The way that Marvel has been able to make the MCU feel like one cohesive universe is incredibly impressive, but there are a few gaps in the worldbuilding that the franchise has yet to fill. For a while there, The Incredible Hulk was a major outlier, given that Edward Norton was replaced in the role of Bruce Banner by Mark Ruffalo come The Avengers. Still, William Hurt has since returned several times as General Ross, so that’s helped cement its place in the series.
But we’ve still yet to find out what happened to Ross’ daughter Betty, who was depicted as the love of Bruce’s life in TIH. Come the Ruffalo films, and he never even mentioned her, instead striking up a connection with Natasha Romanoff. Betty has been well and truly wiped from continuity, then, which is why it’s so surprising that a new Marvel book has brought her back in some sense, alongside Ruffalo’s Jade Giant.
MCU tie-in book The Wakanda Files contains a piece of artwork depicting Bruce Banner’s life before he transformed into the Hulk. The art – seen below – showcases Bruce, based off Ruffalo’s likeness, working in a laboratory alongside Betty, who resembles Liv Tyler. Presumably, it’s intended to show how Bruce was in a much happier place prior to being cursed with “the other guy,” and the implication is that his romance with Betty ended because of the curse of the Hulk.
In the present day MCU, though, Banner has managed to merge his two sides into one – Smart Hulk. With Natasha passed away, there’s the opportunity for Betty to come back into Bruce’s life and for them to rekindle their old fling. If this was to happen anywhere, She-Hulk would be the most likely option. Maybe sometime soon we’ll find out that Tyler has been hired for the Disney Plus show. Then this continuity gap can finally be filled.
