The Avengers 4 concept art has been leaking online including possible new looks at Thanos, the Vision and the surviving Marvel heroes, which suggests the Hulk gets a new suit, possibly hinting at his Professor Hulk persona from the Peter David glory years.
The concept art features the Hulk wearing some kind of black purplish stretchy spandex costume, but why would the Hulk need a suit? The concept art also seems to hint that the Hulk has a higher intellect judging by his facial expression.
As we all know, the Hulk wasn’t featured in Infinity War as he kept himself hidden. The Russo brothers explained that the Hulk wasn’t afraid, but that he wanted to teach Banner a lesson.
“I think people have interpreted it as Hulk’s scared. I mean, certainly, that’s not a… I don’t know that the Hulk is ever… he’s had his ass kicked before, and he loves a good fight. But I think that it’s really reflective of the journey from Ragnarok,” Joe Russo explained to MTV. “These two characters are constantly in conflict with each other over control. And I think that if the Hulk were to say why, it’d be Banner only wants Hulk for fighting. I think he’s had enough of saving Banner’s ass.”
It’s basically a sure bet that the Hulk will be featured in Avengers 4, but in what form? If the concept art is indeed Professor Hulk, we can speculate that possibly Banner and the Hulk merge to become the smart Hulk.
Mark Ruffalo actually hinted at the possibility way back in 2015.
“He’s on the run. I think that we carry that through. It’s not just a matter of taking himself to some remote place and hiding,” Ruffalo told AICN. “Now he’s removing himself from humanity altogether. I’m not sure where we’re going to head with that, but I’m sure that’s probably still very much alive within him. It’s very subtle, but the Banner/Hulk consciousness is beginning to meld a little bit. Who decided to leave? Was it Banner or Hulk? It’s not really in the [cinematic] mythology of Hulk up until that moment to be that conscious and pro-active. It’s interesting, right?”
Ruffalo continued, “Yeah, I think it [will be fun]. I think it’s really exciting where we could go with it. Now I feel like we’re kind of in No Man’s Land. I mean, the comic books have kind of broached the subject, but we’re moving away from the traditional Hulk/Banner relationship. We’re starting to mess with it a little bit. Now we’re going to see how far we can push the limits of it before people get sick of it!”
It’s actually one of my favorite characters, the Professor Hulk from the Peter David comics, which sees Banner merge with both the Green Hulk and the Grey Hulk. It’s also one of Peter David’s favorite versions of the Hulk as well. A couple of years ago I talked with him at the New York Comic-Con and got him to sign one of my favorite Hulk covers, issue #377, featuring the first appearance of Professor Hulk. I asked him if he thought we would ever see the character in the MCU, to which he told he he didn’t think so.
While this Avengers 4 Hulk might not be a merged version of Banner, the Green and Grey Hulk, maybe it’s the MCU version of Professor Hulk as both Banner and the Hulk realize they need to come together in order to stop Thanos and save the Avengers?
Another possibility is that the Hulk requires a suit for some reason. Avengers 4 set images seemed to possibly indicate time travel, so maybe the Hulk needs a suit to go back in time?
