The Incredible Hulk ending helped launch Bruce Banner's story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and now we break it down. The Incredible Hulk first released on June 13, 2008 as the second movie in the MCU, following the then-recent release of Iron Man. In The Incredible Hulk, Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) has spent years on the run from the U.S. government, trying to find a cure from the gamma radiation accident that has caused him to transform into the Hulk whenever he becomes angry. Meanwhile, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) is determined to bring in Bruce to make the Hulk into a weapon.
Following The Incredible Hulk's release, Marvel Studios and Edward Norton would part ways, leading to Mark Ruffalo portraying Bruce Banner in all of his subsequent MCU appearances. While this has somewhat left The Incredible Hulk by the wayside, numerous developments over the years have begun to change that. With The Incredible Hulk finally being added to Disney+, it could signal the Hulk's film rights potentially reverting back to Marvel Studios, which would allow a new Hulk solo movie to finally happen in the MCU. Here is how The Incredible Hulk ends, and what the latest Hulk-related developments could mean for his future in the MCU.
Why Blonsky Becomes The Abomination
Following multiple failed attempts to apprehend Bruce, General Ross elects to revive the U.S. government's defunct super-soldier program (which had made Steve Rogers into Captain America during World War II). Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a soldier under Ross's command, accepts Ross's offer to become a super-soldier, but the plan goes awry during the military's battle with the Hulk on a college campus in which Blonsky is badly wounded by the Hulk. After Blonsky's swift recovery, he is given a second dose of the super-soldier serum, but the power it grants proves to be highly addictive to him.
Eventually, Ross's unit tracks Bruce and his girlfriend Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) to the New York lab of Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who attempts a cure on Bruce that cannot be immediately determined to have worked. After Bruce is taken into custody, Blonsky demands that Sterns inject him with Bruce's blood. Ignoring Sterns's warning that he could be transformed into "an abomination," Blonsky becomes a monstrous creature as massive and strong as the Hulk. Meanwhile, after Sterns is knocked aside, some of Bruce's blood drips into a gash in his forehead, with Sterns's skull pulsating as he grins. It's Blonsky's thirst for power that ultimately leads to him becoming the Abomination and leading to the climactic battle.
How The Hulk Defeats The Abomination
After Blonsky transforms into the Abomination and begins rampaging through the streets of Harlem, Bruce volunteers to change into the Hulk and stop him. Believing that he can "aim" the Hulk's rage at the Abomination, Bruce drops from the military helicopter he's been taken captive in by General Ross, in order for the Hulk to take over on the fall down. Though this is a bit of a roll of the dice after Sterns's experimental attempt to cure Bruce, he nonetheless changes into the Hulk and faces the Abomination in a knock-down, drag-out fight.
With the military trying to provide the Hulk assistance, the Abomination brings down Ross's helicopter. Right as the Abomination is preparing to murder Ross and Betty, the Hulk exclaims "Hulk smash," slamming his fists into the ground and causing the Abomination's foot to become trapped in a crack. After subduing the Abomination and handing him over to Ross, the Hulk silently bids farewell to Betty before swinging off into the night, Bruce Banner and the Hulk once again on the run from Ross and the U.S. government. Though the Hulk saved the day by defeating the Abonimation, Bruce still feared what the U.S. government might do with the other guy's powers, setting the stage for Bruce's distrust in Nick Fury, SHIELD and the Avengers Initiative in The Avengers.
Why Bruce Sends Betty Her Necklace Back
In the dénouement of The Incredible Hulk, Betty looks at a photo of her and Bruce together on her camera, heartbroken that they have once again been separated. Meanwhile, Bruce has found a new hiding place in Nova Scotia (with Bruce also going by the alias of David Banner in a nod to The Incredible Hulk TV series). Bruce receives Betty's cherished necklace that belonged to her mother in the mail, Betty having had to sell it earlier in the film in order to buy a used car while she and Bruce were on the run. Bruce then puts the necklace in an envelope and addresses it to Betty.
