Avengers: Doomsday Officially Confirms Hulk’s Return

Published Sep 24, 2026, 2:01 PM EDT Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic. Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame Encore. Hulk’s story in the MCU is not over. Despite Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s ending seemingly condemning Mark Ruffalo’s volatile hero to a miserable future of imprisonment after his rampage, Avengers: Endgame Encore has confirmed exactly where and how we’re going to see Bruce Banner next. It’s a shockingly dark twist, and just the latest in a long line of unfortunate events for Hulk. Hulk’s MCU story has been defined by flashes of trauma and an ongoing battle for supremacy between Banner’s logical side and the Hulk’s rage-filled alter. Avengers: Endgame had seemed to resolve the conflict with “Smart Hulk”, the amalgamated result of Banner unifying his two warring identities, but that didn’t last. The next time we saw Banner, he was once again back in his normal “human” form, having developed suppression technology, and seemingly rejected his own idea of trying to coexist. For a long time, nobody actually offered an explanation of this shift beyond writers within the MCU’s creative team not agreeing. Spider-Man: Brand New Day brought the conflict to a head again, revealing Banner’s long-standing fear of the Hulk losing control and causing death or destruction to be his motivation for wearing the suppression technology. In an instantly iconic sequence, Jean Grey intervened, had Banner remove his suppressor, and not only did the real Hulk return for the first time since Avengers: Infinity War, but he also lost control and gave us the MCU’s closest version of the Savage Hulk we’ve ever seen. It seems someone else was impressed with Hulk’s potential. Quite what Brand New Day was setting up for Hulk wasn’t clear beyond him being reclassified as a threat; were we headed to a version of World War Hulk where he reacted poorly to being punished? Was Hulk going to be permanently “cured” somehow thanks to Banner’s renewed commitment to eradicating the worst part of him? Now, thanks to Avengers: Endgame Encore’s new post-credits scene, we have the answer. Avengers: Endgame Encore Confirms Hulk's Doomsday Role As the Russo brothers always promised, Avengers: Endgame Encore includes new scenes that act as bridging work between Endgame’s original cut and Avengers: Doomsday. As expected, there’s a coda to Steve and Peggy’s dance scene that sees Loki return, and a TVA sequence showing thousands of incursions, which isn’t so much an expansion of Endgame as a missing stage of building up the threat that brings Doctor Doom into play. The same goes for Avengers: Endgame Encore’s Hulk post-credits scene, which doesn’t follow on from the original movie’s events, but rather directly follows Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The scene sees Banner imprisoned in what he calls “self-containment” (though it seems unlikely he’d be free to go after his rampage), two miles underground. The scene shows Banner recording a video diary and reveals he’s also still working on a Hulk solution - this time a Gamma-suppression serum. Because, of course, nothing has ever gone wrong from anyone messing around with serums in the MCU. His “peace” is then interrupted by the appearance - off-screen - of Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom, who teleports into the bunker and says he’s there to “collect” Banner, who can be heard transforming into the Hulk and screaming in rage before the scene cuts to one of Doom’s magical runes on the floor. Why Doctor Doom Is Recruiting Hulk There have been long-standing rumors that some of the Avengers characters missing from Avengers: Doomsday’s cast are actually working for Doom. The reveal of a “Doom bot” with a third eye in the middle of its forehead poured fuel on the fire of that speculation, and seemingly confirmed that Doctor Strange would be teaming up with Doom. That also follows the Secret Wars comic, in which Strange acts as Doom’s right-hand man on Battleworld. How it comes to pass in Doomsday remains to be seen, but it would be logical that it stems from Clea recruiting him in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ post-credits scene. Doctor Doom recruiting Strange makes sense, given the sorcerer’s involvement in causing some of the incursions that seemingly bring Doom to the Sacred Timeline. It would be logical that Doom’s mission is actually appealing to potential recruits, too, given it’s unlikely he’s going to reveal his intent to rebuild the multiverse in his image and under his control at first. And Doom needs an army, considering the battles ahead of him, which makes his bringing in Hulk a little easier to understand. Banner is an ideal recruit not only because he’s one of the most powerful heroes available, but also because Banner’s mind is probably the finest left in the MCU alongside Reed Richards. That means one character provides both heavy artillery and strategy, assuming Doom is able to keep Hulk under control. Avengers: Endgame Encore is out in theaters now. Avengers: Doomsday Release Date December 18, 2026 Runtime 165 Minutes Director Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Writers Stephen McFeely, Michael Waldron, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers Cast Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic Vanessa Kirby Sue Storm / Invisible Woman