While the rights issues between Marvel Studios and Universal have failed to see the Hulk get a second standalone movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the character was played by Edward Norton over a decade ago, the green-skinned superhero has nonetheless become one of the biggest fan-favorites in the entire franchise.
A lot of that is down to Norton’s replacement in the role, with Mark Ruffalo bringing a world-weary sense of charm and a quiet charisma to the often-downtrodden figure of Bruce Banner, as well as striking up quite the double-act with fellow ‘Science Bro’ Robert Downey Jr. During his time as part of the MCU, Ruffalo has gone from rage-fueled monster in The Avengers to one half of an intergalactic bromance in Thor: Ragnarok, with Avengers: Endgame giving us the best of both worlds in the form of Smart Hulk.
That’s already a lot of ground been covered character-wise, but Ruffalo still has some ideas for where he thinks the Hulk should go next. In an interview alongside Kevin Feige, the 51 year-old all-but-guaranteed that he would return to the MCU, and admitted that he could see Banner acting as a mentor to some of the franchise’s newer characters.
“I’d like to see him hang out with some of the new folks, you know? Maybe be like a guru to some of the younger ones.”
The Hulk has already been around the block countless times with the MCU’s older characters over the course of four Avengers movies and Ragnarok, and with the wealth of new characters set to be introduced in the future, it would make sense to have one of the elder statesmen of the franchise mix it up with some new blood.
Introducing Smart Hulk in Endgame has also opened up countless possibilities about where his journey could go next, and as a well-traveled veteran on both the Earthbound and cosmic sides of the MCU, he could literally turn up anywhere and it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.