No movie has had less of an impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe than The Incredible Hulk, which was disregarded almost as soon as it hit theaters in the summer of 2008, just a few weeks after Iron Man had launched the franchise. In fact, if William Hurt’s Thaddeus Ross hadn’t returned in Captain America: Civil War and gone on to become a recurring character, you could wipe it from existence entirely and it wouldn’t change a single thing about the complexion of the MCU.
Indeed, it appears as though the studio would rather you pretended like The Incredible Hulk didn’t exist, but a new fan theory is now claiming that some supporting characters from Louis Leterrier’s blockbuster could be poised to return in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier after writer Derek Kolstad teased that several faces from the very earliest days of the MCU will be back and undergo a drastic reinvention.
You see, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier may explore the deeper history of the super soldier serum that created Captain America given the involvement of John Walker as the new Cap and a rumored role for Isiah Bradley, while The Incredible Hulk has several important connections to the formula as well as an Easter Egg that ties it directly into the main MCU timeline.
Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky was turned into Abomination by the serum, while we last saw Samuel Sterns in the earliest stages of his transformation into The Leader when Bruce Banner’s irradiated blood fell into an exposed wound. Bringing one or both of them back would certainly live up to Kolstad’s promise, and the addition of some gamma-affected villains could also directly link The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to She-Hulk for good measure.
