Mark Ruffalo has confirmed there've been early talks for him to return as Bruce Banner/Hulk in Marvel's She-Hulk series. Last year's Avengers: Endgame not only brought the MCU's Infinity Saga to a close, but the stories of Iron Man and Captain America with it. Black Widow similarly met her final destination in the film, but will return this May for the her solo movie, a prequel story set between the events of Civil War and Infinity War. As for the remaining three members of the MCU's original Avengers, both Hawkeye and Thor are confirmed to appear in a show and movie in Phase 4, leaving Hulk as the odd (green) man out.
Of course, the She-Hulk TV series being developed for Disney+ would be the obvious place for Ruffalo to reprise his role as Banner/Hulk during Phase 4. In the Marvel comic books, lawyer Jennifer Susan Walters gains her Hulk-like abilities after receiving a blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner, and it stands to reason the show would at least carry over that element of her backstory. However, there hasn't been any official word on Ruffalo's potential involvement with the series - until now, that is.
ComicBook.com attended a panel at C2E2 in Chicago this weekend where Ruffalo confirmed there've been "preliminary talks" for him to return as Banner/Hulk in the Disney+ She-Hulk series. Details beyond that are being kept under wraps for the time being, including whether Ruffalo would be a guest star or series regular.
Endgame saw Banner and Hulk merge to form Smart Hulk, which is presumably the form he would take during his scenes on the She-Hulk series. In that case, it stands to reason Ruffalo wouldn't be featured too heavily on the show, given the VFX demands and cost of bringing his brainier green counterpart to life. More than that, Phase 4 is designed to allow the remaining members of the original Avengers to step out of the spotlight and pass the torch onto the next generation of heroes. For that reason, Banner would likely serve as a mentor and teacher for She-Hulk on her series, much like Hawkeye will mentor Kate Bishop on his upcoming Disney+ show and Thor will aid Valkyrie in finding someone to lead Asgard alongside her in next year's Love & Thunder.
Based on Ruffalo's comments, it sounds like the tentative plan is for Banner/Hulk to appear on the She-Hulk series; now, the showrunners just have to decide on the best way to use him from a storytelling perspective. With recent reports pointing to head writer Jessica Gao (Rick and Morty) and her crew starting production on She-Hulk this summer, it might not be long before we get a more concrete update on Ruffalo's involvement with the show. That goes double for the casting of Jennifer Susan Walter, who's described as being an Alison Brie-like character on the series. In fact, if some fans get their way, she might well end up being played by the Community and GLOW star herself.
More on Marvel's She-Hulk series as the story develops.
Source: ComicBook.com