There are two things Mark Ruffalo is best known for when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first, of course, is for playing Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Hulk, since 2012’s The Avengers, taking over the role from Edward Norton. The second is for frequently dropping Marvel-related spoilers, like that he accidentally live-streamed part of the Thor: Ragnarok premiere. But as a nice change of pace, Ruffalo has shared that he did not accidentally spoil that Hulk will appear in the upcoming Marvel movie Captain America: Brave New World; it was just a misunderstanding.
In case you missed it, towards the end of an interview conducted at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where his Poor Things costar Emma Stone presented him with an award, Ruffalo confirmed that he’s reprising Bruce Banner/Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World. Shortly afterwards though, Variety heard from its sources that Ruffalo had misspoke, as he thought he was agreeing that Brave New World is one of Marvel’s next movies, not that he was appearing in it.
So there you have it. Rather than accidentally sharing a key piece of information way earlier than he should have, like when he spoiled how Captain America’s story ended in Avengers: Endgame, this was just a matter of Mark Ruffalo not properly understanding something that was being brought up. Ruffalo was last seen playing Hulk in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. We left off with the character in the She-Hulk finale’s ending returning to Earth and revealing his son Skaar to his extended family, but Marvel has not given any indication where the character will appear next.
To be fair, Bruce Banner’s involvement in Captain America: Brave New World would have made sense considering this movie was already serving a Hulk-related reunion. As one will see when looking over the Brave New World cast list, Harrison Ford will appear as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, taking over the role from the late William Hurt; Tim Blake Nelson is reprising Samuel Sterns, with the character finally being seen as The Leader; and Liv Tyler is back as Betty Ross. With The Leader filling the main antagonist position, plus the Brave New World crew gift seemingly confirming that Thunderbolt Ross will turn into Red Hulk, it’s not hard to envision Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson calling in Hulk as backup.
In any case, with a Captain America 4 appearance ruled out, we remain in the dark on when Hulk will next be seen in the MCU. My money’s on one or both of the next Avengers movies since Mark Ruffalo seemingly spoiled that Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk, will be in The Kang Dynasty and/or Secret Wars, and it’s hard to imagine her being involved in those flicks, but not her cousin. For now, the next Marvel movie on the docket is Deadpool & Wolverine, which dropped its first trailer at the Super Bowl and will hit theaters on July 26.
Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo has been nominated at the 96th Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Duncan Wedderburn in Poor Things. Tune in to the ceremony Sunday, March 10 on ABC to see if he takes home the Oscar. He’s also set to star alongside Robert Pattinson and Steven Yeun in Mickey 17, which had previously been slated on the 2024 movies schedule, but is now undated.
