Update: According to Variety, Mark Ruffalo will actually not be reprising his role as the Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World. Multiple sources say Ruffalo misspoke at SBIFF. Apparently, the actor thought he was agreeing that Brave New World is one of Marvel’s next films — not that he was going to be in it.
You can read this article as it originally appeared below.
Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran Mark Ruffalo has confirmed that he will appear in Captain America: Brave New World.
Ruffalo opened up about his journey as the Hulk while speaking at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “…I’ve gotten to say a lot in that work — a lot of personal things, oddly enough, in a superhero movie,” Ruffalo said.
The actor went on to describe his own creative involvement in the MCU. “Yeah, I mean, [Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said], ‘What would you like to do?’ And he said, ‘What would you do if you had a stand-alone Hulk movie?'” Ruffalo recalled. “And I said, ‘Well, I’d like to take him from this raging maniac to kinda this integrated character.’ And he’s like, ‘Okay, we’ll do that over the course of four movies. We’ll never give you a stand-alone Hulk…’ I don’t mean to burst anyone’s bubble, but that’s not happening.”
Ruffalo added that, as far as he knows, there are still no plans for a new solo Hulk movie. “I mean, I could talk more about it, but I’ve been told not to,” he explained. The actor then affirmed that his next MCU appearance would be in next year’s Captain America: Brave New World. “It’s gonna be great,” Ruffalo said.
It’s unsurprising that Ruffalo would reprise his role as Bruce Banner in the upcoming Captain America sequel. After all, the film is already expected to feature plenty of Hulk lore. For instance, The Incredible Hulk alums Tim Blake Nelson and Liv Tyler are attached to reprise their roles as the Leader and Betty Ross, respectively. Additionally, Harrison Ford will star as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, taking over the role for late Incredible Hulk star William Hurt. Anthony Mackie will lead the film as Sam Wilson/Captain America.
Why can’t Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk have a stand-alone movie?
2008’s The Incredible Hulk, which starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/the Hulk, was the character’s first (and, to date, only) MCU solo film. Ruffalo took over the role starting with 2012’s The Avengers.
As for why another stand-alone Hulk movie isn’t in the cards, the franchise’s big-screen distribution rights still reside with Universal Pictures. So, if Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures wanted to make a new Hulk movie, they would have to go through Universal. However, Marvel and Disney are free to use the Hulk in MCU team-up movies — or have him guest-star in other heroes’ movies — as they please. That said, there are certain stipulations regarding how they can advertise the Hulk in these movies. (The same goes for Namor, a Universal-controlled Marvel character who made his MCU debut in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.)
Since his MCU debut in The Avengers, Ruffalo has reprised his role as Bruce Banner/the Hulk in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). He also made post-credit cameos in Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain Marvel (2019), and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
Captain America: Brave New World opens in theaters on February 14, 2025.
