The Infinity Saga box set from Marvel promises a ridiculous amount of MCU content, spanning from the original Iron Man to the most recent 2019 releases. While it’s currently hard to get a hold of it, both due to its almost $600 price-tag and copies being snapped up, we are at least getting information about the deleted and bonus scenes that are included in the collection.
We’ve already put together a list of all the exciting content in the box set, but one scene is particularly notable for fans of the Hulk, in that it shows the character breaking out of the Hulkbuster armor in Avengers: Infinity War. Part of what would have been a different storyline for Bruce Banner, the scene was planned to take place during the Battle of Wakanda, with Hulk bursting out of the Hulkbuster armor and taking on Thanos’ armies.
However, the movie instead restricts Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner to the armor, following on from the Hulk’s brutal defeat by Thanos in the opening scene of the picture. We then see Smart Hulk in Avengers: Endgame, the result of Banner being able to balance out the different sides of his personality.
The Hulkbuster scene can now be viewed in the context of the filmmakers’ original plan to have Smart Hulk emerge at the end of Infinity War, effectively as a compromise in the Battle of Wakanda. Moreover, another deleted scene set before the arrival of Thanos would have confirmed this new stage in the Hulk’s evolution by having him speak in a normal voice. In the end though, it was felt that introducing Smart Hulk at this point through the (admittedly) very cool scene of him exploding from the Hulkbuster suit, didn’t suit the downbeat tone of Infinity War.
Viewed alongside the other bonus content, the Hulkbuster scene in Avengers: Infinity War is just one of the many fun ‘what if?’ additions to the MCU featured in the Infinity Saga set, including a different take on Odin’s death in Thor: Ragnarok.
Tell us, though, would you have preferred to see Smart Hulk appear earlier than the introduction in Endgame? As always, let us know down below.