Marvel's Official Timeline Changed When Hulk Was Born Previously, there was a possible connection between 2008's The Incredible Hulk and 2003's Hulk from director Ang Lee due to the MCU movie's 5-year time jump and the time between the Hulk movies; however, the new reveal cements the MCU Hulk's different origin.
The Incredible Hulk movie of several years later, however, was one of the first MCU movies. It takes place in the same “universe” as Iron Man, with the Iron Man post-credit teaser making that clear.
Bruce Banner has had a restricted role in the MCU because of the complicated Hulk movie and character rights. The Incredible Hulk was released before Marvel was purchased by Disney, and the film was originally distributed by Universal Pictures.
Here's the thing, though: Every MCU project to feature Ruffalo as the uncontrollable rage monster in the torn purple pants have not been standalone Hulk adventures. Why? Because Universal Pictures still owns the screen rights to the classic character.
We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.
The Inverse Analysis — Hulk and Bruce Banner had some ongoing power issues throughout Infinity War that ultimately led to Bruce Banner absorbing the Hulk persona entirely going into Endgame. Hulk refused to emerge for the rest of Infinity War after losing to Thanos, which was somewhat frustrating for viewers.
After Ultron's defeat, Hulk commandeered a Quinjet and left Earth. During his interstellar travel, Banner came across a wormhole that caused him to crash on Sakaar. There, the stressful environment prevented him from returning to his human form, causing him to remain in Hulk form.
After the mixed reception to Universal's 2003 film Hulk, Marvel Studios reacquired the rights to the character, though Universal retained distribution rights.
Mark Ruffalo is opening up about his time as the Hulk and how he would love to do more with the character in the future. However, he told GQ in a recent interview that he acknowledges a solo Hulk movie is unlikely.
that the Hulk actually got shorter during Endgame? Well, after Bruce managed to tame the Hulk, the 2 would combine and make Professor Hulk, allowing him to become more human like. However, when the Hulk had full control, he was much taller and larger. due to him fueling off of his rage.
One idea is that the creation of Professor Hulk let Bruce's intelligence inject more humanity into the Hulk. As a result, his rage was tempered enough to affect his strength. That being said, the traditional version of the Hulk wasn't without his humanity.
Was Bruce Banner trying to recreate Captain America?
Bruce Banner's childhood dream was to be like Captain America, a skinny youth transformed into an athletic hero. Graduating university two years early, he sought to reproduce the lost super-soldier serum, working for the government under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s General Ross.
The film was initially released and distributed by Universal on June 13, 2008, and the company held the rights to the title for 15 years. Now, in a notable shift, the rights have reverted to Marvel Studios, leading to the film's release on Disney+.
Hulk's defeat could be because Thanos possessed the Power Stone, but with Thanos never pulling it out in the fight, the Russos believe that he didn't need it to win. Despite his great strength, pre-Avengers: Infinity War Hulk did not often fight with a strategy.
Bruce Banner lives a life caught between the soft-spoken scientist he's always been and the uncontrollable green monster powered by his rage. Exposed to heavy doses of gamma radiation, scientist Bruce Banner transforms into the mean, green rage machine called the Hulk.
The Hulk disappeared at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron in a quinjet, not wanting to be a danger to anyone else or be used as a weapon. He willingly blasted off into space, and, given the large number of wormholes that led to Sakaar, his ship eventually landed on the Grandmaster's planet.
In a 2024 interview with GQ, Ruffalo stated that it's financially tricky for Marvel Studios to make a Hulk movie, saying that "it's very expensive if you did a whole movie, which is why they use the Hulk so sparingly." As valid and accurate as that statement is, there is also the matter of the Hulk distribution rights.
Unlike Spider-Man, which has a shared profit between Sony Pictures and Disney, Universal Pictures would retain most of the profits from distributing The Incredible Hulk. If a sequel were to be made, Universal Pictures would technically have the decision if they wanted to distribute it or pass it to Disney.
“The Incredible Hulk” only grossed $264 million worldwide, a sharp decline from “Iron Man's” $585 million. It's well known by now that Marvel scrapped all the follow-up plans it had for Norton continuing as Hulk. He was later replaced by Mark Ruffalo.
So while the MCU's Hulk may never go back to being angry the same way he was before, Bruce has a new set of personal demons to deal with that can have lasting repercussions on the MCU.
It is commonly known among audiences that the reason for this, per Cinema Blend, is that Norton just did not fit the kind of movie Marvel Studios ultimately intended to make.
The Incredible Hulk was once missing from the Disney Plus library of Marvel Studios projects. However, the Green Goliath's lone solo movie in the MCU is finally premiering on the service. When Disney acquired Marvel, they only got the film and TV rights to characters that Marvel did not already sell to other studios.
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law brought the total number of MCU Hulks to four: Bruce, She-Hulk, Abomination, and Skaar. Before this, there were rumors that Marvel was planning to tackle General "Thunderbolt" Ross' Red Hulk story arc from the comics in She-Hulk.
