This was one of the more underrated years for the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. Was it the full-on course correction the saga needed after a few down years? Not quite, but it was far from shoddy. While Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps both underperformed at the box office, the former was one of the stronger entries of Phase Five and the latter was a fun start to Phase Six. The only flub was Captain America: Brave New World, which showed every ounce of its behind-the-scenes turmoil (e.g. reshoots) in the final product.
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But it did have one thing that mostly worked for it, which was Red Hulk. This was mostly because it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen the true angry, bulking version of the big guy (the green version) in quite some time. In fact, the last time was all the way back in 2018 with the opening scene of Avengers: Infinity War. It’s time we see the Hulk we’ve come to know and love in the MCU once more and, fortunately, there are two chances for that in 2026.
Hulk Had to Change to Remain Interesting, but It Would Be Fun to See Him in Smash Mode Again
Two MCU movies are scheduled for release in 2026. The first is Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31 and the second is Avengers: Doomsday on December 18. As of now, Mark Ruffalo is only confirmed to be in the former. However, considering long-term MCU stars Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd, and Tom Hiddleston are slated to appear, it would be a surprise if Ruffalo didn’t show up at some point.
It really just comes down to where he ends up after the events of Brand New Day. To that point, Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland, is not currently slated to appear in Doomsday, either. Perhaps it all just comes down to how Holland and Ruffalo are the most prone to accidentally dropping spoiler bombs. On the other hand, it could be because Ruffalo has been busy with HBO Max’s Task and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
In The Avengers we saw Bruce Banner accepting that he didn’t have full control over the Hulk. Then, when Ultron reared his ugly mechanical head, he was getting help from Black Widow to calm down. At the end of that movie, he departed from Earth for some R&R only to find himself trapped as the Hulk on Sakaar for two whole years. Then, when he takes on Thanos at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War and loses, that’s the last we see of the bulking, roaring green giant.
We still got Bruce Banner, but not the Hulk. Banner kept trying to force it, but to no avail. Then, in Avengers: Endgame, he’d found a balance. He became Smart Hulk. Now, the good thing about Smart Hulk was that it allowed us to see more of Ruffalo in the character (not to mention it allowed his expressiveness to actually carry some weight). However, it’s the type of thing that only really feels fresh for one movie.
Even still, Smart Hulk returned in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, where we see him alternate between full Bruce and Smart Hulk to train Jennifer Walters on how best to use her new gifts and control her anger. By that series’ end he’s still Smart Hulk, but now he has a son.
Even with just Endgame and She-Hulk, the whole Smart Hulk thing has grown a little stale. Perhaps since Brand New Day is a fresh start for Spider-Man it can be the same for Hulk.
In all honesty, the likelihood is that Smart Hulk is here to stay. It would take some narrative gymnastics for Bruce to have undone all the progress he’s made turning a monster he has no control over into a part of himself that he embraces. It will be interesting to see how he’s utilized in Brand New Day because, like every other member of the Avengers, he’s forgotten who Peter Parker is. One thing is for sure, now that Skaar is part of the picture, it seems inevitable that we’ll see him and his dad fighting side by side in an action sequence.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
