Avengers: Doomsday brings Mark Ruffalo back — time to smash again
Brace yourself for more Hulk-sized mayhem: a fan-favorite is back in the MCU, rolling with Marvel’s jam-packed hero squad.
After a flurry of social posts claimed otherwise, Mark Ruffalo has been telling anyone who’ll listen that he’s not part of Marvel ’s next Avengers movie. While doing press with Chris Hemsworth for their new project, Crime 101, Ruffalo said the fifth Avengers film isn’t on his calendar and that he won’t appear as Bruce Banner or the Hulk in Avengers: Doomsday.
Mark Ruffalo says he is not in Avengers: Doomsday.
The actor also poked fun at his own reputation for spilling Marvel secrets on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, joking that his spoiler habit might be scarier than the Hulk. That gag spiraled into a separate “was he fired?” rumor online, but Ruffalo has continued to state plainly that he’s not in Doomsday.
Part of why this keeps resurfacing: the movie is stuffed with heroes. By some counts, roughly 36 characters are in the mix, pulling together core MCU Avengers, the new Fantastic Four , and legacy X-Men from the Fox era — and yet the Hulk has been missing from early promo footage. That absence has become its own storyline for fans combing through every frame.
Rumor mill
Even with Ruffalo’s denial, a cottage industry of speculation has tried to slot Hulk back in. Here’s what’s been circulating — with no official confirmation from Marvel:
- The Hollywood Handle on X claimed Ruffalo had “joined” Doomsday.
- Reports around a possible Avengers: Endgame: Encore re-release suggest a new post‑credits scene where Doctor Doom approaches Hulk to recruit him.
- Industry scooper Alex Perez has said Ruffalo is planned for Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Fans have also spun theories linking Bruce Banner’s post–Spider‑ Man “Brand New Day ”–style status to a potential showdown with Doom — essentially, that the villain might have a reason to seek him out. None of that has been acknowledged by Marvel Studios, and Ruffalo himself keeps waving the “not this one” flag.
What he isn’t doing is slamming the door forever. Ruffalo has said he’d gladly come back to the MCU if there’s a fresh angle for Hulk. For now, though, Marvel hasn’t announced him for Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars, and that rumored Endgame: Encore tag with Doom and Hulk remains unconfirmed.