Why Mark Ruffalo Isn't Smart Hulk Anymore In Spider-Man: Brand New Day

The first trailer for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" brings Tom Holland's Peter Parker back into action after "Spider-Man: No Way Home" dominated movie theaters four-and-a-half years ago. "No Way Home" ended with a massive change to the status quo, with everyone forgetting who Peter Parker was. But with his body now changing, Peter seeks out help from Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who's in fully human form again instead of the green yet literate Smart Hulk, as seen in "Avengers: Endgame." 

Many fans online expressed confusion over why Bruce is back in human form after he explained in "Endgame" how he was able to merge his mind and body with Hulk's. But this is actually nothing new. There's a subtle Hulk detail in the mid-credits scene of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" where we see human Bruce Banner once more, but he's wearing an inhibitor device on his arm that allows him to remain human. 

This device gets more attention in the Disney+ series "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law." In the first episode, Bruce is on a road trip with his cousin, Jennifer (Tatiana Maslany), and explains that the device allowed his arm to heal after it was fried by the Infinity Gauntlet in "Endgame." As he eloquently puts it, "It's all because I made this little device, which keeps me in human form." If you kept up with the Marvel Disney+ series, you're all up to speed. If you didn't, you might have some homework before "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" comes out on July 31. 

In the premiere episode of "She-Hulk," Bruce's inhibitor is destroyed when he and Jen are attacked by a Sakaarian ship, causing him to revert back to Smart Hulk and stay that way until the end of the series. He explains to Jen that the device he showed her was just a prototype, but it seems that at some point between "She-Hulk" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," he made another one. He also improved the design, as the "Brand New Day" inhibitor is noticeably sleeker than what he sported in "She-Hulk."

Still, if you bring Bruce Banner into a movie, he has to eventually Hulk out. So it's almost certain that something will happen to the inhibitor in "Brand New Day" to force out Smart Hulk — or possibly a different version of the big green guy. 

One longstanding "Brand New Day" rumor is that the film will bring back Savage Hulk, the gnarlier edition we witnessed in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk." The trailer might even hint as to how Savage Hulk could come back: At one point, an invisible presence seems to be entering others' bodies, from an old lady to a security guard. If Bruce's inhibitor breaks once more and a telepath seizes control of his mind and body, Savage Hulk could be unleashed on the streets of New York City once again.