Hulk’s return in Spider-Man: Brand New Day might be an open secret, but a new toy leak has spilled fresh detail on how Bruce Banner will suddenly lose control.
Mark Ruffalo’s return as Banner has of course been shown in Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s record-breaking first trailer, though Marvel has not officially confirmed the return of his angry green alter ego as well — despite other toy leaks confirming his inclusion.
Now, however, a new Bandai SH Figuarts action figure (via France-Figures) has been spotted showing Hulk’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day guise — with a spoilery product description that explains exactly why Banner has gone green once more.
Warning! Spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day follow:
“In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Bruce Banner uses an inhibitor that keeps him in human form since the events of Endgame,” the action figure’s description reads. “But this constraint has its limits: the film marks the return of the Hulk in his feral form, a departure from the Smart Hulk of previous films.”
It’s worth breaking that down in a bit more detail, to explain how this all fits with what we’ve seen in the MCU already.
Endgame saw an injured Banner in Smart Hulk form during its finale, witnessing an elderly Steve Rogers pass on his Captain America shield. However, Banner then appears in human form at the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, chatting via hologram alongside other Avengers. Here we can see he’s wearing an inhibitor device on his arm that blocks his Hulk side from re-emerging.
Hulk returns again in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, after Banner’s inhibitor is broken in the series’ opening episode. Banner than spends the rest of the series as Smart Hulk (including in the finale when he unveils his long-lost son Skaar — who the MCU is yet to acknowledge again).
By the events of Brand New Day, Banner has clearly rebuilt his inhibitor. But the suggestion here is that when it goes wrong this time, he doesn’t just morph into Smart Hulk, but a wilder and more savage version of his alter ego.
“Banner and Peter Parker, both grappling with an uncontrollable transformation, find themselves in a narrative parallel at the heart of the film,” the toy’s description concludes. This is also interesting, as it is another hint at a fresh transformation we’re due to see in Peter Parker (with fans wondering whether he’ll morph into the many-limbed Man-Spider, or whether the Venom symbiote seen in No Way Home’s post-credits scene will somehow be involved).
“Four years have passed since the events of No Way Home, and Peter is now an adult living entirely alone, having voluntarily erased himself from the lives and memories of those he loves,” reads an official Brand New Day blurb released by Marvel. “Crime-fighting in a New York that no longer knows his name, he’s devoted himself entirely to protecting his city — a full-time Spider-Man — but as the demands on him intensify, the pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence, even as a strange new pattern of crimes gives rise to one of the most powerful threats he has ever faced.”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is due to launch on July 31, and set to star Holland, Zendaya as MJ, Sadie Sink (in an undisclosed role that fans are now certain they’ve identified), Jacob Batalon as Ned, Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher, Tramell Tillman as Department of Damage Control boss Bill Metzger, Michael Mando as Scorpion, and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner — and as Hulk.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
