Decades of establishing Hulk as this formidable smashing machine who can take on an entire planet by himself in the comics, only to be reduced to a punching bag in the MCU in a span of just a few years. One of the original members of the Avengers who gave Thanos’ feared Chitauri army a run for their money in New York is now used as a side character, or more appropriately, a prop to establish a powerful character. Every time Hulk takes a beating, fans become more and more furious at Marvel for what they have done to their beloved superhero.

However, the floodgates of their frustration opened with the recent appearance of Hulk in Spider-Man: Brand New Day that left them questioning: does Marvel even know what it is doing with the Hulk?

In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Bruce Banner is introduced as an Empire State University physics professor, trying to teach physics to a bunch of college students who seem more interested in his past as an Avenger. Peter disguises himself as one of his students to talk about the inhibitor that prevents him from Hulking out and starting to smash everything around him. 

When this gadget initially showed up in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' post-credits sequence, Bruce failed to describe it. It reappeared in She-Hulk, when a subplot concerned Jennifer Walters, Bruce's cousin, developing an inhibitor of her own. The event that gave Jennifer her gamma powers broke Bruce's inhibitor, which caused Bruce to revert to the Professor Hulk form we saw in Avengers: Endgame.

But it makes absolutely no sense how the inhibitor is back, and why exactly he needs it anyway, since Endgame suggested he has made peace with his Hulk half. His appearance in Shang-Chi did reveal that he had to use the inhibitor in order for his arm to heal from using the Infinity Stones. But his arm was fully healed in Brand New Day, so what was the point of wearing the inhibitor then?

Unless there was a falling out between Bruce and Hulk off-screen again, the inhibitor plot with Bruce in Brand New Day does not make any sense. Although it is wonderful to see a more conventional Hulk in the MCU and the combat sequence that follows is entertaining, another thing that does not align with Hulk's storyline in the MCU is why Banner changes into Savage Hulk.

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When we were already told in Endgame that Bruce purged himself completely of the Savage Hulk, then what led to his return? One may contend that the inhibitor's damage threw him off balance, but She-Hulk's inhibitor damage did not cause that. What, then, makes this moment unique?

If Jean Grey, who is mind-controlling Bruce to follow her instructions, used her telepathic abilities to compel Banner to change into the Savage Hulk, that would have been understandable. However, that does not seem to be the case either, as Banner is still in Professor Hulk guise and speaking normally when Spidey first shows up. So what changed?

The lack of clarity over the storyline of Hulk in the MCU is annoying and outright disrespectful of the character on Marvel’s part. There are no explanations of these out-of-place changes in Hulk’s story, and Marvel seems to be taking too much liberty with the consistency since he has been treated as a side character for so long.  Again, it is not that the sequence is not awesome or visually appealing, but the MCU's Hulk has had a long history of disregarding character consistency.  

Now, one can only hope for a better future for Hulk from here on, and there seems to be only one way Marvel can make that happen.

The damage Marvel has already done to Hulk by treating him like a punching bag for other superheroes and villains can never be repaired by a modest side quest or soul-searching. It demands planetary measures, and that can only happen if they give the Hulk one of its most iconic storylines from the comics - World War Hulk.

World War Hulk presented the Green Beast in one of his most terrifying forms, which took on almost every hero Earth had to offer. Only this storyline can bring the Hulk back into its full glory and the respect that he deserves. And to get started, Marvel already has most of the ingredients it needs.

If anyone remembers, She-Hulk post-credits introduced Skaar - Hulk’s son. Comic Book readers know how pivotal Skaar is in triggering the events of World War Hulk. And with the reintroduction of Savage Hulk in the MCU, the stage seems halfway set for one of the most bloodcurdling episodes in the Marvel Universe.

One can only hope that what happened with the Hulk in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the reactions to it give Marvel the required impetus to do something about their Hulk problem, or fans may soon start dissociating with the character. It will also be interesting to see what they plan on doing with the Jade Giant in Phase 7.   

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Do you think Marvel will solve its Hulk problem anytime soon? Do let us know.