The Hulk is one of Marvel’s most iconic heroes, and arguably was the biggest character Marvel Studios had access to when they began building their shared universe. From 2008’s The Incredible Hulk to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the MCU‘s depiction of Bruce Banner and the Hulk underwent a massive character arc — from a fugitive on the run who feared his power to becoming an Avenger, to then escaping to outer space and finally returning, merging man and monster. The emergence of Smart Hulk, or Professor Hulk, was the natural endpoint to Banner’s journey, and the MCU gave the character the happy ending the comics never could, which meant fans were not pleased.
Many fans have hated the new, smarter Hulk, which has more of Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner personality. They want a return to the classic monster Hulk, one who smashes recklessly and is the iconic version of the character. Ruffalo is now rumored to reprise his role as The Hulk in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and with another rumor that the film will feature the villain Mr. Negative, many fans are hoping to see the Hulk return to his default status and a monster that Spider-Man will have to fight. Yet that creative decision, and the desire to have the Hulk regress to his natural state, would undermine the MCU’s larger narrative while also backtracking on some potentially exciting story developments.
Smart Hulk Is a Great Culmination of His Character Arc in the MCU
There is an understandable desire to see the more classic berserker Hulk from the comics on the big screen. Setting aside that it has been the default depiction of the Hulk in the media since the 1978 television show, many iconic Marvel storylines featuring the classic Hulk can’t be adequately adapted due to Marvel Studios not owning the full distribution rights to the Hulk. While the Hulk is part of the MCU, Universal Pictures still owns the theatrical distribution rights to any Hulk solo films, something that Disney does not seem eager to share, therefore ruling out a Hulk film for now. From a business standpoint, it makes sense to move forward with Smart Hulk. If he can only appear as a supporting character in other films, why not let him progress?
Due to the nature of comics, heroes often undergo brief periods of change but always return to their iconic status quo, adopting a back-to-basics approach. This has been a constant for the Hulk, who, after seemingly merging with Banner, will return to the rage-filled split dynamic in a year or two. While the comics need the Hulk to return to his default status because it is a never-ending medium bound to repeat itself as new readers enter, movies are not. Movies can, and should, have an arc for their characters to end. Christopher Nolan realized this with The Dark Knight Rises, and gave his Batman a proper ending that the comics never could. The MCU has also achieved this with the Hulk, as Bruce Banner has been given the peace he has always sought in the comics, a peace he was destined never to find.
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Banner’s journey in the MCU has always been about merging with the Hulk. In The Incredible Hulk, he originally wanted to destroy the creature before reluctantly using it to save the day. Throughout the MCU and his interactions with other heroes, he realizes that the Hulk could be a force for good, and eventually, he doesn’t need to fight him, but he becomes one. It feels odd to say he was ruined when the ultimate payoff to his journey is that he is the one who can wear the Infinity Gauntlet and bring everyone back.
The Hulk was initially seen only as a symbol of destruction, but ultimately, he was the one who saved the world. That’s a pretty powerful message, and it feels disheartening to see some people think Marvel should throw that away so they can see more Hulk smashing, even though they’ve done that in two feature solo films, various MCU titles, and even a proxy in the form of The Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World. Despite what fans say, the MCU didn’t “ruin” the Hulk or “make him a joke.” What the franchise did was follow his character arc through to its natural conclusion.
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Role
As of this moment, it is rumored that Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk will return in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. This would allow the Hulk to fill the Marvel guest star role that Sony Pictures requires for all their MCU Spider-Man collaborations. Marvel has yet to make any official casting announcements, but seeing the Hulk and Spider-Man on screen together would be a dream come true for fans.
Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, if Marvel Comics were to have had a big three to rival DC’s Trinity, it would have been Spider-Man, the Hulk, and Wolverine. The Hulk and Spider-Man, in particular, were all over Marvel merchandise in the 1990s and 2000s. Despite appearing in Avengers: Endgame, Bruce Banner and Peter Parker have never shared a dialogue scene. Allowing the two characters to share the screen and have Marvel’s two most famous heroes working together is too good an opportunity to pass up.
