A new Avengers: Endgame theory predicts that Bruce Banner (AKA The Hulk) will transform into the Maestro, a supervillain from an alternate future who has the brains of Mark Ruffalo’s doctor and the gall of his ferocious inner being.
Posting on Reddit, user u/IAmTheDos argues that the way Hulk is depicted in Endgame – where we see he and Banner achieve harmony as the shirt-wearing Smart Hulk – alludes to Maestro’s first onscreen appearance as Banner has “figuratively murdered the Hulk and stolen his body.”
What was left, they write” “is weirdly off putting,” saying that this incarnation of Hulk feels unrecognizable in relation to how we’ve seen him in some of the earlier movies. But the user isn’t the only person who’d agree; this unseen, unexplained merger between Banner and Hulk that gives the duo an entirely new personality, is questioned by his former lover Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and his friend from Ragnarok, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson).
This is when the user continues to their main theory, declaring that “Hulk’s body/power is affecting Banner’s mind like a psychoactive drug. This will slowly corrupt his mind leading him to become [The Maestro] in the future.”
Though the user is talking about the Hulk we currently have in the MCU, given what we know from the end of Endgame and the promotional material from Spider-Man: Far From Home, a Marvel multiverse, in which another Maestro could appear, seems possible. So this theory may not be totally outlandish.
But what Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo recently told ComicBook.com seems to debunk u/IAmTheDos. It seems that he feels the merger was “the only natural progression” for the body-sharing duo following their collective defeat in Infinity War.
As of now, we’re not sure what the future has in store for Hulk. But given this theory, it seems fans aren’t ready for Mark Ruffalo to leave the MCU just yet. While we wait to learn more, be sure to let us know in the comments what you think we’re going to see the mean, green fighting machine do next.
