The Hulk has had a interesting track record in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Starting as the second film in the franchise (technically), The Incredible Hulk gave us Edward Norton as Bruce Banner where, for most of the film, he already was the Hulk (a sequence in the very beginning of the movie showed his origin). It was the start of the MCU’s trend of not showing the origin stories of those we have already seen. (Looking at you, Spider-Man.) But it was also the only time we saw Norton take on Banner.

The movie has become more relevant throughout the last two years, with the Abomination showing up in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as well as in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, with references to his fight with Bruce in Harlem. With all of that, we’re meant to just accept the recasting of Bruce with Mark Ruffalo, with that film’s arc still being important to his story, which is fine! We’ve done it before in the MCU with Rhodey, and we’ll do it again with Thunderbolt Ross as Harrison Ford takes over the role.