Hulk Hogan Reveals Marvel Comics Lawsuit That Had Him Share Revenue With $25 Billion Company for “20 Years”

Hulk Hogan’s storied WWE career is full of interesting facts and twists. While some of them gave us a genuinely good flashback when being looked at, a few contradictory incidents landed the former WWE legend in deep water.

Hulk Hogan’s legacy was a well-documented fact to every wrestling fan. The 1980s household name quickly turned into a marketing machine that attracted a lot of media attention to the business. That said, the name ‘Hulk Hogan’ wasn’t legally accepted until a legal declaration went in his favor.

Hulk Hogan recollected his infamous legal battle with Marvel studio

Hogan had to throw himself into a spartan legal battle just to own the exclusive right to his name. The Marvel comics seemingly turned furious with WWE and the Hulkster over the use of the name Incredible Hulk, which is a popular Marvel character. During his early WWE days, Hogan went by the name Incredible Hulk Hogan landing him into legal trouble with the comic book giant.

They swooped in for their rights, causing Hogan to pen a deal that came with a lot of compromises from Hogan’s side.

Recollecting the bitter memories on the Theo Von Show, Hogan noted, ”We get a call from Marvel Comics. ‘You’re infringing on our mark. Reasonably similar. We’re going to sue you, put you in litigation.’ We let them have the name but didn’t license the name. I only had to pay them one-tenth of 1%. That went from 1985 to 2005. 20 years fast forward to 2005., It’s over.”

Hogan added how during his return to WWE in 2005, he had to fight again to own his name. He said, “Now, I can’t use Hulk Hogan anymore, and I’m red hot in 2005. I went to my attorney, ‘I don’t give a damn what deal you make, you’re going to make a deal because I need the name.’ What happened was, I got a one-year extension and I had to pay them 30% of everything I made. Movies, TV wrestling, they got 30% of everything.”

However, despite his troubles with Marvel, Hogan once landed a cameo alongside an iconic Marvel comic book character.

Hulk Hogan had a fair share of Marvel connections that you might not know

WWE superheroes turning into Marvel Comics superheroes has been quite a trend with John Cena and Batista being two of the most prolific careers of it. While Cena’s Peacemaker and DJ’s Black Adam, or Batista as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy, won the hearts of millions, Hogan’s Iron Man cameo character will always remain a treasure for fans as well.

Being a widely popular mainstream name, Hogan was indeed an ideal catch for presenting as the face of pop culture. It pushed the WWE heavyweight to follow the same path as the other marquee wrestler-turned-actors by making a tie with the $25 billion company back in 1988.

The former WWE Champion pulled off a cameo appearance in the 1988 issue of Iron Man Volume 1. Hogan showed up in Issue 227 of Iron Man. However, Hogan wasn’t seen in his iconic wrestling attire, rather, he turned up under his real name, Terry Bollea in the book.

Watch the story: Despite Being Polar Opposites Hulk Hogan Shared Something Similar With Brock Lesnar That Made Them Hate The Business

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