The Disney+ legal comedy She-Hulk: Attorney at Law answers fans' questions about Smart Hulk and Bruce Banner's arm injury from Avengers: Endgame.
The following contains spoilers from She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Season 1, Episode 1, "A Normal Amount of Rage" on Disney+.
Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have a lot to be excited about with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law beyond simply getting to know Tatiana Maslany's, Jennifer Walters. It's a secret sequel to 2008's The Incredible Hulk since Tim Roth is back as the Abomination. As a legal show, there will be massive MCU worldbuilding, seeing how the regular world interacts with a super one. Most importantly, the show can answer fan concerns, like, "What's up with the Hulk's injured arm?"
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law answers the question of Bruce Banner's arm injury from Avengers: Endgame. When the first trailer for the series debuted showing a Hulk with two good arms, some fans thought She-Hulk took place during the Blip. Endgame established that Smart Hulk was a public hero. There was no reason that this series couldn't take place during the five years that 50% of the living things on Earth were gone. Diehard MCU fans considered all these possibilities, because, as far as they knew, the Hulk's arm injury was permanent.
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One of the directors of the film gave an interview to Comicbook.com where he stated in no uncertain terms that the Hulk "lost" that arm. The co-director of The Gray Man went on to acknowledge that "permanent" in a comic book framework isn't very permanent at all. "I have no idea where that character goes from here," he said, noting that there are plenty of smart people in the MCU who could repair or replace his arm. The MCU Phase 4 is the Wong era, so the going theory was the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong would heal the arm. However, the answer wasn't all that complicated. Fans sometimes forget that Bruce Banner is one of the smartest people in the MCU. He was seen not in Hulk form during Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' post-credits scene, and that should've been the first clue Banner was up to offscreen sci-fi shenanigans.
In Endgame, Banner talked about his convergence with the Hulk in more emotional terms than scientific. As smart as he is, Banner's area of expertise is in only one area: Hulk science. During the car scene with Jen in the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series premiere, Bruce explains what's happened between the swan song of the original Avengers and the present in the MCU. The arm was not healing while he was in Hulk form, but he recalled that Hulk injuries didn't usually manifest in Banner's body. So, he created a device that reverted him to human form. However, his arm was still damaged, requiring the sling Banner sported in Shang-Chi. Unlike when he was Smart Hulk, in human form the arm started slowly repairing itself. So, he kept wearing the device -- which prevented him from Hulking out. This is how blood from his wounds contaminates Jen after the accident.
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When next we see Bruce, he's back in his Smart Hulk form and has two good arms. He explains to Jen that there is something different about her. He keeps it vague (because this is all pretend), but essentially something in the way her blood reacted to the gamma radiation poisoning allowed him to fully heal his arm. It's a bit of a hand wave to get the Hulk back to full strength, which suggests that this character still has some stories to tell. Rumor has it Marvel Studios gets the distribution rights to Hulk movies back in 2023. Although, after 14 years, maybe Bruce Banner's story is simply over.
Mark Ruffalo has said he's "passing the banner" for Hulk duties in the MCU to Maslany. Perhaps the storytellers simply want to send Hulk off into the proverbial sunset whole. That way, if Ruffalo never suits up again, fans can imagine Hulk having adventure after adventure just off-screen. Whatever Bruce Banner's future is in the MCU, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law firmly closes the book on his Endgame arm injury.
See what's next for Bruce and Jen in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, debuting new episodes Thursdays on Disney+.
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