Will the Hulk Be In ‘Avengers: Doomsday?’ Mark Ruffalo Answers the Question

Fans hoping to see Bruce Banner suit up alongside the returning Avengers lineup finally have their answer, and it is not the one many wanted. Mark Ruffalo has revealed that the Hulk will not appear in Avengers Doomsday.

The confirmation puts an end to months of speculation that followed the film’s sprawling cast announcement, which notably left Ruffalo off the list despite his long history with the franchise.

Mark Ruffalo Addresses His Hulk Absence

Ruffalo has played Bruce Banner since his first appearance in 2012’s The Avengers, becoming one of the more consistent faces in the franchise over the years. Despite that history, he was one of several notable names missing from the cast list, alongside Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.

Ruffalo did leave the door open for a future appearance, telling Empire that he would be happy to keep playing the character as long as filmmakers continue finding compelling ways to use him. That comment suggests the door is not closed permanently on Bruce Banner, even if ‘Avengers Doomsday’ will not be the vehicle for his return this time.

Ruffalo has also had some fun with the situation publicly, joking during an appearance on The Tonight Show that producers decided it was safer to leave him out of the trailer than risk him spoiling the plot again. Host Jimmy Fallon referenced Ruffalo’s history of accidentally revealing plot details during past promotional appearances, which made the joke land as a nod to that reputation rather than a serious explanation.

The lighthearted response does little to dampen the disappointment among fans who had assumed Banner’s inclusion was a given, given how central the character has been to prior Avengers entries.

Why The Hulk Is Missing From ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Part of the explanation ties back to longstanding rights complications, since Universal Pictures holds distribution rights tied to the Hulk character dating back to The Incredible Hulk. That arrangement has historically limited Marvel Studios to using the character primarily in Avengers team up films rather than in a dedicated solo project.

Ruffalo will not be the only familiar face missing when the film arrives, as Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow are also expected to be absent from the roster. That leaves a noticeably different mix of characters compared to earlier Avengers entries built around the original core team.

Since Endgame, Ruffalo’s version of the character has still popped up in projects like She-Hulk Attorney at Law, What If, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, keeping Banner present in the wider MCU even without a headlining role. That pattern of smaller appearances may explain why his exclusion from a massive ensemble film feels less like a retirement and more like a scheduling gap.

The Confirmed ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Cast

The official cast list that Marvel released includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Paul Rudd as Ant-Man. New additions to the ensemble include Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Letitia Wright’s Shuri, Winston Duke’s M’Baku, Tenoch Huerta Mejía reprising his Namor role, Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy, Danny Ramirez as the new Falcon, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, and Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier.

Robert Downey Jr. is set to step into a new role in the franchise as Doctor Doom, marking a significant shift from his years playing Tony Stark. The film comes from returning directors the Russo Brothers, working from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, their longtime collaborator on the Avengers and Captain America films, with Michael Waldron also contributing to the script.

Beyond Ruffalo’s Banner, the broader Hulk mythology remains active elsewhere in the MCU, with a version of Red Hulk currently featured in The Raft and Abomination still part of the shared universe. That expanding gallery of gamma powered characters suggests Marvel still has plenty of ways to explore the Hulk mythology even without Ruffalo’s Banner front and center in this particular film.

Where Bruce Banner Goes Next

Ruffalo’s return to the franchise will instead come through Spider-Man Brand New Day, where he joins Tom Holland alongside Jon Bernthal and Sadie Sink. Set photos from that production reportedly showed Bruce Banner on a stretcher, appearing injured or disoriented after Hulking out, though full context for that scene has not been confirmed.

That film is currently set for release on December 18, 2026, giving audiences a chance to see Ruffalo’s Banner in action before any potential return to the Avengers lineup in future installments. Ruffalo’s Hulk showing up in Avengers Secret Wars remains a logical possibility given the Russo Brothers are attached to that project as well, though nothing has been confirmed by Marvel Studios at this stage.

For now, Banner’s story continues on a separate track from the main Avengers ensemble, and it leaves plenty of open questions about how, or whether, the Hulk eventually factors back into the larger battle building toward ‘Avengers Doomsday’ and beyond. What do you think Bruce Banner’s absence means for how the Hulk gets used in the next chapter of the MCU.