So far we’ve had two Hulk movies, one with Eric Bana, which was just horrible enough to want to forget, and another with Edward Norton, which was a serious improvement but still somehow failed to resonate with as many fans as possible. In reality the Hulk we have now with Mark Ruffalo has been the favorite somehow despite the fact that Disney has effectively lowered the power level on several of its characters while ramping it up with others. The Hulk, who is known to get good and mad on a pretty constant basis, is now in his Bruce/Hulk form meaning he has Bruce’s intelligence, and the Hulk’s savage strength. The only problem is that if we’re going by the Hulk we saw in Endgame he’s been effectively neutered in a big way since not only does he disdain violence, but he’s also far less amusing than he was when he was all muscle and little brain. It’s true that in the comics he did revert to a form that was all strength and all brain at the same time, but he was so much more savage at that point that he was a lot more enjoyable and able to be the kind of character that people could still get behind. This version in the MCU was a lot better when Bruce wasn’t the one pulling the strings.
At this point taking on a Hulk movie one would almost expect to see an origin thrown in there as kind of an intro into who he was before the accident and what happened as a result of it. There really hasn’t been any interaction between Banner and one of his worst critics, General Thunderbolt Ross, who’s been after Banner for so long that he finally ended up becoming a Hulk to try and sort out the issue. Of course that didn’t work quite the way he thought it would be in the MCU thus far Ross has been kind of MIA unless he’s had to interact with the Avengers. He definitely got in on Edward Norton’s character and dug in his heels trying to get him back, but the moment that Mark Ruffalo took over things quieted down in a big way. One has to wonder if Ross is perhaps trying to corner Banner in the movies that don’t feature him, though that’s kind of wishful thinking since after Age of Ultron it’s seen that Hulk somehow made his way to Sakaar where he became a gladiator and champion of the Grandmaster. There wasn’t much Ross could do to him there.
A lot of people are waiting and hoping for a World War Hulk movie, or movies, since despite having already seen him in the arena it does feel as though the story could still be told and given a great deal of respect since it would be a solo movie despite the appearances of many upon many heroes that were brought in to try to take him down. When you think about it, World War Hulk and his Warbound would make for a great story, but it’d be nice to see anyone but Ruffalo at the helm again. Even if he was to change character and go savage once again, it’s not entirely likely that he’d be as convincing as Norton’s Hulk was since that guy was ripped, insanely pissed off, and looked like he’d be glad to start some trouble. Just imagine Norton’s Hulk with Banner’s brains and that immediately becomes kind of a scary proposition since like it or not, he looked immensely stronger and far more capable of taking on some of the strongest characters in the MCU.
The debate about Hulk’s power level has raged on throughout the years since some people want to think that he can beat just about anyone while others place his upper limits far below where others might see them. All in all the writers are the ones that are responsible for how a character is going to be seen and how their story is going to go. WWH would be a fun story to explore but it doesn’t feel as though it would be a good fit for Ruffalo, much as the current Hulk really isn’t that good of a fit since the fact that he looked absolutely disgusted with having to ‘act like the Hulk’ in Endgame was enough to cringe a little. I get it, we’re talking about a fictional character and as such the writing that goes into his behavior and his very existence is bound to determine how he’s seen on screen and how people perceive him. But for so long Hulk has been an absolute savage and even as a thinking brute with Banner’s mind it’s still a desire to see him this way. Unfortunately depending on Ruffalo to do this doesn’t sound feasible.
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