The Russo brothers admit that Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk was nerfed in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

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While fans might love the Hulk, some were not happy to see the character have a minor role in the last two Avengers movies and now just pop up every once in a while. Mark Ruffalo will be reprising his role for the upcoming MCU series, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, but Hulk has been a destructive force since Thor: Ragnarok (2017) leaving fans underwhelmed with Hulk in the MCU for a long time.

Infinity War made Bruce Banner try to get Hulk back in the action, but his green counterpart didn’t want to fight after losing one fight to Josh Brolin’s Thanos in the opening scene of the movie. In Endgame, Hulk suddenly becomes Professor Hulk and doesn’t do much other than help the Avengers with some tech stuff and grab an Infinity Stone.

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In a recent video with WIRED, the Russo brothers jokingly admit they might have messed up with the iconic character with how to handle the super hero in the climatic ending of the Infinity Saga:

Joe: “Oh, we nerfed the Hulk. We nerfed him. We just didn’t know what to do with him. We were like, ’What, this big powerful character. What we do with this big powerful character?”
Anthony: “Can you find out who wrote this question? I’d like to talk to them.”
Offscreen: “What would you say to them?”
Joe: “To say to people who think we nerfed the Hulk? He deserved it. Lots of controversial… Marvel fans responding.”

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At the moment, fans are already confused about what is happening to Hulk after seeing Bruce Banner in the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and She-Hulk showing Banner as Professor Hulk and Bruce Banner. Hopefully, things will get resolved, but Ruffalo has admitted that he is “passing the torch” to Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters meaning that Hulk’s tenure in the MCU might be coming to an end.

The Russo Brother did set up the hero to go down this road after making him less of a viable hero for the MCU, but it’s hard to say how much responsibility the directors actually have for the Hulk slowly leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Related: Iron Man and Loki “Deserved to Die,” According to Iconic Marvel Directors

Do you think Hulk was nerfed too hard in Infinity War and Endgame? Let us know what you think!

Phase Four has started off with a lot of content for Marvel fans to look forward to in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On Disney+  you can watch Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk on August 17. For movies, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness is now on Disney+ with  Thor: Love and Thunder in theaters right now, and of course, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releasing on November 11.