Mark Ruffalo says his appearance as Hulk on Marvel’s Disney+ She-Hulk show is not yet official, but reaffirms discussions are ongoing. Unlike his fellow Phase 1 MCU Avengers Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, Ruffalo’s Hulk has yet to star in his own movie, nor is he set to receive one in the foreseeable future a la November’s Black Widow. And whereas Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton will finally get the spotlight (though, he’ll share it with Kate Bishop) on the upcoming Hawkeye Disney+ TV series, there’s no guarantee Ruffalo will reprise his MCU character post-Endgame just yet.
That being said, Ruffalo recently confirmed discussions are, in fact, underway for him to reprise Hulk on the She-Hulk series being developed for Disney’s streaming service. The show will primarily revolve around Jennifer Susan Walters, a lawyer who fights for what’s right in the courtroom by day while throwing down as the super-powered She-Hulk in her spare time. Of course, as those who’ve read her Marvel comic books already know, Jennifer only gains her powers after getting a blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner.
In spite of previous reports claiming Ruffalo has officially signed on to return as Hulk/Banner in the She-Hulk series, Ruffalo recently told Variety it’s not a lock at the moment. As he put it:
There’s nothing completely at a place where it’s a done deal. There’s some talk of having Banner/Hulk show up in [the Disney Plus series] ‘She-Hulk.’ If we come up with something good, that would be really interesting. Right now that’s about it. That’s all there is on the table.
As much as it would make sense to have Ruffalo reprise Hulk/Banner on the She-Hulk show, his appearance is (arguably) not a necessity. The character typically hasn’t played an active role in the She-Hulk comic books and a couple lines of exposition alone could easily explain both where Jennifer’s blood transfusion came from and why she had to get it from her famous, genetically-altered, relative. Not to mention, Endgame saw Ruffalo’s character meld his two personas to become Smart Hulk, so he would presumably have to return in that form on the Disney+ series. This, in turn, would make any scenes with him far more expensive to film than if Ruffalo appeared as plain ‘ol Bruce Banner.
At the same time, the actor made it clear to Variety he’s interested in reprising Hulk again. Thing is, complications with the distribution rights (combined with the visuals effects cost) make a solo Hulk movie unlikely to happen (Ruffalo told Variety the idea isn’t even being discussed), so the She-Hulk show is probably his best shot at getting to play his superhero counterpart once more. Fortunately, it sounds like talks for him to appear on the series are very much ongoing and pretty serious, so Ruffalo may yet return to the MCU in the next few years.
She-Hulk doesn’t have an official premiere date yet.
