Even by the standards of three-hour films, Avengers: Endgame packs a lot of content into its runtime, but one sequence that some fans spent the entire movie waiting for was the oft-predicted “rematch” between Hulk and Thanos.
In the opening minutes of last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, Bruce Banner and his big green alter ego were comfortably beaten in battle by the Mad Titan. The incident led to a falling out between Bruce and Hulk that prevented Banner from transforming for the rest of the film. Even in the prologue of Endgame, Mark Ruffalo’s character was forced to use the Hulkbuster for the team’s confrontation with Thanos, but after the movie’s five-year time jump, we find that Banner has managed to blend his two halves into the Smart Hulk persona.
So, the stage is now set for another clash between Hulk and the purple conqueror, right? Well, as we now know, co-writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus had other plans in mind. And in a recent interview with Backstory Magazine, McFeely argued that a rematch with Thanos wouldn’t have been appropriate for Banner’s arc:
“I know a lot of people were saying they can’t wait for [Hulk and Thanos’] rematch. Well, that would’ve made sense had he not become Smart Hulk. He’s a whole different thing, and that’s not what drives him. So we never thought, ‘Oh, he really is trying to get a crack at Thanos now.’”
Though a fight between Smart Hulk and the MCU’s greatest villain would’ve no doubt had the fans cheering, it’s easy to see where McFeely is coming from. After all, if Banner’s transition to Smart Hulk represented the hero finally attaining inner peace, then resolving a five-year-old grudge against Thanos through a bout of hand-to-hand combat would’ve arguably been a step backwards for the character.
As it stands, Avengers: Endgame seems to have brought some closure to Banner’s story, though surely we can’t rule out another appearance from the Jade Giant once the MCU’s Phase 4 gets underway.
