Hulk didn’t have a great time of it in Avengers: Infinity War. In contrast to every other fight he’s been involved with, the Jade Giant got his green behind handed to him by Thanos at the start of the movie which left him in a sour mood throughout the rest of the narrative, even refusing to come out when Bruce Banner needed him during the big battle in Wakanda. As such, Hulk’s arc has fascinated fans, leaving us wondering what’s next for him in Avengers 4.
Well, one Redditor has now considered the evidence and come up with a workable, convincing fan theory as to where Hulk will go in the fourth Avengers flick. The theory bears in mind that we’ve been told the character has a three-movie arc that began with Thor: Ragnarok and also factors in the common belief that Avengers 4 will start with a time jump. Given that, user @Fellowrugbyfan imagines that Hulk will be a lot smarter when we next see him.
I was reading earlier that instead of a stand alone movie Hulk was getting a major role in Thor 3 and a story ark going from Thor 3 to Avengers 4.
It got me to thinking of what this might be. In Thor 3 we see a more communicative Hulk and a more permanent Hulk. We see a non angry Hulk that isn’t reverting to Banner.
Similarly we see the Hulk fighting someone (Thanos) of similar strength in Avengers 3 but he is well beaten by his superior combat skills.
I’ve got to thinking that between Avengers 3 and Avengers 4 there is going to be a time gap of some duration. I think the movie will have to address the massive loss of life at the end of Avengers 4 at some stage in the first Act, though perhaps not the opening scene.
My theory is based around the iteration of the Hulk called Professor Hulk from the comics. Briefly, this version of Hulk is a controlled version marrying Banners smarts and personality with the more savage Hulk we’ve seen so far.
The fan goes on to argue that a smart Hulk would be a natural progression of how the character developed over his past two appearances – first he was in charge, then Banner was in charge and so next time, they’ll appear as equal partners in one being. Ultimately, it’s suggested that Hulk will get to fight Thanos again and beat him this time.
This theory is based on two things. Firstly the swing from Thor Ragnorok to Avengers 3 where we only see Hulk and then we only see Banner. A more complete integration of both is the next logical step.
Secondly, the fight with Thanos. Hulk in my opinion took that very badly and it’s the main catalyst for why he won’t reveal himself. I remember watching that fight as the difference between a ‘fighter’ and a ‘brawler’ and I don’t think the optics were at all accidental.
I think we’ll see some kind of fast movement of time in A4 either while Stark manufactures a return to earth or while people pick up the pieces of a shattered earth with 1/2 the population. I think Banner himself will use this time to train, will continue as an avenger utilising stark tech but will have become much more militarised as a result of the conflict in Avengers Infinity War.
I think this will culminate in a second fight with Thanos. I think we’ll see an ongoing dialogue between Banner and the Hulk which will resolve climatically either right before this fight, or when Starktech fails mid fight.
I think the ‘catch’ of this fight is that we’ll see a slightly altered Hulk that is cognitively almost entirely aligned with Banner but who fights in a more controlled fashion and hence is able to gain parity with Thanos.
Though the Redditor doesn’t mention it, another piece of evidence that supports this theory is that Avengers 4 concept art has shown us Hulk clad in a full purple bodysuit, as opposed to his usual ripped shorts look. This suggests that he’s mature enough now to have his own wardrobe, which would mean that the Green Goliath’s intelligence has increased since we last saw him.
The Russos have previously had to explain exactly why the Hulk seemed afraid to show up in Infinity War, while another fan theory tried to make sense of it, too. For now, though, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the real answer is when Avengers 4 arrives next May.