Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk had one of the most stagnant character arcs in the MCU, despite the hero being a crucial part of the Avengers team. While behind-the-scenes issues played a major part in the MCU’s failure to explore this character, even solving those issues may no longer help Hulk’s story. The universe has already introduced another superhero dealing with multiple personality disorder — Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight — which undermines the Hulk’s defining characteristic from the comics.
The MCU is currently running with the Smart Hulk story, something they introduced in Avengers: Endgame. Interestingly, Marvel chose not to show the transition of the character into his smart self, even deleting one heartwarming scene in Avengers: Infinity War.
Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight Overshadows One Core Hulk Characteristic
In Marvel Comics, fans loved to see the banter between Bruce Banner and Hulk. It was one of the things that the MCU failed to explore with Mark Ruffalo‘s character. After The Incredible Hulk in 2008, no major MCU films properly gave the time or effort to flesh out the character. Hulk was included mostly as a side character in the films. Even his romantic angle with Scarlett Johansson‘s Black Widow was left largely unexplored in the movies.
Fans were not impressed with Hulk’s portrayal in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. However, continuing the whole Smart Hulk angle was the safest bet for the MCU. Marvel Studios could not explore much character growth with Hulk due to a number of reasons. The primary reason, in the current state of the MCU, is the introduction of the character of Moon Knight.
Oscar Isaac‘s portrayal of the multiple personalities, Marc Spector, Steven Grant, and Jake Lockley, has garnered some dedicated fans for the show. Isaac revealed that he read Robert B. Oxnam’s book A Fractured Mind to play the character (via Variety). While the actor and the character tap into the whole multiple personality angle, the MCU may not be willing to create a similar arc for Bruce Banner and his alter ego.
Another major factor in the MCU not significantly advancing Hulk’s character arc is because of the legalities with Universal Studios. The first solo film, The Incredible Hulk, was made in collaboration with Universal, who struck a deal with Marvel for distribution rights. According to this deal, Universal retained the right of first refusal to distribute any future solo Hulk movies.
When Disney took over Marvel, Universal did not pass over the distribution rights to their competitors, i.e., Disney. The only way Marvel could work around this issue was to make the Hulk a supporting character.
Elsewhere, Marvel Comics’ recent storylines have made Bruce Banner a more sad and depressed man once again. The depression angle has been mentioned multiple times throughout the movies, like his revelation about putting a bullet in his mouth in The Avengers.
Before Moon Knight, Marvel Ruined The Chance To Explore The Bruce Banner-Hulk Relationship
While Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight undermined the Hulk’s most defining characteristic in the MCU, Marvel earlier refused to explore the relationship between Bruce Banner and his alter ego. The theatrical versions of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame showed Hulk’s abrupt transition from Bruce Banner to Smart Hulk. While fans only got to see Mark Ruffalo in Hulkbuster suit in Infinity War, the film’s deleted scenes included a crucial Hulk scene.
These deleted scenes were included in the Infinity Saga box set and revealed that Banner’s alter ego finally appeared in the final scenes of the movie. Both Banner and Hulk have a proper conversation for the first time and reach an agreement. The Hulk then fights and kills the Cull Obsidian before revealing his smart self to Black Widow.
A deleted scene where Banner and Hulk come to an understanding while fighting Cull Obsidian and Smart Hulk emerges.
𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁𝚂 – 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝚈 𝚆𝙰𝚁 (𝟸𝟘𝟷𝟾) pic.twitter.com/CYvDDsa0fa
— All Marvel, All the Time (@historyofthemcu) December 16, 2023
The writers of Infinity War later revealed that Hulk’s little win would have lessened the impact of the climactic tragedy of the film (via The New York Times). However, they lost their one shot at exploring the Bruce Banner-Hulk interaction in the films. The MCU is not going to steer away from the Smart Hulk arc anytime soon. The Incredible Hulk, Moon Knight, and other Marvel projects are now available for streaming on Disney+.
