The MCU Isn’t Honoring Hulk For Reversing Thanos’ Snap – Why?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has paid tribute to the Avengers for their heroic actions in Avengers: Endgame, except for the Hulk. The MCU reached its peak with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, bringing together all its superheroes to fight against Thanos and reverse the snap that wiped out half of all life in the universe. Endgame marked the end of the arc of some of the original Avengers, some of whom gave their lives to save the universe.

Their actions and the events in Avengers: Endgame could be felt in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the closing chapter in the MCU’s Phase 3 and the Infinity Saga. In it, Peter Parker/Spider-Man had to deal with the aftermath of the battle against Thanos and his army, the re-adaptation of those who were “blipped” five years ago, and the loss of Tony Stark. The film honored the Avengers at the very beginning, but there’s one hero missing from the tributes who played a very important role in reversing the snap: the Hulk.

The Hulk was left out of Spider-Man: Far From Home’s Avengers tributes, with a photo of the Avengers even including some of those who were blipped, but not Bruce Banner (via Reddit). In Avengers: Endgame, at some point between the snap and the Avengers’ reunion, Banner merged his intelligence with Hulk’s strength, becoming a Banner/Hulk hybrid called Smart Hulk. This made him the only one capable of resisting the Infinity Gauntlet’s gamma radiation, and so was the one who reversed the original snap. The reason most on-brand with the character would be that Banner didn’t want the praise – even though he’s seen taking pictures with kids who approach him, it’s hard to imagine he would be up for tributes like the ones Tony Stark got. Speaking of Stark, it’s also possible that the Hulk’s actions got buried under Stark’s sacrifice and the impact of his death in the MCU, and the kids at Peter’s school don’t even know that the Hulk reversed the snap.

Hulk’s absence from all the tributes in Spider-Man: Far From Home could also be related to rights issues. The Hulk has a complicated history when it comes to who owns its rights and at what extent, with Universal owning distribution rights, meaning they have control over any Hulk solo films. Marvel, on the other hand, is only allowed to use the character in team-ups. Although the Avengers are only mentioned or showed in Spider-Man: Far From Home, it’s possible that Marvel decided to just keep the Hulk to the MCU and not let him appear in a Sony film, not even in a photo or someone casually mentioning him.

Whatever the reason, the Hulk’s actions in Avengers: Endgame will not go unnoticed or under-appreciated by MCU fans, as he not only brought back those who were blipped but he was also key in building the time machine and traveling back in time to retrieve the infinity stones. It’s a bit ironic that the literally biggest character of the team was left out, but there might be a much deeper reason to it beyond the kids just forgetting about him or not knowing what he did.