What’s Wrong With Bruce Banner’s Arm In Shang-Chi?

Warning: Spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ mid-credits scene, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) shows up with his arm in a sling, but what’s wrong with it? Thus far, the Marvel movie has crushed multiple kinds of expectations, namely its box office haul, which broke the Labor Day weekend record. But beyond that, it also revealed itself to have far more ties to the MCU and greater ramifications for the future than audiences were anticipating.

Some of those ties came in the form of the mid-credits scene, which involved a few recognizable MCU faces. Wong (Benedict Wong) portaled to Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) in the middle of a restaurant to whisk them away to Kamar-Taj on emergency business. Apparently, the moment Shang-Chi acquired the Ten Rings, they started emitting a beacon that was picked up all the way in Kamar-Taj. Wong also enlisted the help of two experts: Bruce Banner and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), both of whom appeared in a holographic comms unit. Captain Marvel looked like her usual self, but Bruce Banner had changed. Not only was he no longer Smart Hulk, but his arm was also in a sling.

As it turns out, Bruce Banner’s arm being in a sling isn’t a new development, but a bit of continuity pulled through from Avengers: Endgame. Audiences are well aware that Hulk reversed Thanos’ Snap and brought back the dusted half of the universe by using the Infinity Gauntlet, and that it came at a price. The energy surge from the gauntlet badly damaged the nearly-indestructible Hulk. Audiences may forget, however, that in the funeral scene at the end of Endgame, Smart Hulk’s arm was in a sling. As Shang-Chi is set roughly five to six months after the events of Endgame, it makes sense that Bruce’s arm would still be in a sling, especially considering the gravity of the injury he suffered. After all, a simple broken bone can be in a cast for anywhere from six to 10 weeks; an arm mangled by the power of the Infinity Gauntlet would arguably take considerably longer to heal. If the Russos are to be believed, however, his arm won’t be healing at all.

In May 2019, Joe Russo confirmed in an interview that Hulk’s arm is permanently damaged. Endgame showed that Thanos’ arm had been permanently charred and withered from using the Infinity Gauntlet and it’s the same for Bruce Banner, even the Hulk. “It’s permanent damage,” Russo said at the time. “The same way it was permanent damage with Thanos. It’s irreversible damage. If you notice, his arm is a lot skinnier, it’s blackened. So he loses a lot of strength there.” With or without still being within the healing range, it seems Bruce Banner’s arm may permanently be slinged-up, at least until someone comes up with a better solution.

It’s possible Banner’s permanently damaged arm is tied to why he’s no longer in his symbiotic Smart Hulk form, as well. Bruce’s strength has always been his brains, not his brawn, so the loss of his arm, while a major life change, is one he can eventually learn to live with. Hulk, on the other hand, is defined by his strength and indestructibility. He and Banner had achieved balance and were in a good place in Endgame as Smart Hulk. But as shown in Avengers: Infinity War, Hulk is capable of having a crisis of confidence. It’s possible that the loss of the functional use of his arm has sent Hulk existentially spiraling again and he’s retreated for a while to process it. It’s likely that Disney+ series She-Hulk will further delve into this new storyline continued in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ mid-credits scene. Whatever the case, with the MCU timeline being completely broken after Endgame, it’s nice to see a small bit of continuity like this.

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