With Bruce making good on Betty's hope that they would be able to get her necklace back, The Incredible Hulk's ending shows that he will always care for her, but his situation requires him to keep his distance. Not only is the government on his trail, but Bruce is still learning to master his anger. Bruce's final scene in The Incredible Hulk shows him meditating, with the "Days Without Incident" counter returning to zero right as Bruce's eyes turn green and a smile comes to his face. As is later revealed in Bruce's return in The Avengers, he has finally gained control over his rage with Bruce saying he's "always angry."
The Legacy Of Tony Stark's Cameo
The Incredible Hulk would follow the release of Iron Man by just six weeks, with Robert Downey Jr. making his second appearance as Tony Stark in The Incredible Hulk's improvised final scene. Meeting a despondent General Ross in a bar, Stark gloats, "I've always felt that hardware was much more reliable," than the government's super-soldier program. Stark then entices Ross's interest by saying, "What if I told you we were putting a team together?" While this initially seemed to be building on Nick Fury's cameo at the end of Iron Man, the MCU would later retcon the nature of Stark's appearance in The Incredible Hulk entirely.
With Iron Man 2 subsequently taking place before The Incredible Hulk in the MCU timeline, Tony's erratic behavior initially led to Fury and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson) having second thoughts about him ing the Avengers Initiative. The Marvel One-Shot short The Consultant would later iron out these continuity issues, revealing that Ross wanted the Abomination to be recruited into the Avengers. The short also reveals that Tony was specifically sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to sour Ross on the idea. As the subsequent history of the MCU shows, Tony Stark's ability to rub a decorated military leader like Ross the wrong way did the trick, with the Hulk ing the Avengers instead.
Why The MCU Has Taken So Long To Come Back To The Incredible Hulk
Despite being the second installment of the MCU, The Incredible Hulk has been the franchise's most isolated movie. As the lowest grossing MCU film, The Incredible Hulk would not immediately lend itself to a direct sequel, but the popularity the Hulk would accrue in his later Avengers appearances and would surely have set him up for another solo movie. Unfortunately, with the solo film rights to the Hulk being with Universal Pictures and the studio unable to find common ground going forward with Marvel Studios, The Incredible Hulk 2 would never come to be.
Nonetheless, the Hulk has gone on to be one of the MCU's cornerstone heroes. Additionally, The Incredible Hulk's ing cast would gradually return in other MCU movies and shows, beginning with William Hurt's General Ross in Captain America: Civil War. The Abomination would also return in Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings and She-Hulk. With Liv Tyler to return as Betty in Captain America: Brave New World alongside Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns and Harrison Ford playing General Ross after Hurt's ing, Captain America 4 has become a de facto Incredible Hulk 2. That also means The Incredible Hulk has become more relevant to the MCU than ever.
How The MCU Can Now Continue From The Incredible Hulk
For years, The Avengers would have the only major reference to The Incredible Hulk in Bruce's line that he "broke Harlem" the last time he was in New York City. However, the MCU's gradual re-embrace of the movie opens many possibilities. With Marvel Studios potentially re-gaining the film rights to the Hulk, those possibilities multiply greatly, with numerous hints that the MCU is setting up a World War Hulk movie. Tim Blake Nelson's return as Samuel Sterns also establishes direct connective tissue with The Incredible Hulk, with Sterns to properly appear as The Leader at last.
The scene of Sterns's early transformation into the Leader has been the MCU's biggest unfulfilled tease. With Sterns appearing as the Leader in Captain America: Brave New World, that instantly makes The Incredible Hulk very pertinent to his full debut as an MCU villain. Combined with the returns of Ross, Betty, and the Abomination, a World War Hulk movie or any solo Hulk film is essentially the MCU's first real legacy sequel. It may have taken well over a decade to happen, but The Incredible Hulk is finally being recognized as a major MCU building block with The Incredible Hulk 2 looking more possible than ever.
