The Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal was extensive, but many big names were missing. Among them was one of the founding Avengers, Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Incredible Hulk.
Mark Ruffalo has been playing the scientist since 2012's The Avengers, and supposed leaked concept art for Secret Wars showed him in what appeared to be Battleworld's "Greenland" alongside She-Hulk and Skaar. However, Ruffalo's name was not on the back of a chair, nor Tatiana Maslany's.
When we last saw Banner, his arm had healed following the events of Avengers: Endgame. After helping train his cousin, Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk, the Green Goliath met his son, Skaar. Unfortunately, that character's brief introduction in the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law finale didn't receive the warmest response from fans.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars can find a way to fix that, of course, and The Cosmic Circus' Alex Perez is reporting that Ruffalo will be back for both of those movies.
While this was to be expected, it's good to know there's a place in both stories for The Hulk. Banner remains in his "Smart Hulk" persona, but there's a chance these movies will see him go Savage again or, if we're really lucky with the Multiverse in play, Maestro could enter the fray.
Rumours continue to persist about a World War Hulk project, though it seems that's being saved for the next Saga of MCU storytelling (if indeed it's happening).
As things stand, the MCU has at least four Hulks—Red Hulk is alive and well in The Raft—and an Abomination, though Amadeus Cho's planned Captain America: Brave New World debut was scrapped despite being added during reshoots. Throw The Leader into the mix, and all the ingredients are there for a global battle unleashing who knows how many Hulks (Maestro could even be Banner's next evolution).
"Yeah. Kevin [Feige] was like, 'What would you like to do?' And he said, 'What would you do if you had a standalone Hulk movie?' I said, 'Well, I'd like to take him from this raging maniac to kind of this integrated character,'" Mark Ruffalo said of his MCU role as Hulk earlier this year. "And he's like, 'Okay. We'll do that over the course of four movies."
"We'll never give you a standalone Hulk...I Don't mean to burst your bubble, but that's just not going to [happen.] So, we'll do it over four movies, how does that sound?' As far as I know. [when asked if it's still true that Marvel Studios doesn't want to do a Hulk movie.] I can talk more about it, but I've been told not to," the actor added, alluding to the complicated rights issues surrounding the Hulk franchise.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on May 1 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on May 7, 2027.