the big 3, or have Iron Man and Thor supplanted him? With no films planned...do you wonder!

He's still one of the big three, cap isn't actually that famous compared to Spidey and ironman. You ask 1000 kids if they've heard of hulk or cap I can guarantee more will say hulk. In all honesty I just don't think the movies were marketed very well, and 2003s hulk was a complete disaster which probably stopped allot of people seeing his most recent film.

But yeah, hulk is still definitely part of marvels big three.

The big 3 are Spiderman, Iron Man and Wolverine IMO.

If you look at it on a merchandise basis he is probably still top 3; it may even be wolverine who has been pushed out by the kids wearing Ironman tops.

I've always considered Marvels big 3 Spiderman, Wolverine, and Hulk

I would honestly say at this point, it goes Spider-Man, Wolverine, and it varies. I think the general public would side more with Iron Man, while Comic Book fans could side with either Cap or Hulk more, depending.

Nope.

Nope. His comics is not as huge sales compare to Spidey, Wolverine or Deadpool. And in movies business Hulk don't get many solo movies

Cap was never in any way shape and form within a million light years of being one of Marvel's top 3 characters so I'm not sure what that page count really showed.

Marvels top properties were, far and away, Spiderman and the mutants for a long, long time. Everybody else was second fiddle. The Avengers was a weird, musty old book that nobody bought. Obviously - things changed.

These days I think you can make a good case for the Hulk being one of Marvel's top 3 characters - the other 2 being SpiderManand Logan. Pre-Avengers (2012) not so much. While Hulk had very high pop cultural awareness the two middling movies probably counted too much against him. It does depend on what media and what factors you are considering though. Iron Man is obviously hugely successful at the moment as a cinematic property though thats also a very recent thing and seemingly rather intertwined with RDJ's own personality. Its also complicated by the fact that Marvel seems to be distancing themselves somewhat from the Fox properties such as the mutants and FF.

At any rate I think Hulk is certainly doing better than he was in 2009 when that book came out. At that point one could legitimately raise the question of whether his popularity had peaked. The Avengers film was a big affirmation of the character's appeal.

Given how much Marvel loved these guys during the late 2000's, I consider them Marvel's big 3

I think Spidey and the X-Men were the big 2 for the most part. Nowadays, however, The Avengers have gained a lot of popularity. I think Spidey is still first, while Cap and Wolverine complete the Top 3.

Also...

@amazingwebhead said:

Given how much Marvel loved these guys during the late 2000's, I consider them Marvel's big 3

What the heck's going on with Spider-Man's legs?

Spiderman, Iron Man and Wolverin...striking fear in the hearts of villains.

Is Wolverine still even popular outside of comic fandom? Unless you grew up during his heyday, he's mainly known as the guy Hugh Jackman played nowadays.

Not sure Wolverine is a top 3 character. He is certainly popular and there is a case for saying currently Iron Man, Wolverine and Spiderman are top 3, but somehow I think Hulk is a more iconic Marvel character than Wolverine, or Iron Man for that matter. Perhaps its because unlike many of you I am able to remember the TV series coming out in the 70s and know what that did to make him popular with anyone aged between about 40 and 50... there's also that huge rivalry with Superman due to them being the most powerful recognisable heroes in their respective universes and the Avengers movie showed how if done correctly, the Hulk goes down a storm.

@surfingthehighway: Spider-like agility makes him really flexible

@maccyd@bezza

Wolverine is definitely popular and worthy of Top 3 consideration. Within comics his popularity is all but unmatched - hes certainly up there with Batman, Spider-Man etc. Outside of comics hes been the main character in pretty much every X-Men film over more than a decade - and had 2 solo films (one awful, one really good).

Like Hulk or Batman hes an iconic, easily recognisable character - the angry guy with knives sticking out of his hands. Hes certainly up there.

His status as a Marvel icon though is somewhat tarnished by the fact that Marvel seems to be somewhat turning their backs on the Fox movie properties. You'd probably be far more likely to see one of The Avengers on a piece of Marvel promo art produced today.

LOL. The Flash is so fast he can bend the fabric of time... but Spidey's so flexible he can bend the fabric of reality!

Wow people argue Wolverine is popular or not. Wolverine is extremely popular character. His comics sales is doing extremely good. Heck even Marvel consider name a book Wolverine and The X-men , This show how popular he is. Also Death of Wolverine beat Batman comics sales which not many character can do that. Wolverine also main focus of many X-men cartoons and movies

If we're going by books, I got the "Marvel Avengers Super Hero Guide", and it has large sections on Iron Man, Spider-Man and Wolverine. Hulk just gets a two-page feature like many other members.