Why Hulk Doesn't Appear in Captain America: Brave New World

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Posted in: Marvel Studios, Movies | Tagged: captain america: brave new world, film, hulk, Marvel Studios, mcu

Why Hulk Doesn't Appear in Captain America: Brave New World

The director of Captain America: Brave New World reveals why the team excluded the Hulk despite several Hulk-adjacent characters.

Published Tue, 11 Mar 2025 09:17:11 -0500
by Aedan Juvet
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Article Summary

  • Explore why Hulk is absent from Captain America: Brave New World despite Hulk-adjacent characters appearing.
  • Director Julius Onah shares insights on keeping the focus on Sam Wilson's story instead of adding Hulk.
  • Including Hulk could overshadow Sam's first solo outing as Captain America, says the film's director.
  • Even with Hulk connections, the filmmakers chose to prioritize Sam Wilson's narrative in the MCU movie.

At this point, it's basically common knowledge that the Marvel Studios film Captain America: Brave New World includes an assortment of characters who are Hulk-adjacent. In particular, several characters were first introduced in the debut MCU film, The Incredible Hulk, which hasn't really been a high priority for Marvel since its release. Given the film's copious Hulk connections, many would have also expected the character to appear, even if in a limited capacity. However, that obviously never happened. So, why didn't the film take that last step to bring Hulk into the story? Here's what the filmmaker had to say.

Red Hulk/President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) in Marvel Studios' CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 MARVEL.

Captain America: Brave New World Including Hulk Would Detract from Sam's Story

While chatting with The Playlist, the film's director, Julius Onah, admits that there's a pretty straightforward reason that Hulk didn't make an appearance in the new MCU film. Onah explains, "Well, I think at the end of the day, and I'm happy it landed where it did—this is Sam's story. This is Sam's first cinematic adventure as Captain America. And you want it to be about Sam leaning into his superpower to overcome the odds. So, you pull in Banner—as great as Mark Ruffalo is and as exciting as it would be to have him—and suddenly, the focus shifts away from Sam." The director goes on to admit that it was discussed, just deemed unnecessary, adding, "The conversation obviously came up, but ultimately, it felt like this wanted to be Sam's film."

Sure, it does make a little sense that having Hulk in the film would make this feel like a sequel to The Incredible Hulk. Though, when you already have at least three key characters from his film making appearances (or even cameos), it's already deviating from being a Sam Wilson-centric story to begin with, right? All things considered, do you think the film should have added Hulk in a limited capacity?

Captain America: Brave New World is in theaters now.

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