10 Worst Decisions Hulk Made In Marvel Movies

Both in the MCU and beforehand, Bruce Banner’s Hulk has made some truly terrible decisions. Marvel Comics’ Hulk has been adapted into live-action many times over the years, being portrayed by the likes of Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, Eric Bana, Edward Norton, and, most recently, Mark Ruffalo for the majority of the Hulk’s MCU adventures. It was Norton who first brought the Hulk to life in the MCU, debuting in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, a joint venture between Marvel Studios and Universal Pictures, who own the Hulk’s film rights. Ruffalo has portrayed Bruce Banner since 2012’s The Avengers, and has become the most popular version of the character in live-action.

Marvel Comics debuted Bruce Banner in 1962’s The Incredible Hulk #1 as a scientist working on an experimental “gamma bomb”, though things to awry when Banner himself gets hit with the blast, forcing him to absorb a massive amount of gamma radiation. This meant that, whenever Banner got angry, he would transform into a massive creature, which came to be known as the Hulk. The Hulk has been included in some of Marvel Comics’ biggest storylines, just as Ruffalo’s iteration has been for the MCU. The MCU’s Hulk timeline has seen the hero be involved in decisions that led to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes saving the day, but has also made some awful decisions himself.

10 Returning To The United States

2008’s The Incredible Hulk marked Bruce Banner’s first appearance in the MCU, and featured Edward Norton’s only appearance as the character. During the Phase 1 film, Banner constantly tries to avoid being captured by General Ross, who wants to use the Hulk for his own military purposes. Banner begins The Incredible Hulk hiding out in South America, where there are plenty of places to hide, but in an effort to gather more information regarding his initial transformation on his hunt for a cure, he ends up traveling back to the United States. This ultimately leads to the battle at Culver University, the rampage through Harlem, and the creation of Abomination.

9 Trying To Take On Surtur Alone

A very different Hulk was featured in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, as he’d been absent from the MCU since the battle in Sokovia in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Thor finds him on Sakaar, where the Hulk had become the Grandmaster’s champion, though the two Avengers would later team up and journey to Asgard to take on Hela. To defeat Hela, Thor unleashes Surtur on Asgard, but the Hulk unthinkingly takes this as an opportunity to take on the towering monster single-handedly. This is played for a joke in Thor: Ragnarok, but the fact that the Hulk thought he could defeat Surtur alone shows he wasn’t putting Banner’s PhDs to good use.

8 Experimenting With Time Without Understanding It

Avengers: Endgame marked Bruce Banner’s transformation into Smart Hulk, and this is the version of the Hulk that Scott Lang came face-to-face with after returning from the Quantum Realm. After Tony Stark dismisses their proposition to look into time travel, Lang, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff approach Smart Hulk to help them work out time travel. Without fully understanding the concept, and with very little care for the risks, Banner sends Lang through the Quantum Tunnel several times, changing him into a teen, an old man, and a baby before relenting. This could have very well ended with Ant-Man’s premature death, so was a very bad choice on Banner’s part.

7 Abandoning Betty Ross After The Incredible Hulk

Throughout the entirety of The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner and Betty Ross solidified their feelings for each other, and decided to stay together no matter the sacrifices both had to make. However, this was completely forgotten about by the end of the film, as Banner instead decides to launch himself out of General Ross’ helicopter, battle the Abomination in Harlem, and then abandon Betty Ross. This made very little sense, but perhaps Liv Tyler’s return as Betty Ross in Phase 5’s Captain America: Brave New World will be able to explain a little of what happened afterward, as it seemed as though Banner simply chose to leave her behind.

6 Rekindling A Relationship With His Father In Hulk

Ang Lee’s Hulk released in 2003 to a mostly negative response, but provided a very different origin story for Bruce Banner and the Hulk. After he realized that his son, Bruce, inherited his mutant DNA, David Banner attempted to kill his young child, but accidentally kills his wife instead. This leads to Bruce being put into foster care, and David disappearing. Years later, however, David and Bruce reunite shortly after Bruce undergoes the experiment that would transform him into the Hulk. This reunion was a bad decision for Bruce, as his father only wanted to conduct experiments on him and extract his DNA to elevate his own physiology.

5 Not Coming Out In Avengers: Infinity War

While it may be argued that the Hulk’s refusal to come out during 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War wasn’t a choice, but this isn’t the case, as Bruce Banner begs him several times to present himself and help in the battle against Thanos. Unfortunately, it seems as though the Hulk’s spar with Thanos in Infinity War’s opening moments left him terrified, or perhaps belittled, meaning he didn’t once show himself when the Avengers needed him the most. The Hulk would have been a huge asset during the Battle of Wakanda, though Thanos likely still would have won, but the Avenger made the choice to stay hidden and abandon his only friends.

4 Trying To “Cure” The Hulk

Marvel Studios’ Bruce Banner spent far too long treating the Hulk like a debilitating condition, rather than the asset he actually was. Several times over the course of the Hulk’s MCU timeline, Banner attempted to rid himself of his green friend, and the most notable case of this was in The Incredible Hulk. Banner had been working with the mysterious “Mr. Blue”, a.k.a. Samuel Sterns, to create a “cure” for the Hulk, though implementing this backfired catastrophically. Banner finding Sterns led to Blonsky’s transformation into the Abomination and Sterns’ own transformation into the Leader, who will be returning as the villain of 2024’s Captain America: Brave New World.

3 Underestimating She-Hulk

Bruce Banner’s cousin, Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters, found herself receiving Hulk powers of her own in Phase 4’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, after being exposed to Banner’s blood. This transforms her into She-Hulk, but she immediately has far more control over her powers than Banner ever did prior to his combining his two alter egos. Instead of being proud of his cousin, however, Banner underestimates, undermines, and belittles her throughout She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode 1, “A Normal Amount of Rage,” though does later come to respect his cousin’s superhero antics. Even so, he should have been supportive from day one.

2 Helping Tony Stark To Create Ultron

The artificial intelligence Ultron became the primary antagonist facing the Avengers in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, with Tony Stark constantly getting the blame for creating the evil robot. However, it always seems to be forgotten that Bruce Banner helped Stark bring Ultron to life, with the both of them conducting experiments for several days on the Mind Stone within Loki’s scepter. Banner never gets the blame for unleashing Ultron on the world, even though it’s very likely that Stark wouldn’t have been able to make Ultron functional in that time frame had he not had the help of his genius lab-mate.

1 Experimenting On Himself With Gamma Radiation

While Banner has made many terrible decisions in his live-action movie appearances – though more regularly in his lengthy MCU journey – the worst decision he made is the original experiment that granted him his abilities. While the MCU would be worse off had the Hulk never been created, Banner’s life was completely transformed (often not for the better) after he chose to conduct his gamma radiation experiment on himself. In the big picture doesn’t fully make sense that Banner would put himself in the machine when he and Betty Ross had so many concerns, but thankfully, the MCU gained a brilliant Avenger because of it, even if Banner himself suffered immensely because of this decision.