Mark Ruffalo Returning As Hulk For Captain America 4?
A rumor has surfaced that Mark Ruffalo aka Hulk is coming to Captain America 4.
The last time that we saw Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, he was on board a Sakaaran spaceship, leaving many to wonder if the setup for World War Hulk was going to come next. Well, there are rumors popping up now that Ruffalo might be reprising his role as the not-so-jolly green giant for Captain America 4. This would make sense considering the main villain for the sequel movie is going to be The Leader.
Everyone had slightly been introduced to The Leader, but only as his human counterpart in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. The beginning MCU movie saw Edward Norton take on the role of Bruce Banner when he meets a scientist by the name of Samuel Sterns, portrayed by Tim Blake Nelson. Nelson was brought on stage at the D23 expo when he was reintroduced as The Leader for Captain America 4, but now he could possibly be dealing with the Mark Ruffalo Hulk instead of Norton’s version.
Samuel Sterns was last seen in The Incredible Hulk receiving some of Bruce Banner’s blood directly to an open wound in his head, as the head begins to immediately morph. While The Incredible Hulk is certainly canon, apart from Norton playing Bruce Banner, we could be seeing a different Samuel Sterns appear. It is going to be odd if the Mark Ruffalo Hulk/Banner recognizes Sterns and vice versa.
Despite the recasting issues that could come up with Sterns aka The Leader meets Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, we are more than excited to see this villain appear in Captain America 4. Captain America 4 is going to showcase Sam Wilson as the full-fledged Captain, and a brand-new Falcon, as Juan Torres is going to assume the role that Wilson came bursting into the MCU with.
The new MCU bringing in Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk would also help to possibly bolster a cast that could need that extra push in popularity. This is not a knock against Anthony Mackie as Captain America, but people might be a bit more standoffish about this new Marvel entry. There are a ton of changes happening with characters, so it could be a bit jarring, and bringing in a familiar character might help to ease that worry.
Captain America 4 is meant to release on May 3, 2024. This could be plenty of time for Mark Ruffalo to appear as Hulk in World War Hulk, though that film is not on the schedule of MCU releases just yet. Marvel is quite good at keeping its secrets, so this could be one they are not slated to reveal or want to surprise everyone with during the next year or two.
Mark Ruffalo did appear as the Hulk in She-Hulk, though he left shortly after appearing. He could come back in any number of upcoming shows and movies that are going to be released between now and Captain America 4, leaving us to see if the World War Hulk storyline is going to be mentioned as post-credit scenes. Either way, we hope to see Hulk take on The Leader.
