While the Hulk is one of the strongest heroes in the Marvel Universe as well as being an absolute powerhouse for the Avengers, he hasn’t been given the trust or respect he has more than earned over the course of his comic book history—and the Avengers’ greatest victory proves they actually never cared about the Hulk at all.
Despite the Hulk being a founding member of the Avengers, he was never treated as an equal by the rest of the team even from the start. In Avengers #1, the Hulk was being used by Loki to take over the world, an event that sparked the historic team-up between Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, and the Wasp—the official formation of the Avengers. While he was initially a threat, the Hulk eventually came to his senses and saw Loki for the villain he truly was. In fact, the Hulk was integral in taking Loki down and helped the Avengers win their first official battle, thereby earning him a place on the newly-formed team. However, in the very next issue, the Hulk quit the Avengers after he was treated terribly by the other members—something which the team didn’t seem to mind until the time came when they found themselves needing his unparalleled strength once again.
In Avengers #17 by Stan Lee and Don Heck, the Avengers are searching for the Hulk in the hopes that they can convince him to rejoin the team following a slight change in the squad’s roster. During the events of this issue, the original Avengers had decided to take an indefinite leave of absence after finding suitable replacements. So, the current Avengers roster at this time was Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver. While each of them were powerful and highly-skilled in their own way, the team lacked a member whose sheer strength was enough to match that of any villain they could come across. So, the Avengers track the Hulk into the desert where they are unexpectedly captured by the villainous Mole Man.
While in the clutches of Mole Man and faced with the seemingly inevitable fate of being killed by the villain’s immensely strong minotaur, the Avengers work together as a team and successfully defeat Mole Man and his frighteningly powerful monster. After their victory–which marked Captain America’s first historic victory as the leader of the Avengers–the team comes to the conclusion that they don’t actually need a heavy-hitter like the Hulk and decide to give up their search. However, at that time, the Hulk was nearly killed after trying to escape from the clutches of the Leader, and he could have absolutely used the Avengers’ help in that situation.Once the Avengers decided they didn’t need the Hulk to join their team anymore, they completely lost interest in finding him despite the fact that he was in mortal danger.
The Hulk’s well-being was the furthest thing from the Avengers’ minds as the only reason they went looking for him in the first place was just so they could use him–proving that the Avengers never actually cared about the Hulk as a person but only cared about him to the extent of his usefulness to the team.