Warning: SPOILERS for Captain America: Courageous New World are forward!
Though Captain America: Courageous New World is the fourth installment of the Captain America movie sequence, and thirty fifth of the Marvel films so as total, it actually serves extra as a follow-up to MCU entries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Unbelievable Hulk and, to a lesser extent, Eternals. With reference to that center film, Courageous New World noticed Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and Samuel Sterns enjoying necessary roles, in addition to Betty Ross cameoing on the finish. And but, Hulk himself, a.ok.a. Bruce Banner, was nowhere to be seen, although director Julius Onah’s rationalization for the absence makes it comprehensible.
Sam Wilson and Bruce Banner are accustomed to one another from the transient time they spent collectively in Avengers: Infinity Conflict and Avengers: Endgame, however concerning why the latter by no means got here to the previous’s support and even simply spent a while along with his The Unbelievable Hulk cohorts, Onah advised The Playlist the next:
Effectively, I believe on the finish of the day, and I’m blissful it landed the place it did—that is Sam’s story. That is Sam’s first cinematic journey as Captain America. And also you need it to be about Sam leaning into his superpower to beat the percentages. So, you pull in Banner—as nice as Mark Ruffalo is and as thrilling as it might be to have him—and all of a sudden, the main focus shifts away from Sam. The dialog clearly got here up, however finally, it felt like this wished to be Sam’s movie.
I can see the place he’s coming from. If Hulk got here in to tussle with Thunderbolt Ross after he reworked into Purple Hulk, then Sam Wilson would have been pushed to the sidelines and unable to shine within the film’s ultimate battle. Why make a Captain America film if Captain America isn’t the one to defeat the ultimate boss? It additionally made for a extra ingenious battle, as Sam used his mind, his abilities as counselor and the Wakandan expertise in his wingsuit to tire out Purple Hulk, which reverted Ross again to regular.
That being mentioned, although it was Edward Norton enjoying Bruce Banner in The Unbelievable Hulk, I actually do want Mark Ruffalo, who took over the position in The Avengers, to seem in a venture involving these characters from the 2008 film. We obtained a sampling of this in She-Hulk: Legal professional at Legislation when Bruce briefly tussled with Emil Blonsky, a.ok.a. The Abomination, however that’s not sufficient. Let’s see Bruce reunite with Betty, be taught what occurred to Sterns and both reconcile with Thunderbolt Ross or trade blows with him in his Purple Hulk type.
That rumored World Conflict Hulk film could be the proper platform for all this to occur, so hopefully that venture will get confirmed for the upcoming Marvel films schedule. For now, Captain America: Courageous New World is enjoying theaters, and you’ll revisit each Sam Wilson and Bruce Banner’s prior MCU appearances along with your Disney+ subscription.