GREEN FATIGUE
Mark Ruffalo Just Hijacked Spider-Man's Movie—And the MCU Is Out of Ideas
Mark Ruffalo's Hulk just did the cinematic equivalent of crashing your ex's wedding—and Marvel fans are SCREAMING. Not in joy. More like in “we've seen this trick before” exhaustion.
In a Memorial Day move that feels less like a reveal and more like a rerun, Marvel announced that Ruffalo's Hulk will play a major role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Not a cheeky post-credits wink. Not a throwaway joke. A major role. Because apparently, we needed more gamma-powered exposition in Peter Parker's life.
You can already hear the studio logic: “People love both characters. Mash them together. Boom, chemistry!” But that's not chemistry—it's franchise Jenga. And the tower's wobbling.
WHY THIS CHANGES NOTHING (AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM)
Here's the kicker: Hulk hasn't had his own solo film since 2008's The Incredible Hulk—an Edward Norton vehicle that now feels like a footnote in MCU lore. Since then? He's been Marvel's sidekick MVP, grinning through Avengers battles and bouncing between other people's plotlines like an expensive plot device in purple shorts.
And now, he's being slingshotted into a Spider-Man movie that's allegedly inspired by the Brand New Day comic arc—a reboot infamous for erasing Peter's marriage with MJ. That story divided comic fans like Moses parting the Red Sea. Some loved the clean slate. Others saw it as character assassination with a Mephisto-shaped dagger.
So what's Ruffalo doing there? According to Marvel insiders: “It's a game-changing character pivot.” Translation? He'll probably explain multiverse nonsense while Peter makes sad eyes at MJ. Again.
If this sounds familiar, it's because it is. Hulk popped up in Thor: Ragnarok for laughs, She-Hulk for cameos, and Captain America: Civil War only in spirit because Marvel didn't want to pay Universal. Rights issues have long kept him from solo stardom—but Disney's legal army could've sorted that by now. They just didn't bother.
THE PATTERN: CROSSOVER FATIGUE IS REAL
This isn't bold storytelling. It's cinematic déjà vu. The MCU is increasingly a group project, where solo films are just lead-ins for the next ensemble clash. Remember Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Wanda hijacked that too. Ant-Man: Quantumania? Kang stole the spotlight. Now Hulk's moving into Peter Parker's apartment like an uninvited couch surfer.
The formula's showing. And audiences are catching on.
It's the same logic that gave us Batman v Superman before we had a real solo Batman film in that universe. Studios aren't building character arcs—they're playing crossover bingo. And Ruffalo's Hulk is the free square.
A former Marvel screenwriter (who requested anonymity because “I still want to eat”) put it bluntly:
“At this point, we just throw darts at a board. Hulk in Spider-Man? Sure. Next week it's Moon Knight in Blade. It's all content now.”
FINAL SMASH: FAN SERVICE OR FRANCHISE FRACKING?
Here's the uncomfortable truth: Hulk deserves better. So does Spider-Man.
What could've been a bold, back-to-basics Brand New Day adaptation now risks becoming Avengers: Leftovers Edition. Maybe it'll work. Maybe Marvel will pull a Ragnarok and somehow reanimate a tired concept with wit and weirdness.
But right now? It looks like they're mistaking “unexpected” for “unearned.”
Would you watch this or burn $20? No judgment. (…Okay, some judgment.)
