One of the Avengers who was sidelined the most through the Infinity Saga was Bruce Banner/Hulk, but his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t over yet, and here’s what’s next for him in Phase 4 and possibly beyond. The MCU continues expanding with its highly-anticipated Phase 4, which, unlike past phases, is covering movies and TV shows, with the latter being directly connected to the movies. The MCU is introducing new characters on both sides, and the first new hero to get a solo movie in Phase 4 was Shang-Chi.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings introduced the title hero (played by Simu Liu), who is forced to confront his past after running away from his family many years back. Shang-Chi’s father is none other than Wenwu (Tony Leung), the leader of the Ten Rings organization, and the hero is drawn back to him and the Ten Rings along with his sister, Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), when they have to search for a mythical village. Shang-Chi, like most MCU movies, has two post-credits scenes, the first one directly connecting him to other characters thanks to the appearance of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), the latter with the big surprise of him not being Smart Hulk anymore.

Bruce/Hulk reverting to his normal, Bruce Banner form makes way for his return in the MCU’s Phase 4 and possibly beyond, as there’s a lot of explaining to do about how and why he stopped being Smart Hulk and how the Hulk will deal with what Banner did to him in order to merge the best of both into one body. Luckily, Bruce/Hulk’s future in the MCU looks bright so far, and after his brief (but intriguing) appearance at the end of Shang-Chi, Hulk will be back in the TV series She-Hulk, which will introduce his cousin Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany). The first look at She-Hulk showed Bruce as Smart Hulk, but fans are speculating that he will find how to de-Hulk himself during She-Hulk, allowing Ruffalo to also appear as Bruce Banner.


She-Hulk is the only Phase 4 project in which Bruce/Hulk is confirmed to appear, but beyond this current phase, his future is unknown. There have been many rumors about a World War Hulk movie being in development and planning to begin filming in 2022, which would be part of the MCU’s Phase 5. As mentioned above, Hulk has been left aside during his history in the MCU so far, and he has always been part of a team – either the Avengers or the Revengers, the latter seen in Thor: Ragnarok – so Phase 5 could finally see him at the front and center of his own adventure, which in turn would extend his time in the MCU and make way for other appearances, meaning that he could still be around when/if Avengers 5 happens.

Even though She-Hulk will focus on Jennifer Walters, it’s possible that it will further set up Bruce/Hulk’s future, hinting at World War Hulk or something else, and it’s also possible that Hulk will make a surprise appearance in another movie, as he secretly did in Shang-Chi. The MCU hasn’t forgotten about Bruce Banner and the Hulk, and hopefully, this universe will finally give him a chance to lead his own adventure and clean up his reputation in the process, as he doesn’t have the best history when it comes to his solo movies.