A new industry rumor speculates that Mark Ruffalo will return as Bruce Banner / Hulk in Avengers: Doomsday and will also appear in Avengers: Secret Wars. Notably, the character last appeared on the big screen in the mid-credits scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2022). Ruffalo’s last live-action appearance as the MCU Hulk was in the 2022 Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. He also voiced variants of the character in several episodes of What If…?.
Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk rumored to return in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars
Alex Perez of The Cosmic Circus claimed in a recent post on X (previously Twitter) that Ruffalo would appear as Hulk in Avengers 5 and 6. “Yes. Mark Ruffalo is in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars,” Perez shared while responding to a fellow user’s query on whether the Poor Things actor would be in the next Avengers movie.
In late March 2025, Marvel Studios announced the cast of Doomsday, but Ruffalo, whose Hulk has been part of the MCU Avengers since the team’s inception, was not among those listed. In April 2025, MCU boss Kevin Feige hinted at the 2025 CinemaCon that the Doomsday cast was not yet complete, teasing that more members could be announced in the future.
Ruffalo debuted as Bruce Banner / Hulk in the MCU in The Avengers (2012) and has been one of the most consistent parts of the franchise since then, even though he never appeared in a solo project based around his character. Previously, the Hulk was portrayed on the big screen by Eric Bana in Ang Lee’s Hulk (2003) and Edward Norton in Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk (2008).
Notably, the Russo Brothers are directing Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The former will come out on May 1, 2026, and the latter on May 7, 2027.
