Since Jennifer Walters joined the MCU in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, it's worth noting how the number of Hulks in the MCU has drastically increased during Phase 4, with more MCU Hulks set to appear in Phase 5. Exposure to gamma radiation, Hulk's MCU and comic book origin, is shared by a long list of characters in Marvel’s library. The MCU increased this shared origin further by including Bruce's gamma-irradiated blood as a key ingredient in multiple live-action Hulk origin stories. This began in The Incredible Hulk, the second movie in MCU Phase 1, which introduced not just the Hulk but also Abomination/Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), and Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), AKA Marvel Comics' villain The Leader. Both get Hulk powers through contact with Bruce's blood. A similar incident turns Jen into the titular superhero in She-Hulk, which not only sees Roth's Abomination return for a much larger role, but also introduces Bruce Banner/Hulk's son Skaar into the MCU.

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law brought the total number of MCU Hulks to four: Bruce, She-Hulk, Abomination, and Skaar. Before this, there were rumors that Marvel was planning to tackle General "Thunderbolt" Ross' Red Hulk story arc from the comics in She-Hulk. However, this hearsay was quickly shut down by the untimely death of actor William Hurt, who played Ross since The Incredible Hulk. However, Marvel's decision to recast "Thunderbolt" Ross as Harrison Ford greatly implies that the MCU's Red Hulk plans were not just rumors, but the timing of the prediction was off. Ford's General Ross is slated to appear in Captain America: New World Order, meaning Phase 5 could finally see the emergence of an MCU Red Hulk. While the character's ongoing MCU arc implies that Ford's General Ross is New World Order's villain, the fourth Captain America movie will also see the return of Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns from The Incredible Hulk — this time in full villain mode as The Leader. Here's everything else audiences need to know about how many Hulks in the Marvel Cinematic Universe currently exist, and all the MCU Hulks set to debut in the Multiverse Saga.

Related: The MCU's Hulk Problems Are Way Bigger Than Just Movie Rights

There Will Soon Be Six MCU Hulks

Samuel Sterns aka The Leader in The Incredible Hulk

Following the confirmation that both General "Thunderbolt" Ross and Samuel Sterns/The Leader are in Captain America: New World Order, there will likely be a total of six MCU Hulks by the end of the MCU Phase 5. In the comics, General Ross and The Leader start out as enemies, but The Leader later manipulates Ross into becoming his ally. It is through the Leader's schemes that Ross becomes Red Hulk. She-Hulk villains the Intelligencia, share the same name as the nefarious alliance between Ross, The Leader, Hulk's former friend Doc Samson, and MODOK in the Marvel Comics canon. This is another clue that Harrison Ford's General Ross is destined to become the Red Hulk in the near future of the MCU. Notably, MODOK is also set to appear as a villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the very first movie in MCU Phase 5. This is a further indication Marvel Studios is building up to more central roles for their gamma-irradiated roster and plan to adapt more Marvel Comics' Hulk stories for movies, since MODOK and his nefarious organization AIM feature prominently in many of them.

The Future Of MCU Hulks - Is World War Hulk Coming?

An image of Harrison Ford and the Red Hulk is shown.

Meanwhile, several unrealized Hulk MCU stories could be set up by Skaar's cameo appearance in the She-Hulk finale. Though Skaar's MCU future is mostly unknown, the character's history plants the seeds for the MCU to adapt comics like Planet Hulk, Dark Avengers, and even World War Hulks — the crossover event in which various Marvel characters become Hulks. This not only includes Ross turning into Red Hulk, but also Ross' daughter Betty Ross becoming Red She-Hulk, though the MCU Betty (Liv Tyler) hasn't reappeared since The Incredible Hulk. Given how the MCU loosely adapts the source material though, it's possible that Harrison Ford's Ross won't become Red Hulk at all, and instead the MCU will pick an alternate character to become Red Hulk instead. At this point in the Multiverse Saga, with Avengers: Secret Wars looming on the horizon, nothing is impossible.

MCU Phase 5 could even pay tribute to The Incredible Hulk's MCU legacy by bringing back Edward Norton's Bruce Banner, Abomination/Emil Blonsky's first on-screen arch-nemesis, through the multiverse. Curiously, the meditative techniques that Mark Ruffalo's Bruce was using to manage the Hulk in She-Hulk are highly similar to how Norton's Bruce explored breathing techniques for controlling his own transformations. Should Ruffalo and Norton's Bruce variants meet in person, they would no doubt exchange notes and data about their respective Hulks, and Smart Hulk's inhibitor in She-Hulk may even help the Norton Bruce contain his powers. Funnily enough, either variant of Bruce could now learn a thing or two from Emil Blonsky, who not only seems to be more-or-less genuinely reformed (at least as far as supervillainy goes), but is also the most successful of the Hulks in terms of managing their gamma-irradiated rage. Apart from the fact that the MCU Hulks are growing in number, they also seem to be stepping into roles that actually befit their status as some of Marvel's most overpowered characters. In lieu of another solo movie, perhaps Hulk is getting his own saga in the form of a gamma-powered royal rumble World War Hulk movie instead.

Next: The MCU Is Now Missing Just 1 Character From The Incredible Hulk

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