Why Did The Hulk Become Human Again? She-Hulk Explained The Reason For The Return Of Bruce Banner

An all-female Avengers team could be forming in the MCU, with She-Hulk being one of its main members. The premiere of his series has left several surprises for fans, including the surprise return of a very important character for Marvel: Bruce Banner. Hulk was one of the main characters who was going to die in Avengers: Endgame fortunately the green giant not only survived the war against Thanos but was able to merge his two personalities (the violent and the intellectual) into a single being. While it seemed like Hulk’s new reality was to become a super-powered genius with a lifelong wound, that development for his character was ruled out, as in She-Hulk he transformed back into Bruce Banner. Here we explain the reason behind this big change. But before you start, keep in mind that you will find very important spoilers of the plot and characters of She-Hulk, the new MCU series on Disney+.

She-Hulk: Why Did The Hulk Become Bruce Banner Again?

Between the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Bruce Banner found a way to merge his and the Hulk’s personalities into one body, resulting in a new transformation called the Smart-Hulk. That hero had all the strength of the ‘green giant’ but kept the intelligence of Bruce Banner, so he no longer lost control when he got angry. In the last Avengers movie and to bring back all the victims of the blip, Smart Hulk used Tony Stark’s glove with the Infinity Stones and snapped his fingers. Millions of beings throughout the universe returned to their homes, but at a great cost: Bruce Banner lost the mobility of his arm.

Although it seemed that the terrible injury of the Hulk would accompany him for the rest of his life that changed in the first episode of “She-Hulk”, the new MCU series. Apparently, Bruce Banner’s intention was not to remain as Smart Hulk, since having his arm injured that transformation was of little use. Because of that, he built an inhibitor device that suppressed the Hulk side of him and turned him back into a human.

Thanks to this device, he was able to give his cousin Jennifer Walters a blood transfusion after a car accident almost killed her. Not only did the lawyer restore her health, but she also received gamma radiation, which made the birth of She-Hulk possible. While investigating his cousin’s new condition, Bruce Banner discovered that She-Hulk’s DNA was the key to healing her arm, so he got to work. With his arm fully recovered, Smart Hulk began training his cousin to get used to her new body and abilities. To the scientist’s surprise, Jennifer has not created another personality, so she was able to control her transformation from the beginning.

She-Hulk: What Will Happen To The Hulk In The MCU?

Marvel shows no signs of being very clear about what will happen to the Hulk in the MCU, since in Thor: Ragnarok it seemed that Bruce Banner had already resigned himself to living forever as the ‘green giant’. Shortly after, in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ everything indicated that the Hulk did not want to be a superhero and that he was even afraid to face Thanos again. In Avengers: Endgame it seemed that he had found a balance, but that changed in ‘Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In that movie, fans were surprised to see Bruce Banner again without any explanation about how he had become human again.

In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law the human transformation of the hero was only a means to cure Smart Hulk. These constant changes make it impossible to predict the future of the ‘green giant’, since Bruce Banner himself does not seem to be clear if he wants to be a superhero, continue his work in science, remain as Smart Hulk, or return to his human form to forever. In the short term, it seems that Marvel’s idea is to make the Hulk a teacher for Jennifer Walters, but it is not very clear what will happen to the character when She-Hulk reaches her potential as a hero.

The answer could lie in a new movie, adapting some of the exciting Hulk stories from the comics, like ‘World War Hulk’, but with Universal Studios owning the distribution rights to that character, that scenario looks complicated. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law may provide an answer to the Hulk’s fate in the MCU, but fans will have to wait until the end of the series to find out.