On the surface, next year’s Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster Captain America: New World Order is both a sequel to the Chris Evans trilogy and Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but somehow The Incredible Hulk has continued its remarkable route back into official canon to become one of the biggest driving forces behind the movie.
For almost a decade, the second installment in the franchise – which was released only six weeks after Iron Man in the summer of 2008 – was completely swept under the rug and ignored as the MCU’s red-headed stepchild. Only in 2016 with the return of William Hurt’s Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Civil War did the door creak ajar, but it’s now been booted wide open.
Tim Roth carried on the trend when he made his comeback as Emil Blonsky in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but the news Liv Tyler would be returning as Betty Ross in New World Order to join fellow alumni Tim Blake Nelson in making their first appearances in 16 years has sent shockwaves through the fandom.
When you consider Harrison Ford’s reprisal of Ross following the passing of Hurt as well, that means there are three characters from The Incredible Hulk in the same MCU project since… well, since The Incredible Hulk. There’s no chance Betty and the Leader wouldn’t have been brought back if it wasn’t directly tied to the events of Louis Leterrier’s undercooked effort, which leads us to question the decision-making process when New World Order is gathering more headlines for being The Incredible Hulk 2 than it has for being Captain America 4.
Looking at how the Multiverse Saga has been treated so far, it’s going to be placed under intense scrutiny up until then, and now we’re also left wondering who else could end up being brought back.
