Hulk’s MCU origin has been told through dialog and flashbacks that detail Bruce Banner’s backstory and highlight its differences to the comic books.
The MCU’s Hulk may be an A-list Avenger, but Marvel Studios has barely showed Bruce Banner’s backstory and the events that led to the Gamma monster’s creation prior to The Incredible Hulk. A founding member of the MCU’s Avengers, Hulk has left a mark on the MCU since his debut in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, after which he has remained a supporting character across several movies and his cousin’s spinoff series, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. Hulk has learned how to be a team player, controlled his monstrous nature, became a full-fledged hero, and merged the man with the monster before playing a key role in saving the universe.
But as much as the MCU has developed Hulk’s journey, some important parts of his comic book lore remain largely unexplored, including his origin story and his time fleeing the authorities right after Bruce Banner’s first Hulk transformation. The main reason why Marvel Studios hasn’t dived deep into the Hulk’s history is because of the studio’s shared rights with Universal, which have owned the distribution rights to the character’s solo movies for several years. However, The Incredible Hulk and various brief moments throughout the extensive MCU timeline have at least painted a rough picture of the events that led to the Hulk’s creation.
Hulk’s MCU Origin & Backstory Before The Avengers Explained
In The Incredible Hulk, General Ross reveals that the U.S. Government and the Army had been working on replicating Captain America’s Super Soldier serum for decades, to no avail. At some point, Dr. Bruce Banner — having obtained several PhDs throughout the years— proposes the use of Gamma radiation, though he doesn’t know the project’s true purpose. Pressured by Ross, Banner uses a special primer and too much Gamma radiation, causing the experiment to fail catastrophically. After transforming into the Hulk for the first time and injuring Betty Ross and her father, Banner transforms back into his human form and escapes.
Bruce Banner keeps moving through the Midwestern U.S., Canada, and then Alaska, where he tries to shoot himself with a revolver. However, Hulk prevents Banner from hurting himself, so he continues his journey through Russia, Israel, and other countries around the world before ending up in South America. In Brazil, he practices meditation techniques that help control his anger and finds himself a job at a bottling plant. Meanwhile, General Ross reaches out to Stark Industries and SHIELD for help in his search for the Hulk, which leads him to recruit Emil Blonsky.
The Incredible Hulk‘s plot revolves around Bruce Banner and the Hulk’s attempts to defend himself from General Ross while he tries to find a cure with Samuel Sterns, who ends up helping Emil Blonsky turn into Abomination and going through a monstrous transformation himself. During The Incredible Hulk‘s bittersweet ending, Hulk convinces Ross to let him escape after defeating Abomination, and Bruce Banner finds himself on the run again before Black Widow finds him years later in India. Other MCU scenes and the tie-in comic The Incredible Hulk: The Big Picture add a little more detail to these and other events in Hulk’s backstory.
How Hulk’s MCU Powers Work
Hulk’s MCU powers are quite similar to his comic book counterpart’s. The Gamma radiation used in Bruce Banner’s original experiment awakens something deep in Banner’s genes, which has a genetic predisposition to his Hulk transformations similar to how Steve Rogers’ genes made the Super Soldier serum so effective. Since then, any kind of extreme stimulus such as anger or pain triggers an automatic response in Bruce Banner’s body, which begins an irreversible transformation into an increasingly powerful MCU Hulk. This transformation provides the creature with unlimited strength, speed, and endurance, as well as an extremely efficient regenerative healing factor.
Although Bruce Banner is able to control his transformations through meditation and self-reflection, Hulk is a distinct persona with his own personality and desires. The more Hulk stays out, the more he develops a life of his own and causes Bruce Banner to lose control of the monster. Hulk’s massive body and strength only use Bruce Banner as a vessel. Hence, they prevent Banner from dying at any cost. Still, Bruce Banner’s intellect allows him to merge his body with Hulk’s through a series of experiments before the events of Avengers: Endgame, and Hulk’s rebellious mind seems to leave as Banner enjoys Smart Hulk’s superhuman physiology.
How The MCU Changed Hulk’s Marvel Comics Origin
Hulk’s MCU origin is very faithful to the source material. However, there are a few major changes the movies made to the character’s backstory. Either by skipping certain parts of Bruce Banner’s past or by modifying some of the events, Hulk’s MCU story lost at least three key aspects that shaped his comic book origin.
Bruce Banner’s MCU Gamma Accident Doesn’t Happen Because He Tried To Save Rick Jones
The experiment that leads to Hulk’s off-screen creation in the MCU takes Bruce Banner as its victim because the scientist caves in to General Ross’ pressure to complete the procedure. Banner sits on the machine voluntarily and assures Betty Ross that nothing will go wrong before he absorbs all the Gamma radiation and turns into the Hulk for the first time. In Marvel Comics, however, Bruce Banner receives a massive dose of Gamma radiation when he jumps in front of science student Rick Jones, who enters the testing site for a Gamma-infused nuclear weapon designed by Bruce Benner himself.
The MCU Ignores The Role Bruce Banner’s Father Had On The Hulk’s Origin Story
The MCU’s only mention of Bruce Banner’s father, Brian, was included in a Thor: Ragnarok deleted scene, where Banner tells Thor that he missed his father’s death because he was too busy with his Gamma ray experiments. But in the comics, Brian Banner made a huge impact on Bruce Banner and Hulk’s journey. Bruce Banner’s father abused him physically and killed his mother in front of him, only to return years later and attack him on his mother’s grave. Bruce Banner’s painful childhood experiences led him to develop another persona in the form of an imaginary friend, who would later materialize in the form of a Gamma monster.
The MCU Doesn’t Show Whether Hulk Existed Before Bruce Banner’s Gamma Experiment
Bruce Banner’s imaginary friend was a sign of a fracturing psyche that slowly created different personas. The first one, of course, was the Savage Hulk, who embodied Bruce Banner’s repressed rage and disrupted childhood innocence. Banner’s exposure to Gamma radiation only fueled the creature that already inhabited his mind, giving it a powerful body to use as a weapon. Other Hulk alters, like Joe Fixit, Devil Hulk, and Guilt Hulk represent different aspects of Bruce Banner’s psyche, and he has developed them separately as different situations push him to the limit.
The MCU Doesn’t Acknowledge the Hulk’s Mystical Side
In Marvel Comics, Hulk is one of many Gamma mutates, all of whom are linked through a Gamma gene that makes them predisposed to transformations triggered by Gamma energy. However, they’re also linked to the One Below All, a timeless entity that dwells in the depths of the Below-Place, a realm where all Gamma mutates arrive through the Green Door portal after death. Hulk and the rest of Marvel’s Gamma mutates owe their alters, their magic invulnerability, and their immortality to The One Below All and the Below-Place. Yet, the MCU completely overlooks these mystical aspects in favor of a completely scientific origin story for its version of the Hulk.
