Spoilers, obviously, for Avengers: Endgame.
He may not have America's ass, but The Hulk has Bruce Banner's brain in Avengers: Endgame, and he knows how to use it. The Avengers: Endgame Powers That Be have talked about being fascinated by all the ways Thanos' Decimation would affect the planet on a day-to-day level. Just the logistics of it. They almost gave Black Widow a sad storyline directly connected to the missing 50%. It turns out, they also gave thought to the opposite -- what would happen when those 50% came back with The Hulk's Snap.
Avengers: Endgame gave The Hulk the first of two major Snaps. His Infinity Gauntlet save brought back the 50% Thanos vaporized in Avengers: Infinity War. But he didn't just bring them back to the exact circumstances they were in.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige addressed a Reddit user's question on the practicalities of the people brought back from The Hulk's snap. Here's the question and Feige's answer:
Reddit user dwallace3099: People have expressed views that, in Endgame, those brought back by the snap could have died in accidents (like someone being brought back 100 ft in the air where a plane used to be). Is it possible that Hulk, when doing the snap, not only brought everyone back, but also brought them back in a safe place?Kevin Feige: We refer to the version of Hulk in Endgame as Smart Hulk. So, yes.
Smart Hulk! He already takes selfies with kids, maybe next he'll do Smart Range ads for Whirlpool or something. Maximize that brand.
Whether you call him Smart Hulk or the Professor Hulk of Marvel Comics, we almost saw him in Avengers: Infinity War, since that was the original plan. It's good that he was around in Endgame with enough strength to wield the Infinity Gauntlet and survive, and also enough brains to give some serious thought to his Snap. It almost sounds like the specific wish you have to make to the genie in the lamp -- cover every base or someone will literally be left hanging.
Speaking of that, can you imagine the thrill of being brought back to Earth five years after the Decimation, only to realize you are now in the air -- probably more than 100 feet -- where your airplane was five years ago? Classic.
The time travel elements of Avengers: Endgame are still being dissected, and there's also the time jump angle. The stars of Spider-Man: Far From Home seem stumped by why they are all still in high school if they were gone for five years, but the Endgame writers did try to explain that.
On a more serious note, Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo have already said that The Hulk is permanently damaged after the events of Endgame -- physically and also emotionally. At least he got to walk away, which is more than can be said for Iron Man after his Snap.
Avengers: Endgame may be topped by John Wick 3 at this weekend's box office but Endgame is about to top Avatar at the domestic box office and I'm pretty sure it'll top the foreign box office -- and hence be the overall highest-grossing movie of all time -- by the end of May.
