In a move that has left fans baffled, an episode of Marvel Studios: Legends has stripped The Incredible Hulk from The Hulk’s story. But why would Marvel do this?
In the upcoming She-Hulk series, the events of The Incredible Hulk are integral to the story. If anything, this makes the recent exclusion even more head-scratching.
The Incredible Hulk gets incredibly snubbed
In a weird discretion, the latest Marvel Legends episode focused on Bruce Banner skips his origin story. Instead of starting with The Incredible Hulk, the episode starts with The Avengers.
As soon as fans start the episode of Marvel Studios: Legends , it will immediately cut to 2012’s The Avenger. The recap does not showcase any events from The Incredible Hulk (via The Direct).
The Avengers was our first look at Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and The Hulk, a replacement for Edward Norton. However, completely omitting The Incredible Hulk from the episode is just baffling.
Even weirder, Marvel has recently referenced the movie’s events. In What If?, some of the movie’s events are recapped.
Additionally, fans can watch The Incredible Hulk on Disney+ without any issue. Admittedly, the movie being readily available does lessen the sting of that omission by a little. That being said, the Legends episode is supposed to act as a primer for She-Hulk, so cutting Norton’s lone appearance as Hulk is just odd.
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The Incredible Hulk’s impact on the MCU
Had Marvel completely scrubbed The Incredible Hulk from MCU canon, fans would understand but that isn’t the case. Ruffalo’s Hulk previously mentioned the time he rampaged in Harlem and She-Hulk will feature that film’s antagonist Abomination; complete with Tim Roth reprising his role.
Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross has also been across the MCU since appearing in The Incredible Hulk. Played by the late William Hurt, we’ve seen Ross menace our heroes in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and, most recently, Black Widow. While the lack of Ross and Banner interacting was disappointing, it’s clear that this was the same character.
Despite the snub, fans should definitely check out The Incredible Hulk on Disney+ before they watch She-Hulk later this month on August 18.
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