The MCU Timeline Retconned A Huge Detail Of Hulk’s Origin & Nobody Noticed

A huge detail of Hulk‘s origin has been quietly retconned by the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s official timeline. Edward Norton first played the MCU’s Bruce Banner in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, with Mark Ruffalo taking over as the Hulk in 2012’s The Avengers and playing Marvel’s live-action Hulk until today, with his first Hulk solo movie, the rumored World War Hulk film, possibly on the horizon. Having debuted in the second project in the MCU, following only Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, the Hulk is the MCU’s longest-running hero.

While the Hulk is still at the forefront of many discussions, his origin in the MCU has not really been a major part of them as of late. However, with the arrival of new Hulk variants to the MCU, such as the purple Freak version of Happy Hogan in a couple of What If…? season 2 episodes and She-Hulk getting her own Disney+ series, the Hulk has never been more important to the MCU than he is shaping up to be. Now that the Hulk’s MCU future looks bright, Marvel has interestingly retconned his past.

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She-Hulk Claimed Hulk Had Been Around For 15 Years

Ruffalo appeared as Bruce Banner in a couple of episodes of Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. In the series, Hulk’s blood turns Jennifer Walters, Banner’s cousin, into She-Hulk. The MCU series focused on the impact the Hulk has had on the MCU, and in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law‘s first episode, “A Normal Amount of Rage,” it was stated that Banner had been the Hulk for 15 years in the MCU.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s events take place between 2024 and 2025. Based on that timeline, which would put the Hulk’s scenes in 2024, as they were part of She-Hulk’s origin story, then Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner had been the Hulk since 2010, with the major part of the events in The Incredible Hulk, when Norton still played the character, having been confirmed to take place also in 2010 according to the recent release of the Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline book. However, the Hulk’s origin was changed by Marvel.

Marvel’s Official Timeline Changed When Hulk Was Born

Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline book brought along the reveal that Marvel has changed when the Hulk was born. According to the MCU timeline, Banner became the Hulk in “the mid-2000s,” with the character having been on the run for five years at the start of The Incredible Hulk. Previously, there was a possible connection between 2008’s The Incredible Hulk and 2003’s Hulk from director Ang Lee due to the MCU movie’s 5-year time jump and the time between the Hulk movies; however, the new reveal cements the MCU Hulk‘s different origin.