Exclusive: Jennifer Connelly Joining Marvel As A Villain
Jennifer Connelly is joining Marvel and we speculate it will be as the villainous Red She-Hulk.
Jennifer Connelly will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a villainous role for an upcoming project. According to our trusted and proven sources, Jennifer Connelly is the latest A-list actor to be locked into a Marvel role, but it is interesting that she has been cast as a villain, which is not her usual vibe. As such, we speculate that Jennifer Connelly will be returning to Marvel as Betty Ross, but also as the Red She-Hulk in World War Hulk.
While it has not yet been officially announced by Marvel, it seems increasingly likely that the studio is ramping up for a World War Hulk film. The recent surprise appearance by Bruce Banner’s Sakaaran son Skaar in the season finale of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is being taken as groundwork for a World War Hulk film, not to mention Mark Ruffalo’s trademark casual plot leaks in the past. If there is a time to bring Jennifer Connelly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Red She-Hulk, it would make a lot of sense for that particular story arc.
Jennifer Connelly already portrayed Betty Ross all the way back in 2003, when she starred in Ang Lee’s pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe Hulk film alongside Eric Bana as Bruce Banner and Sam Elliott as General Thunderbolt Ross. While the role of Betty Ross was then filled by Liv Tyler in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Marvel has not been particularly shy about recasting roles when it comes to the Hulk mythos. In fact, due to the passing of William Hurt earlier this year, the role of MCU Thunderbolt Ross has just recently been passed to Harrison Ford.
The fact that Thunderbolt Ross has not been retired is a strong indicator that Marvel has future plans for the character, likely in the Thunderbolts (no relation) movie, but also possibly as the future Red Hulk. If so, that makes Jennifer Connelly returning to Marvel as Betty Ross and her malevolent Red She-Hulk persona a real possibility. Depending on how the studio adapts World War Hulk as a film, we very well could see a gamma-irradiated and cosmically powered Jennifer Connelly punching out the current Marvel Hulk and She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany).
Of course, it is entirely possible that Jennifer Connelly is being brought into Marvel for a completely different role other than Betty Ross. However, considering that Marvel has been increasingly focusing on utilizing their Multiverse to bring back any number of actors from pre-MCU films like Patrick Stewart as Professor X and a whole pocketful of Spider-Men, it would be a bit odd to have Jennifer Connelly as someone wholly new.
Currently, Marvel has two unnamed film projects scheduled for release in 2025 in Phase Six, which makes it very likely that World War Hulk could be one of those. If Jennifer Connelly is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Red She-Hulk, it would make sense that she might be brought back in an earlier project as Betty Ross to set up a villainous appearance. But on the other hand, she could just be back in Secret Wars, like everyone else apparently will be.
