Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Captain America: Brave New WorldCaptain America: Brave New World made a big choice by deciding to make itself an unofficial sequel to The Incredible Hulk by including Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) and Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), with even a tiny cameo from Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). But it didn’t include what many will remember from The Incredible Hulk: the titular character. We know that Brave New World went through numerous re-shoots, yet still, this never seemed to be a part of the plan, and it is rather confusing.
Not just because Bruce Banner (then Edward Norton, now Mark Ruffalo) was the main character of that film, but his inclusion would have gone a long way in making the character journeys of characters like Ross, Sterns, and Betty clearer and more impactful. Instead, we got the inclusion of characters like Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) or Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito), the latter of whom seems to have been most hurt by the re-shoots. Bruce would have had a clear and undeniable purpose for being in Brave New World.
Bruce Banner in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Would’ve Helped Develop Ross and Sterns

Including The Hulk/Bruce Banner would have given us a far greater contextualization of how to feel about Ross and Sterns, making us more sympathetic to them and, therefore, giving us greater emotional reactions to their more villainous actions. We could have understood that Ross was relentless in his pursuit of Bruce Banner and seen Banner as an interesting opposition to Sam’s point of view that Ross could change. On the other hand, Bruce’s forgiveness of Emile Blonkski (Tim Roth) could have extended to Ross, allowing Sam (Anthony Mackie) to be less trusting of the President. Either way, Ross’ past relationship with Bruce was crucial to him as a character and would have given us a clearer context of the past wrongs he is trying to move past.
Bruce’s inclusion would also show us just how different Sterns is from how we met him. When he was first introduced, Sterns was trying to help Bruce, as “Mr. Blue,” which was the name of the song he played to mind control people in Brave New World, and an interaction between the two could have helped to remind us of the sympathy we should feel towards Sterns, whereas without him, The Leader feels rather superficial. He’s merely a bad guy who has been cursed with superintelligence.

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Furthermore, Betty Ross’ inclusion feels pointless without tying up her relationship with Bruce. Again, Thaddeus’ whole arc surrounding Betty is tied to his past with Bruce and The Hulk. Betty’s entire arc is tied to the idea that she will choose Bruce over her father, which means her relationship with her father was far weaker than it could have been. Even in The Incredible Hulk, her relationship with Bruce (then played by Edward Norton) was the emotional linchpin for the audience. With Bruce being in the film, we could have understood the love triangle unfolding between this trio of broken characters, whereas the lack of his presence kept the lesser aspects of the 2008 film on full-display.
Bruce Banner’s Absence Is a Glaring Omission From ‘Captain America: Brave New World’

Image via Universal Pictures

In the end, the fact Bruce Banner was never going to be included summarizes the fact that Brave New World was not as thought out of a narrative as something like Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In that film, everyone and everything felt purposefully used. Comic book elements like Bucky (Sebastian Stan) being the antagonist and Hydra’s taking over of S.H.I.E.L.D. helped to reveal parts of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) along with thematic explorations around the power hierarchy of the MCU. In contrast, The Leader, Betty, and Ross did little to change the MCU or reveal Sam’s character beyond the fact he is a good person.

Personally, it showed me that Marvel doesn’t really know what to do with The Hulk, an original Avenger, in this new era of the MCU. The inclusion of his son in She-Hulk has been completely ignored, and his absence in Brave New World speaks volumes. He could have given us a fantastic way to make Ross and Sterns’ character arcs more complex, as we are told about their pasts, whereas Bruce would have been able to show how their past actions turned him into the person he is now, for better or worse. Betty’s one scene feels almost pointless without Bruce contextualizing exactly why she turned away from her father. But, again, we are merely told rather than shown, and perhaps that is the greatest issue with Brave New World trying to be an unofficial successor to The Incredible Hulk.
Captain America: Brave New World is in theaters now.
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