In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Peter Parker seeks out Bruce Banner's help while attempting to build an inhibitor chip capable of keeping his evolving powers under control.
Bruce, now back in his human form and wearing an inhibitor device to suppress the Jade Giant, expresses concerns that Peter's tech could completely depower someone with superhuman abilities against their will. They part ways, but Jean Grey manages to take control of Bruce off-screen and forces him to change so she can break into the Department of Damage Control's vault.
Bruce is in his Professor Hulk form at that point, but when he's finally freed from Jean's control, his mind is so scrambled that he's unable to keep the Big Guy in check and becomes the rampaging Savage Hulk. A fight with Spider-Man and The Punisher ensues, but it ends on a surprisingly dark note.
After seemingly remembering Peter when the hero pleads with him to stop, Hulk ends the fight by allowing himself to fall from the building to the street below. There are different ways to interpret this scene; some believe Bruce, with his memories of his fellow hero restored, regained enough control to end the fight, while others think it was much darker than that.
Could Bruce have been attempting to take his own life? It's a possibility, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day hints at the Avenger's mindset by confirming that he's been institutionalised.
The press isn't overly kind to the rampaging Hulk, and while we don't pick up with Bruce again, his reputation has been ruined, he's hospitalised, and his time as an ESU professor is almost certainly over.
Looking to the future, this likely has implications for Avengers: Doomsday in the sense that it explains why Bruce isn't helping out his fellow Avengers. Secret Wars is a good opportunity to reset the character on Battleworld, and leaked concept art has shown Hulk, She-Hulk, and Skaar in a village full of Hulks (the MCU's take on "Greenland").
It seems Professor Hulk's time has ended, and while the version we see in the Multiverse Saga finale may be a little less Savage, it seems the Green Goliath is back to being an out-of-control monster. That's a status quo that serves the character well, though it will be interesting to see how he's used in the MCU as we head into the next Saga.
A World War Hulk project no longer seems high on Marvel Studios' list of priorities, especially after the tepid response to Red Hulk and The Leader in Captain America: Brave New World. That's a shame, but there's still time to head down that route, especially if Hulk's next evolution is more Maestro-inspired.
"Spider-Man: Brand New Day is everything fans could want," we wrote in our review of the movie. "Emotional, hilarious, and heartfelt, it’s an action-packed love letter to the comics and one of Spidey’s best big-screen adventures. Spider-Man has never been more amazing."
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theaters.