A new Avengers: Endgame theory about Hulk is sweeping the internet this week, and we’re here to tell you that it is unequivocally false. Not only is there no evidence to back up this claim, but it simply doesn’t fit with the narrative that began with Avengers: Infinity War and will culminate in Endgame.
Redditor u/angrydanmarin posted this theory to the r/FanTheories subreddit on Sunday that Hulk was among those dusted by Thanos’ Decimation.
“At the end of *Infinity War you see Bruce banner’s head flop to one side after the characters get [snapped] away,” they write, citing a YouTube video ripped from the final minutes of the movie, specifically at about the 3:50 mark. That’s when the surviving Avengers on Earth gather around Vision’s corpse. Everyone sort of collapses under the weight of what’s happened, and the scene ends when Steve Rogers says, “Oh God…”
The theory assumes that when Bruce Banner’s head slumps in the background, that’s actually Hulk getting dusted. The more likely truth, however, is that Banner is just sad about all his friends dying and stares at the ground rather than Vision’s corpse. Pretty much everybody in this scene has the same reaction.
This is the only piece of very thin evidence, and it sort of ignores the fact that Thanos’ intention is to wipe out half of all living creatures. (Hulk is an entity that shares Banner’s body, so he wouldn’t really count.)
To top it all off, this theory isn’t even new. ComicBook.com came up with this same theory back in January (so it’s odd they’d present it again as a “new” theory this week.)
Furthermore. there’s far more evidence in the broader narrative of the MCU, and Infinity War specifically, to indicate otherwise. In early 2018, Mark Ruffalo revealed that the MCU has something of a “secret Hulk trilogy” that spans from Thor: Ragnarok into Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. It sees Hulk coming to terms not with his fear of Thanos, but of Bruce Banner. “The only thing Hulk is afraid of is Banner,” actor Mark Ruffalo said on Marvel The Marvelists podcast in September 2018.
The Russo Brothers, directors of Infinity War and Endgame, also confirmed in May 2018 that Hulk refused to transform in Infinity War because “he’s had enough of saving Banner’s ass.”
Like Hawkeye, and Ant-Man, Hulk is one of the heroes that was neglected in Infinity War and received minimal or no screen time. The Russo Bros. have previously indicated that these characters will take up a lot of the “emotional real estate” in Endgame’s 3-hour runtime, along with the original Avengers like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Black Widow (who all managed to survive the Snap).
Consider that of the last things Banner says in Infinity War is, “Hulk, we got a lot to figure out, pal.” Why would that line be in the jam-packed script so close to the Decimation if Hulk was about to be killed? Clearly, Banner and Hulk will reconcile their differences as part of the Endgame narrative.
This is Hulk's reaction when people think he's dead.
Rather than Hulk being dead, it’s far more likely that we see something like “Professor Hulk” where Hulk and Banner merge their personalities. There’s also a strong possibility that via time travel, we’ll see a different version of the Battle of Wakanda in which the Hulkbuster armor is destroyed as Hulk joins in the fray. (This would explain the unused team-up shot where Hulk runs with several other heroes in one Infinity War trailer.)
Furthermore, Mark Ruffalo teased in the past that Hulk will team up with Rocket Raccoon in Infinity War. That obviously didn’t happen, so he must have been talking about Endgame.
There’s added evidence through various toy leaks that Hulk will be present in Endgame and wear the same kind of white suit that everyone else dons.
We have no idea what might really happen in Avengers: Endgame, but it seems all but certain that Hulk is still alive and well — he’s just hiding inside Bruce Banner until he’s ready to smash once again.
Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26, 2019.