However, rumors suggest that the villain of Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be Mr. Negative, which could set up a potential showdown between the Hulk and Spider-Man. Mr. Negative can corrupt an individual by touching them, which, if he did so on Bruce Banner, could allow the Hulk to emerge and resort to his monstrous form. Mr. Negative could be how the MCU explains the Joe Fixit persona (Grey Hulk, but wears a suit) or another of the Hulk’s dark alter egos. This, in theory, allows the MCU to have its cake and eat it too. They can feature some classic Hulk action that fans have been clamoring for, while also not backtracking on Banner’s journey and having him regain control by the film’s end.
Seeing Spider-Man finally face off against the Hulk on screen might sound cool on paper, but it also seems like an overly complicated way to generate a Hulk fight instead of a meaningful continuation of Bruce Banner’s MCU story. After all this work to establish Bruce Banner’s new life, one where he is happy after spending years on the run, it would be disappointing to see it revert just for the sake of ‘giving fans what they want’ instead of following through with his character arc.
Smart Hulk Leads to More Exciting Possibilities Than Fans Realize
The frustrating aspect of Smart Hulk, or more accurately, some audiences’ reaction to him, is that he opens plenty of interesting storytelling possibilities for the MCU to explore. Since Avengers: Endgame, Banner has appeared as a cameo at the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and had a significant role in the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
She-Hulk introduced an interesting element to the Hulk lore: Jennifer Walters has complete control over her Hulk form, while it took Bruce Banner years. Also, she doesn’t have “another guy” and is just one entity. Combined with Emil Blonsky being in control of his Abomination form, the MCU seemingly implies that Banner’s specific Hulk might be unique to him, hinting at Banner having some form of dissociative identity disorder.
Likely due to the poor reaction to 2003’s Hulk (an underrated superhero movie gem), Marvel Studios has largely ignored Bruce Banner’s childhood, with the most we know about him being his early years working at Culver State University with Betty Ross before becoming the Hulk. Yet now that Banner knows his cousin doesn’t have a separate persona, that could be a building block for him to explore his psyche more. This could lead Banner to encounter other Hulk personas, including the Joe Fixit and the Indestructible Hulk, aka the Devil Hulk persona.
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Smart Hulk could also open the door for The Maestro, a villainous version of the Hulk from the future. Maestro, like Smart Hulk, possesses Banner’s intelligence and the Hulk’s strength. While the door for Maestro might have been closed due to the MCU seemingly slowing down the multiverse angle, Maestro is just one of many exciting new story developments that emerge for Hulk stories to tell now with the emergence of Smart Hulk.
The comics have suggested that Doc Green persona, a smart version of the Hulk, might be the younger incarnation of the Maestro. That could set up a more meaningful showdown between Bruce Banner and Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, as both characters are scientists who might disagree about a specific practice, putting them on opposite sides and giving their conflict added weight.
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Even if they don’t fight, there is nothing wrong with allowing Bruce Banner/Hulk to be drama-free since he is no longer a major star of the MCU. The franchise has introduced plenty of new characters that should be the focus, ones with compelling stories to tell, and could run for years. Why recycle the same Hulk stories? There is no shortage of Bruce Banner/Hulk stories, from comics and prior Hulk films. The MCU is presenting a new take on his story as it positions new faces to be the franchise’s leads.
If Hulk is in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it will undoubtedly be great to see Marvel’s two biggest heroes finally share the screen, and on a simple fan-service level, of course, it would be great to see a showdown between the two heroes in their iconic classic forms. Yet it can’t help but feel like Marvel might be listening to fans’ complaints instead of trusting their instincts about the version of the Hulk they’ve established.
- Release Date
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July 31, 2026
- Director
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Destin Daniel Cretton
- Prequel(s)
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Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Franchise(s)
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Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man
