As Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s hotly anticipated release approaches, secondary marketing campaigns are beginning to kick in, with merch and tie-in toy reveals showing off closer looks at character designs and even hinting at story details. For the most part, major Marvel movies manage to avoid the trend after some releases from the early days included some eye-catching spoilers. We’ve seen both LEGO and Funko tie-ins reveal tasty story details in the past, and it’s several different toy lines that have confirmed lots of interesting details about Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk in particular. And now, something very exciting has turned up.
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At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the world’s memory of Peter Parker being Spider-Man was wiped out by Doctor Strange’s spell, and inevitably, fans immediately started looking for potential loopholes. The one everyone seemed to obsess over most involved the Hulk: because, technically, only Bruce Banner was “present” for the spell, and Hulk was being suppressed by Banner’s tech, that potentially meant the spell would not have worked on Hulk. Finally, thanks to a Hasbro Hulk figure releasing for Brand New Day, we now know we’re going to get an answer to that theory. The official description of the BND-tie-in Marvel Legends Series Hulk reads as follows: “Spider-Man is surprised to see the Hulk again after so much time has passed, and has no idea if Hulk will remember him. Will Hulk be a friend or foe?”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Hulk Story Keeps Getting More Exciting
The acknowledgment of the theory that Hulk’s memory might not have been affected the same way as Banner’s is interesting in the context of what has been revealed so far about Banner’s role. What we absolutely know, thanks to the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer, is that Banner does not know Peter Parker when they “meet” again in his classroom. Presumably, Peter goes to Banner for an explanation of his strange new mutations, in a desperate move that must surely reveal his secret identity one way or another, but at the start, he doesn’t even know his name.
We also now know Savage Hulk is returning after being sidelined by Avengers: Endgame‘s Smart Hulk reveal. Various Brand New Day merch drops have confirmed Savage Hulk’s part, and it was long-speculated even before that. Crucially, the same Hasbro Hulk figure confirms that Hulk and Spider-Man will fight, which you might think is confirmation that Hulk doesn’t remember Peter Parker, but actually, it’s not that straightforward. Nobody forgot Spider-Man; the spell worked only on memories of Peter Parker, so Hulk should still know Spider-Man is good and aligned with the Avengers. The reason they’re fighting can’t have anything to do with the question of whether the spell worked on him.
With that in mind, the reveal that Hulk’s potential memory of Spider-Man will play an active part in Brand New Day‘s story feels even more loaded. Hopefully, we will get a reveal that validates the 5 years of speculation, but just having the “real” version of Hulk back is reason enough to be excited. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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