Everyone’s favorite giant green rage monster has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the franchise’s second installment, which released just six weeks after Iron Man and even featured a Tony Stark cameo, but the Hulk‘s trajectory since then has been muddled to say the least.
Almost a decade passed without the brief Edward Norton era being mentioned at all, as replacement Mark Ruffalo became a firm fan favorite. However, William Hurt’s return as Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Civil War nudged the door open, before Tim Roth’s Abomination walked on through via a surprising cameo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and he’ll be back in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
It’s been a touch haphazard to say the least, then, but the She-Hulk trailer has made Bruce Banner’s Phase Four journey even more confusing. In Avengers: Endgame, we discovered that the good doctor and the Hulk had been permanently fused together, before he used his beefy forearms to survive the Snap that brought back the half of all living creatures to have been wiped out by Thanos.
However, it was human Banner who showed up in the Shang-Chi post-credits scene, with a sling the only reminder of Endgame. Muddying the waters even further, it’s the big guy all over the She-Hulk footage, which appears to indicate that Banner is once again capable of switching between his two forms at will, which he said was no longer an option during the Infinity Saga’s closing chapter.
Not only that, but his damaged arm looks fine, despite the fact it almost killed him not too long ago in MCU continuity. We know that the damage done by the Gauntlet is significant based on the state of Thanos during Endgame‘s prologue, so you can bet that fans will be demanding an explanation when She-Hulk rolls around.