One of the nicest surprises in Avengers: Endgame was Mark Ruffalo’s chilled out ‘smart’ Hulk. Throughout Avengers: Infinity War, the Hulk refused to emerge after having been pummelled by Thanos in the opening scenes. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely originally planned for this situation to resolve itself during the final battle, with Banner and Hulk merging during a fight with Cull Obsidian (and probably bursting out of the Hulkbuster armor).
That scene, together with one of Falcon and Black Widow reacting to the new smart Hulk, was filmed and effects work began. However, relatively late in the day, it was decided that they were to be left on the cutting room floor, with the Russos, Markus and McFeely explaining that it introduced a note of victory into a scene where the universe was dealing with the immediate tragic impact of the Snap. The sequence is now being discussed again though on social media by fans and you can check it out below.
https://twitter.com/bork_21/status/1280911128420397056?s=20
It’s a cool scene, especially in the way it calls back to Black Widow’s Hulk-calming tactics we saw in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I think it’s right that they cut it from Infinity War though, as it would have spoiled the downbeat, miserable ending they were going for. Perhaps it’d have been nice to see this in Endgame, but it’s difficult to know where you’d fit it into an already very busy movie. Still, the Hulk undergoing a major character development offscreen is a bad case of breaking “show don’t tell.”
So, what’s next for Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk? Well, he was the key to undoing Thanos’ Snap, though seriously damaged his arm in the process. Theoretically, he should be able to heal from this injury, but his arm appeared to still be out of action in scenes that took place sometime after he injured it. Perhaps the best chance might be for him to show up in the upcoming Disney+ She-Hulk series? In any case, I doubt the angry green giant will be gone for long.
