Mark Ruffalo's Hulk and the mini Planet Hulk storyline were some of the highlights of the delightful Thor: Ragnarok. We hadn't seen the character since the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and he had changed a lot since that film. In addition to being trapped in the Hulk form, Bruce Banner's alter-ego could now talk and think instead of just being a pure, destructive rage machine. This new Hulk was a real badass, but other than his gladiator armor, he basically looked the same. However, he might could looked wildly different in the film thanks to a few unique hairstyles that were considered.
The Hulk's haircut is shorter in Ragnarok than it was in Age of Ultron, so clearly the Grandmaster had Sakaar's best barbers freshen up the champion to make for a cleaner presentation. However, he didn't really look drastically different. These other designs, by character designer and Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development, Ryan Meinerding, show that Hulk could have had a more distinct appearance for his battles in the arena. The first image on the Twitter post is sort of the more traditional Hulk look, but the other three are much cooler. The short cut isn't bad, but I really dig the Mohawk look and the lumberjack look. Ultimately the Hulk's hairstyle is fairly inconsequential to the overall narrative and has no major impact on the character, but I would have liked to see one of those two. The Mohawk really gives him that fighter look you would expect from a gladiator. On the other hand, the long hair and beard convey just how long he has been gone and let himself go while Bruce Banner has been trapped inside.
While these hairstyles weren't used for this film, the arc of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is long, and there are plenty of phases left for different iterations of the fan favorite character. We have heard that Thor: Ragnarok is the beginning of a three-film narrative arc for the character so it will be interesting to see how he grows and changes. Who knows, maybe Grey Hulk will show up at some point. While it is a bit of a bummer that there is no Hulk solo film on the horizon, the character works wonderfully bolstering team outings. In the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, it looks like Bruce Banner will play a key role in the fight against Thanos, and he may even make a new friend in the process. But judging, by the trailer, he will not be getting a cool new haircut, though some of the other heroes will be changing up their look. Black Widow has gone blonde, Steve Rogers is rocking a sweet new beard and The Vision has decided to resemble a normal human.
You can next see the Hulk and company in Avengers: Infinity War, in theaters on May 4. For all of the year's biggest movies, check out our release guide.
