MCU Theory: The Leader Helped Create Smart Hulk

Smart Hulk’s origins in the Marvel Cinematic Universe haven’t been completely revealed, and Marvel Studios could reveal that The Incredible Hulk‘s The Leader helped Bruce Banner with his transformation. Avengers: Endgame was the final appearance in the MCU for the original Avengers team, but it also changed the statuses of each member in significant ways. Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk had one of the more noticeable changes, as Bruce’s brain and Hulk’s brawn merged together to create Smart Hulk.

When Hulk’s MCU story began in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, audiences were introduced to the complicated struggle between Bruce Banner and the Hulk for control. This was a constant part of the character throughout Phases 1 and 2, with Thor: Ragnarok beginning a mini-Hulk arc that brought true evolution. Hulk locked Bruce out for years after Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it wasn’t until seeing a replay of Black Widow’s message that Bruce managed to regain some control. He hulked out again to take down Hela and bring on Ragnarok, but Hulk went into hiding after Thanos easily defeated him at the start of Avengers: Infinity War. This forced Bruce to suit up the Hulkbuster armor to take part in the fight against Thanos before the Smart Hulk transformation happened during The Blip. It was Smart Hulk who then helped build the Avengers’ time travel technology and had the strength to wield the Infinity Gauntlet with all six stones without dying.

Smart Hulk might have a permanently damaged arm after Avengers: Endgame, but he does still have a future in the MCU. Marvel confirmed his return for the She-Hulk Disney+ series. Even though that will introduce his “replacement” in Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters, there is still a lot to learn about Hulk and more Marvel can do with him moving forward. This could include revealing more about exactly how Bruce became Smart Hulk, including the potential reveal that he got help from a former friend (and future MCU villain).

How Marvel Studios Changed Smart Hulk’s Reveal (& Origin)

The lack of details on exactly how Bruce became Smart Hulk is likely tied to Marvel Studios and the Russo brothers changing his origin during the making of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The original plan was for Smart Hulk to burst out of the Hulkbuster suit in the heat of battle. However, it was later decided that it was an extra element to the third act fight that wasn’t all that necessary. This brought changes to Infinity War‘s ending and the start of Endgame, which is why Banner continues to use the Hulkbuster suit (and why Ruffalo has a bit of CGI-floating-head syndrome). But, Smart Hulk was ultimately needed for Endgame‘s plot, so The Blip gave the story a chance to delay this transformation. In doing so, Bruce says he spent a lot of time in a lab to figure out how to make Smart Hulk possible, which is vastly different than Bruce and Hulk suddenly combining in Infinity War‘s finale.

Phase 4 Is Revisiting Hulk’s Forgotten MCU Past

As Marvel tinkered with Smart Hulk’s transformation, the early stages of Phase 4 planning were already underway. Whether this was intentional or somewhat of a coincidence, Phase 4 is where Marvel is finally taking the time to revisit Hulk’s forgotten MCU past. Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) returned for a brief role in Black Widow, continuing the trend of being the only cast member of The Incredible Hulk to return. But, that will change in Phase 4 with Tim Roth making his long-awaited return as Abomination. The character will be seen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and She-Hulk. There are even rumors that Liv Tyler’s Betty Ross will return alongside Thunderbolt in the latter Disney+ series.

The willingness of Marvel Studios to begin exploring different parts of Hulk’s mythology creates a lot of fun possibilities about Phase 4 and beyond. There are rumors that a young Bruce Banner will be in She-Hulk to give viewers a chance to see more of his pre-Hulk life, while other rumors say Hulk’s secret son from his time on Sakarr will be featured too. All of this can help inform Hulk’s past and future, but it also might give Marvel Studios a chance to include Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns after he’s transformed into The Leader. In doing so, Marvel could reveal he played a key role in Smart Hulk’s transformation.

Theory: The Leader Helped Create Smart Hulk

Due to the changes to Smart Hulk’s origin in Avengers: Endgame and the film’s busy plot, there wasn’t time to get into the specifics about exactly how Bruce Banner pulled off this miraculous turn. Bruce’s attitude toward Hulk completely changes during The Blip, with him saying in Endgame that he saw Hulk as a cure instead of a disease. He told Black Widow, Captain America, and Ant-Man that he then spent 18 months in a lab to “put the brains and brawn together.” Smart Hulk doesn’t say that he received any help, but he might have after all. If Bruce Banner was to look for help solving his Hulk problem, Samuel Sterns would be a natural person to turn to.

The cellular biologist studied Bruce’s blood and his gamma radiation for a while in hopes of creating a cure. Instead of figuring out how to permanently separate Bruce and Hulk, Sterns could use his studies to help Bruce find the right balance between himself and Hulk. It also would help that Sterns has been transformed himself thanks to a dose of Banner’s blood falling into a cut on his head at the end of The Incredible Hulk. The comics’ version of Sterns saw his head grow and turn green after exposure to gamma radiation, but it also dramatically increased his intelligence. If something similar happened to the MCU’s Sterns after The Incredible Hulk ended, he’d be a prime candidate for Bruce to keep an eye on and eventually seek out for help when trying to solve the Smart Hulk equation.

How The Leader Can Return In MCU Phase 4

The MCU revealing that The Leader helped create Smart Hulk could be one way to bring him back into the story for Phase 4. She-Hulk would be the best possible place for his return to come. The show will feature multiple gamma-powered heroes in addition to She-Hulk, so The Leader’s whereabouts could be explained at last. A tie-in comic for The Incredible Hulk revealed Black Widow took him into SHIELD’s custody after the movie ended, but the canonicity of those comics continues to look unlikely. If Marvel Studios doesn’t bring a transformed Sterns back in She-Hulk, The Leader’s debut could wait until a possible Thunderbolts project. The villain has been part of the team in the past, so this could be where he’s seen next.

If The Leader does return to the MCU and his involvement with Smart Hulk’s transformation is confirmed, it will be fascinating to discover the reason behind why he helped Bruce. Unless Marvel makes The Leader a friend instead of a villain, he could have nefarious reasons to create Smart Hulk. Perhaps he knows that putting Bruce’s pacifist personality in Hulk’s body will make the character less of an aggressor and true threat, which could give The Leader an edge in crafting a plan that only a raging Hulk could stop. He could also have learned that keeping Hulk’s aggression at bay for so long will mean a truly unhinged version of the Green Goliath will be unleashed when he finally gains control. The Leader could want that type of destruction on Earth and believes this is the best way to get it. In any case, it would be quite the reveal to learn The Leader secretly played a big role in a major MCU development and helped create Smart Hulk as part of a larger plan.

About The Author

Cooper Hood
(5625 Articles Published)

Cooper Hood is a news and feature writer for Screen Rant. He joined Screen Rant in late 2016 following a year-long stint with MCU Exchange, which came after first developing an MCU blog of his own. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Public Communication, with a minor in Media Production. Cooper’s love for movies began by watching Toy Story and Lion King on repeat as a child, but it wasn’t until The Avengers that he took an invested interest in movies and the filmmaking process, leading him to discover the world of film journalism. Every year Cooper looks forward to seeing the latest blockbusters from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, but also loves the rush to catch up on Oscar films near the end of the year. When he isn’t writing about or watching new releases, Cooper is a fantasy football obsessive and looking to expand his Blu-Ray collection – because physical media is still king! Follow Cooper on Twitter @MovieCooper.

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