It’s been a running joke between Mark Ruffalo, directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and the Marvel fandom for a few months now that the Hulk actor was fired from Avengers: Endgame for dropping spoilers. But while it’s well understood that such chatter is purely tongue in cheek, the irony is that Ruffalo may well be on the verge of ending his run in the MCU.
According to a source close to We Got This Covered, the star of Thor: Ragnarok and all four Avengers movies is finished with the franchise after Endgame. The report adds that there’s a “small chance” he might come back for Marvel’s Phase 5, but as it stands, “this is likely it.” And while these claims have yet to be officially confirmed, they don’t come across as particularly surprising.
As the culmination point for the first eleven years of the MCU, it’s long been assumed that Endgame would serve as the swan song for multiple Phase 1 Avengers. Specifically, some fans have been practically taking it as fact that Captain America and Iron Man are done after Endgame. And with Marvel Studios set to bring a new generation of heroes to the forefront of the franchise, it only figures that Hulk would also give up his slot in the saga.
It’s even been a popular theory that Bruce will resolve his arc in Endgame by blending his two conflicting sides into the Professor Hulk persona. Should the hero find an inner balance, it’s unclear how his story could and should continue, especially when there are a whole load of superheroes waiting in the wings who haven’t even been given one arc yet. Of course, we also probably shouldn’t rule out the possibility of Bruce suffering a heroic death in the fight against Thanos, but we can at least hold out hope for a happy ending until Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th.
