13 Years On, The MCU’s Best Hulk Scene Remains Mark Ruffalo At Peak Aura

Hulk fans have been patient. Painfully patient. Mark Ruffalo smashed his way into the MCU back in 2012, and 13 years later we still haven’t gotten a true solo Hulk movie. Lately, it’s been a lot of Bruce Banner and Smart Hulk, not much of the rage monster. That might be changing — and the latest chatter around Spider-Man: Brand New Day has people buzzing.

Where Hulk’s been hiding

The last time we saw Hulk fully cut loose was Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 — brief, brutal, and then he got bounced by Thanos. Since then it’s been Banner or the merged Smart Hulk taking the wheel. Fans are understandably itching for a proper Hulk-out again, and a recent Reddit thread (from u/GiveMeSomeSunshine3 in r/marvelstudios) turned into a nostalgia-and-speculation spiral.

"If he hadn’t been permahulked already in Endgame, then putting on the gauntlet with all the stones in place for sure would have Hulked him out. From the way Tony reacts when he puts on the glove, all that power hitting your body seems pretty overwhelming. Hulk would probably have come out immediately when Bruce felt that power surge."

Translation: if Banner hadn’t already made peace with Hulk by Endgame, the Infinity Stones surge alone should have triggered a transformation. It’s a neat continuity point — and it feeds the big fan request: please let Ruffalo (yes, the guy from 13 Going on 30) actually Hulk out again, whether it’s in Brand New Day or the rumored Avengers: Doomsday.

Brand New Day: the Ruffalo sightings

Over on X, @UnBoxPHD and @marvel_updat3s shared set photos and video in October 2025 that appear to show Mark Ruffalo on the Brand New Day set — notably without any motion-capture dots. That strongly suggests he’s playing human Bruce Banner in at least part of the film.

Two details jumped out:

• Banner is seen being carted away on a stretcher in one video. There’s also a separate shot of Ruffalo in a green raincoat with blood on his face.

That’s... odd. Historically, when Banner gets seriously hurt, Hulk comes out as a failsafe. If he’s human and injured, that could mean a few things: Smart Hulk is sidelined, Banner’s suppressing Hulk, or the movie is playing with conditions where the transformation doesn’t trigger. It’s a nerdy little production clue that hints we might be getting more Banner/Hulk conflict again, not just the Professor Hulk default.

So who’s actually in this Spider-Man movie?

Here’s the cast that’s been circulating for Spider-Man: Brand New Day:

• Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
• Zendaya as Michelle 'MJ' Jones
• Jacob Batalon as Ned
• Sadie Sink as an undisclosed character
• Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher
• Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk
• Marvin Jones III as Lonnie Lincoln/Tombstone
• Michael Mando as Scorpion

About that long-awaited Hulk movie

If the MCU is finally ready to give Hulk his own spotlight, there’s one storyline fans keep circling: World War Hulk. The setup fits the MCU reasonably well. We’ve already seen Sakaar in Thor: Ragnarok, and in the comics, Hulk’s son Skaar is born there. The classic arc goes like this (short version): Earth’s heroes exile Hulk to Sakaar, he suffers, rises, and eventually comes back to Earth angrier than ever, gunning for the big brains who sent him away — we’re talking Iron Man, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt — and anyone else in his path. It’s the destructive, operatic Hulk saga people have been craving, and it could even be a back door to introducing an MCU Illuminati in the Sacred Timeline.

Is it wishful thinking? Sure. But after years of comic-accurate suits, it’d be nice if Hulk finally got a comic-accurate story.

The road ahead

Between the Ruffalo-on-set sightings and fans connecting dots to Brand New Day and Doomsday, the appetite for an actual Hulk-out is loud. Whether Banner stays calm on that stretcher or the green guy finally breaks loose — that’s the question.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to hit theaters on July 31, 2026.