With all the Marvel skins currently playable in Fortnite, the Hulk feels like an odd omission, but unfortunately for fans of the character, it is unlikely that Hulk will be playable in the near future, if ever. With the recent addition of a Hawkeye skin in Fortnite, The Incredible Hulk is now the only member of the original six Avengers from the first MCU Avengers film, to not be playable in Fortnite. This may at first feel like an egregious oversight, especially considering that far less popular Marvel characters (such as She-Hulk and Taskmaster) are playable in Fortnite, but the reason for his absence may be a simple one: Hulk is just too tall and too bulky.
While this may at first seem to be a small issue, when it comes to creating cosmetics in a competitive shooter, these aspects really matter. When deciding what characters to include as cross-over skins in the game, Epic Games always has to ensure the competitive aspect Fortnite bloop remains intact. Having characters that dramatically break this mold, especially when it comes to the player's hitbox, can alter the balance of the game in unexpected ways, and cause long-time competitive Fortnite players unnecessary headaches. When it comes to the Hulk, unfortunately, his large size and impressive muscle mass are a big part of what makes the Hulk so unique, and removing or tweaking that aspect would ruin the point of including Hulk in the first place.
Having debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 back in 1962, Hulk has gone on to become one of Marvel's most recognizable heroes. The character has appeared as a playable character in numerous Marvel games, including the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games and Marvel's Avengers. And while Fortnite has been known to handle certain Marvel elements more accurately than Marvel's Avengers, such as how Fortnite's web-slinging is better than Marvel's Avengers', there are certain aspects from Marvel's brawler games, such as Marvel's Avengers or Marvel Ultimate Alliance that just don't translate well to a competitive shooter. Characters with inhuman frames and proportions, such as the Hulk or The Thing, are more difficult to balance than others.
How Epic Games Could Bring The Hulk To Fortnite
While it would be considerably more difficult to bring the Hulk to Fortnite than it would be to bring his fellow Avengers teammates, where there's a will, there's probably a way. After all, Fortnite has introduced characters with inhuman frames into the game before, such as the Xenomorph from Alien or Fortnite's own blinking banana, Peely. If Fortnite were to bring a playable Hulk skin to the game, his size would have to be reduced to bring him closer in range to the other playable skins.
This has already been done to some degree with the She-Hulk skin. However, with Hulk's massive 7'8 height (as opposed to She-Hulk's 6'7 height), trying to proportionally match the other skins in the game may be more of a challenge. Also, since Hulk's large size and inhuman strength and muscle mass are a big part of his power and his character, shrinking down his size or reducing his muscle mass in order to balance his hitbox may betray the character's unique persona and abilities.
While Epic Games has managed to successfully adapt many Marvel and DC superheroes into skins, Hulk may prove to be one of the most difficult. With a plethora of Marvel heroes to choose from, including several X-Men that could come to Fortnite, Hulk may never end up as a playable skin in the game. But with many other fantastic Marvel games featuring the Hulk as a playable character on the market, fans of the character have other options for getting their Hulk fix outside of Fortnite.