The Incredible Hulk will finally return in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and fans already have one major question regarding the character’s appearance in the upcoming film. The first trailer for Brand New Day is out now, giving a look at Peter Parker’s activities as Spider-Man in the wake of everyone forgetting him in No Way Home. Now, Peter is getting into an all-new adventure, this time involving The Punisher, Sadie Sink’s mystery character, and Bruce Banner.
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In the trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Peter pays a visit to Bruce Banner, who now seems to be a professor at a university. The duo discusses the dangers of mutating DNA, something that Peter seems to be going through based on the organic webbing seen in the trailer. Interestingly, Bruce is in his human form in the trailer, causing many fans to wonder why he isn’t the Hulk.
Bruce Banner’s Hulk Status Keeps Changing In The MCU
Bruce Banner has gone through a lot of changes over the past few years, making his Hulk status in Brand New Day even more confusing. Throughout the MCU’s first three phases, Bruce was able to switch between his human form and his Savage Hulk form, although not always at will. This changed in Avengers: Endgame, in which Smart Hulk is introduced. During the film’s time jump, Bruce found a balance between his split personalities, causing him to become Smart Hulk seemingly permanently.
Although it was expected that Smart Hulk would be Bruce’s permanent form, this turned out not to be the case. A hologram of Bruce is seen in the post-credits scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. There, Bruce is back in his human form. Many viewers speculated that Bruce found a way to get rid of his Smart Hulk form in between the films, explaining his human appearance.
However, this turned out not to be the case. Bruce next appeared in the series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, making a few appearances throughout the show. Each time he appeared, Bruce was in his Smart Hulk form, with it again seeming permanent. This made Bruce’s status in the MCU even more questionable, with him not appearing again until Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Brand New Day Already Shows Why Bruce Banner Isn’t The Hulk
Now, Bruce is back in his human form in Brand New Day, and the trailer may have already revealed why. In the scene in which Peter is talking to him, Bruce can be seen wearing something on his hand. It is possible that this could be an inhibitor Bruce invented to keep his Hulk form at bay. It would obviously be difficult for Bruce to work in a University if he were in his Hulk form, so it makes sense for him to want to retain his human form despite Smart Hulk being a psychological balance.
Interestingly, a similar device can be seen on Bruce’s arm during his brief appearance in Shang-Chi. It could be that Bruce has had this invention for a while, with the MCU never calling attention to it until this point. This still doesn’t explain why Bruce is in his Hulk form during the events of She-Hulk, but it at least explains his appearance in Shang-Chi and Brand New Day.
However, an alternate theory is that this device could have something to do with the injury Bruce sustained during Endgame. Bruce is the one who wore the Nano Gauntlet and snapped half of all life back into existence. The power of the Infinity Stones severely injured his hand, and this device may be managing the fallout of this injury.
There is an issue with this, though. In Shang-Chi, Bruce can be seen wearing the device on his left arm. He has his right arm in a sling, with this being the arm that he injured in Endgame. In Brand New Day, however, Bruce is wearing the device on his right arm and has no sling on his left arm. It wouldn’t make sense for the device to be treating his good arm in Shang-Chi, so it seems more likely that it’s an inhibitor that works on either arm.
However, it’s impossible to say for sure until Brand New Day hits theaters. With rumors of Savage Hulk returning, it makes sense to focus on this device now, as the villain of Spider-Man: Brand New Day could break it and bring back Bruce’s Hulk form.
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