After 13 years, I’m surprised theMCUavoided a perfect way to break an over-decade-longHulkstreak that arguably needs to end.The MCU timelinehas favored some heroes and villains more than others - something that’s impossible to avoid given how many characters have only appeared for a lone movie or show. However, this is also true even when looking at the franchise’s most focal characters, as is the case with the complicated example of the MCU’s Hulk story.
While 2008’sThe Incredible Hulkbrought the character to the big screen after a not inconsiderable hiatus, the MCU quickly recast the titular role, with Mark Ruffalo taking over the Marvel hero casting for the rest of the franchise. From this point, the Hulk’s story has largely been constrained to the sidelines, serving in a supporting role in releases centered around other heroes. This has had a lot of unique side effects on the character’s history, especially regarding Banner’s transformations.
Bruce Banner Last Transformed Into The Hulk On-Screen In The MCU A Long, Long Time Ago
The Hulk has been a key player in the MCU and its overarching story from his debut all the way up to recent history, due to his appearances in not only the Avengers movies but also releases likeShe-Hulk: Attorney At LawandShang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, which have helped to reinforce him as a continuing Marvel hero despite his lack of solo movie or show installments since 2008. However, the Hulk’s more recent appearances have avoided one of the most core parts of the character, avoiding showing him properly transforming on-screen.
WhileAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgamefocused on the story aspect of Banner struggling to transform, this ultimately meant they only showed his failed transformations inInfinity War, and then jumped ahead to him being the Smart Hulk without showing the transformation by the time ofEndgame’s main story. Prior to this, the closest we’ve gotten to seeing Banner change into the Hulk recently isThor: Ragnarok, where Bruce transforms off-screen into the Hulk to fight Fenris, and comes seemingly close to properly transforming due to his frustration with the situation he’s found himself in as well.
All in all,this means the last time we saw Bruce Banner properly transform into the Hulk in the main MCU timeline was actually all the way back inThe Avengers, which is wild considering not only how many years have passed since the 2012 film, but also given how many appearances the Hulk has had in the years since. Indeed, it seems like the franchise has avoided a series of logical places for another proper on-screen Hulk transformation to take place, which makes this odd record for the gamma-radiated hero all the more strange.
Captain America: Brave New World Offered A Perfect Opportunity For A New Transformation For The Hulk After Years
With such a hiatus for the Hulk, it would be par for the course for the MCU to make sure to break the over-a-decade record for the Hulk as soon as it can - especially now it’s been established Banner can transform in and out of his Smart Hulk form as well, meaning this doesn’t preclude the character from this kind of change. Indeed,Captain America: Brave New Worldseemed like a perfect place for a new Hulk transformation, since it features the return of several characters most tied to the Hulk, and a plot setup that could justify such an event.
Since it was made very clear thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldwould feature Thunderbolt Ross transforming into the Red Hulk,having Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner finally also transform on-screen - either to fight him or simply to try and rush to Captain America’s aid - would’ve made a lot of sense. Even failing this, it could’ve made a lot of sense for Wilson and Banner to reunite in order to work out how to deal with this threat, which could’ve easily led to another on-screen Hulk transformation in order to work out any potential shared weaknesses between Hulks.
Every Major Hulk Battle In The MCU Ranked Worst To Best
Throughout the history of the MCU’s many different Hulks, the franchise has provided a number of major battles that stand out as especially memorable.
As it stands, though, the full Red Hulk transformation was saved forCaptain America: Brave New World’s ending, and the MCU’s main Hulk was intentionally kept out of the installment despite it having an already Hulk-based narrative. This not only meant the MCU missed another prime opportunity for Banner to break his on-screen Hulk transformation fast, but also that the franchise avoided utilizing the potential for a Red Hulk vs Hulk fight, instead leaving Sam Wilson to pacify Ross' monstrous form, aided by the then-President’s memories of his daughter and his hopes to prove himself to her.
It Makes Sense Why Captain America: Brave New World Didn’t Feature The Hulk, Even If It Was A Waste
ThoughCaptain America: Brave New Worlddid offer one of the best excuses in more recent history to feature the Hulk and his potential on-screen transformation, the reasons the character was avoided in the release do make sense, reinforcing the idea of what exactly has led to the green heavyweight having not changed on-screen in so long.Brave New WorlddirectorJulius Onah explained the decision to not feature to Hulknot long after the movie’s release, stating:“you pull in Banner—as great as Mark Ruffalo is and as exciting as it would be to have him—and suddenly, the focus shifts away from Sam.”
The Russo brothers considered featuring Red Hulk’s MCU debut inCaptain America: Civil War, but these ideas didn’t come to fruition in the end, further justifying featuring Red Hulk in the next Captain America movie afterCivil Wareven without Mark Rufallo’s Hulk.
Ultimately, the hardest thing about the Hulk’s MCU story is that he’s a character who is hard to not make the focus of whatever story he’s in, as an eight-foot-tall green individual who historically can be found destroying whatever was around him and screaming in an all-out rage isn’t exactly a figure who naturally blends into the background. Given the franchise has avoided giving him more solo stories, balancing having him in a crossover but not taking over is a natural challenge, which goes to explain the decision to exclude him here.
Hopefully, this meansthe story ofAvengers: DoomsdayorAvengers: Secret Warscan instead finally feature a part of the Hulk’s story that audiences have been waiting to see again for many years now once more, rather than the next flagship films in the MCU only serving to reinforce the idea we for whatever reason cannot see the character transform. However, based on the franchise’s current track record, it’s clear nothing is set in stone, even if there’s plenty of reason to hope for theHulkto get another heyday in the near future.
