Bruce Banner

1999 — Bruce Banner and Betty Ross begin the gamma research that will eventually produce the Hulk.

Concurrent with Iron Man. Bruce Banner has been on the run for five years since a gamma experiment — commissioned by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, ostensibly a radiation-resistance study, actually a super-soldier programme — turned him into the Hulk.

• The Incredible Hulk (film, 2008) — commissions the experiment that creates the Hulk, hunts Banner, creates the Abomination via Blonsky
• Captain America: Civil War (film, 2016) — now Secretary of State; the man who presents the Sokovia Accords
• Avengers: Infinity War (film) — brief video appearance
• Avengers: Endgame (film) — attends Tony Stark's funeral
• Black Widow (film) — brief
• Captain America: Brave New World (film, 2025) — President of the United States, recast from William Hurt (who died in 2022) to Harrison Ford, and this is the only film where he becomes Red Hulk

Is he still the villain of The Incredible Hulk? No — the 2025 arc is redemption, and he ends it imprisoned by choice and reconciled with his daughter. More on that in Part Nine.

These, plus The Incredible Hulk, all occur within roughly a week of each other — fan-nicknamed "Fury's Big Week."

What happens to Hulk and Hawkeye? Both effectively leave the story here, which is why they're near-absent from Civil War.

Hulk flies a Quinjet into deep space to remove himself as a threat, crashes on Sakaar, and spends two years there as a gladiator, never once turning back into Banner. He's next seen in Thor: Ragnarok (film, 2017). He misses the Accords entirely.

Odin dies, releasing Hela, Goddess of Death — his firstborn, and the truth about Asgard's violent founding. She shatters Mjolnir and takes Asgard. Thor is stranded on the junk planet Sakaar, ruled by the Grandmaster, where he's forced to fight Hulk, who has been there two years as a gladiator.

Who is the Grandmaster, and how did he get Hulk? An Elder of the Universe — same ancient species as the Collector, and stated to be his brother. He rules Sakaar as a hedonistic dictator running gladiatorial games.

He didn't capture Hulk; Hulk crashed there, was found, and became reigning champion, which the Grandmaster adores. Thor is captured on arrival by Valkyrie, a scrapper who sells fighters to him.

How does Hulk control himself here? He isn't being controlled. Hulk has been Hulk continuously for two years without once reverting to Banner, and has developed speech, preferences, and an ego. Banner isn't in charge — Hulk simply has enough autonomy to hold a conversation.

The permanent merge into "Smart Hulk" happens later, between Infinity War and Endgame.

Thor escapes with Hulk, Loki, and Valkyrie — the last of Odin's elite guard, an alcoholic in exile after Hela slaughtered her sisters. They realise Hela draws her power from Asgard itself, so the only way to beat her is to destroy Asgard. Thor releases the fire demon Surtur and lets the realm burn. Asgard is a people, not a place.

Thanos, with the Black Order, collects the Stones. He already has Power (taken from Xandar, offscreen). He takes Space from Loki — and kills Loki, and Heimdall. Thor is left drifting; Hulk is beaten so badly that Banner cannot summon him again for the rest of the film.

Heimdall dies here, permanently, immediately after using the last of his strength to send Hulk to Earth as a warning. He has not returned, and Idris Elba is not on the Doomsday cast list.

He is physically stronger than the Hulk, which the opening forty seconds demonstrate.

The world in 2023 is grief. Rogers runs support groups. Romanoff runs what's left of the Avengers alone. Stark has married Pepper Potts and has a daughter, Morgan, and refuses to help because helping means risking losing her. Thor has retreated into alcoholism and depression in New Asgard. Banner has merged his two selves into "Smart Hulk." Barton, having lost his entire family, has become a mass-murdering vigilante called Ronin.

"Smart Hulk" — yes, Banner is big and green, permanently. He looks like Hulk but wears glasses and cardigans, speaks in Banner's voice and vocabulary, and has Banner's personality entirely. He achieved it with eighteen months in a gamma lab deliberately fusing the two selves.

The mid-credits scene has Wong, Bruce Banner, and Carol Danvers examining them — establishing that Shang-Chi is now on the Avengers' radar.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (SERIES, 2022) — Jennifer Walters, Bruce's cousin, gets his blood in an open wound and gains his powers without the rage — which she notes is because women are already practised at managing anger. She runs a superhuman law division. Establishes that Banner has a son, Skaar, on Sakaar; that Abomination is on supervised release; and features Daredevil in the yellow suit.

The Hulk-adjacent status quo matters if Hulk is in Brand New Day.

The mastermind is Samuel Sterns — the Leader — from The Incredible Hulk, seventeen years earlier. Ross imprisoned him at a black site, publicly blamed him for the Abomination, and promised release in exchange for his help winning the presidency and treating his failing heart. Ross reneged. Sterns has spent years engineering revenge, including the gamma pills Ross has been taking.

Sterns triggers Ross's transformation into the Red Hulk — the only film in which this happens. Sam beats him and then, more importantly, talks him down.

So the answer to whether Ross is still the villain of The Incredible Hulk: no. This is a redemption arc, and it ends with him choosing accountability.

Peter Parker in a world that doesn't remember him, working street-level, watching MJ and Ned live lives he's no longer in. The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Hulk appear. Yelena Belova appears twice, as leader of the New Avengers, dismissing Peter's problems as "small potatoes."

On Hulk: I also don't have reliable detail on what state the character is in here. Treat any confident explanation you read as speculation unless it cites the film.

Tier 5 — not required FILMS: Iron Man 1–3 · Thor 1–3 · First Avenger · Guardians 1–3 · Ant-Man 1–2 · Captain Marvel · Eternals SERIES: Ms. Marvel · She-Hulk · Secret Invasion · Echo · Ironheart · Moon Knight · Wonder Man

Phase One (2008–2012): Iron Man · The Incredible Hulk · Iron Man 2 · Thor · Captain America: The First Avenger · The Avengers

Phase Four (2021–2022): FILMS — Black Widow · Shang-Chi · Eternals · No Way Home · Multiverse of Madness · Love and Thunder · Wakanda Forever SERIES — WandaVision · Falcon and the Winter Soldier · Loki S1 · What If...? S1 · Hawkeye · Moon Knight · Ms. Marvel · She-Hulk · Guardians Holiday Special