She-Hulk’s Abomination post-credits scene makes Incredible Hulk a key Marvel movie

It’s been a wild 18 months for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only has the multi-billion-dollar franchise expanded into TV, but it’s started to use the medium to recontextualize the films that built its empire in the first place. No series has been more successful in this regard than She-Hulk: An Attorney at LawThe board is now dominated by a MCU supervillain named.

It’s a clear sign that Louis Leterrier’s much maligned 2008 movie The Incredible HulkIt is now at the forefront of MCU.

[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode 9.]

Image: Marvel Studios

She-Hulk’s finale episode may have poked fun at a lot of Marvel tradition, but it kept one going: a mid-credits scene, one in which Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, freed Emil Blonsky, the Abomination, from jail and created one more dangling plot line that any future Marvel project could pick up.

And Emil Blonsky isn’t the only villain from The Incredible Hulk whose revival has become a part of the modern MCU — weaving a movie that was barely considered a part of Marvel’s multiverse firmly into the tapestry.

Who is the Incredible Hulk?

Image: Marvel Studios/Universal Pictures

This book was released in the shadows the game-changing Iron Man, it’s not hard to understand whyThe Incredible Hulk has long been lost in the doldrums of the MCU’s Phase One. Though it aligned the MCU’s version of the Hulk closer to the comics than Ang Lee’s 2003 HulkIt also kept it fairly safe. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton), who is already in a hulk and on the run, was introduced. The classic Hulk villains Thunderbolt Ross and the Abomination (William Hurt), face him. We also meet Bruce’s comic book lover Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), which drives Bruce to defeat the inner monster.

With the 20-plus MCU movies that have come since, and Mark Ruffalo’s far more popular iteration of the character, 2008’s The Incredible HulkIt seemed that the moment was destined for obscurity. And then came Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings.

This was a fun and exciting family story that featured Wong (Benedict Wong), fighting with The Incredible Hulk’s villain the Abomination in an underground fighting ring. Some MCU fans assumed this was the choice. The Incredible HulkIt was only a distant memory. That reconsideration has continued with the arrival of She-Hulk, one of Marvel’s most iconic legacy characters, in her own self-titled Disney Plus series. This context calls for revisiting. The Incredible Hulk makes a lot of sense, as Jennifer Walters’ (Tatiana Maslany) origin is directly connected to that of her superpowered cousin. The latest Disney Plus series was eager to show that this was more than just a cameo as Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth, returning to the role) became a major part of Jen’s story and gave Bruce the closure he needed, as well as treating the audience to a meta-nod to Ruffalo’s recasting.

While all of that could be explained away as Hulk business fit for a Hulk story, during D23 it became clear that the MCU wasn’t finished with The Incredible Hulk. It was announced that Tim Blake Nelson, the legendary MCU actor and director, would be making a return to the MCU.Incredible Hulk In villain, the Leader Captain America: New World Order. Although it may seem unexpected, we can see the benefits. The Incredible Hulk it’s actually surprising that the MCU hasn’t returned to its sophomore entry sooner.

In 2008, the MCU was not built by A-list heroes. Iron Man and Nick Fury were far away from being cultural icons today. If we look at that roster as it was then, it’s clear that the Hulk was the most well-known hero Marvel Studios had access to. Thanks to decades of comics and his titular — and very popular — TV series, Bruce Banner and his alter ego should have been the big MCU smash.

Image: Marvel Studios/Universal Pictures

However, Universal had the rights to the characters for years due to licensing problems. Marvel Studios collaborated with Universal to create the movie. The Incredible Hulk happen. And if we’re looking at important precedent and the impact ofThe Incredible Hulk that’s a corporate deal as huge the Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures collaboration that brought Peter Parker to the MCU in Spider-Man’s Homecoming.

It wasn’t just a trailblazer in a behind-the-scenes sense, though; The Incredible Hulk also reimagined Bruce Banner’s origin in a way that would become key to the future of the MCU. In the classic comics, Bruce’s powers come from experiments with gamma radiation. However, in The Incredible Hulk In the movie, Bruce is repositioned as a character with more context. Here Bruce was trying to re-create the original Super Soldier Serum — a recurring theme and mistake that would be repeated throughout the MCU — and to do so he replaced the original formula’s vita radiation with gamma radiation. The Incredible Hulk is the first place that the Super Soldier Serum was introduced, and it’s the reason that the MCU has a Hulk at all. Soon Emil Blonsky was with him.

There was more! The Incredible Hulk’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. Ross was a major antagonist in Hulk comics. He became an important military player in the MCU, even though his path took him away from his son-in law. In fact, Ross became such a major player that it would have been easy — especially without the presence of Tyler’s Betty — to forget that he was connected to Bruce at all. With She-Hulk finally acknowledging the current Hulk’s relationship to the film where the Ross family debuted, that could potentially change. Although the tragic death of Hurt means we likely won’t see Thaddeus again, we could see the return of Betty — technically we already have, in an episode of What If…? She’s just another vital part of Hulk lore that was established in the movie… like the Leader.

Samuel Sterns was first introducedThe Incredible Hulk as a friend to Bruce Banner — who eventually betrayed him and played a part in creating the Abomination — that we last saw transforming into the Leader after gamma radiation found its way into his bloodstream. This is As The Incredible HulkFans never knew his fate and he never received a sequel. However, that will change in 2024. Captain America: New World Order In theaters. Why not? The Incredible HulkIt is well worth revisiting. The film introduced so many key parts of Bruce’s lore. They should be reintroduced in today’s modern age.

Marvel Studios will not let any of its filmic oeuvre go, and the return to The Incredible Hulk It actually removes from the very best thing about comic book storytelling. An artist can bring something to life. It can be forgotten for years until someone discovers its meaning again. As the MCU grows, we can expect more of this kind of reconsideration and excavation, and that’s pretty great.