The Hulk has had a few live-action adaptions over the years, with the most recent and prominent one being in the Marvel Cinematic Universe played by the hilarious and great Mark Ruffalo.
Today, I want to rank them but in a different way. I want to rank each version of Bruce Banner, as well as the Hulk, and explain at the end what I would love to see going forward with Mark Ruffalo’s version of the Hulk and of course, Bruce.
I’ll strictly stay with the movies because I’m not a fan of that TV hulk that had the painted body and wig etc.
Bruce Banner – Ranked
3. Eric Bana as Bruce I won’t lie, is one casting I don’t remember. No matter how many times I watch the film. His performance as both Bruce and Hulk is a less memorable one compared to the other two versions. I found his acting bland and just simply boring. I don’t know if it’s a cause of the writing or the story but I don’t remember. Whenever I speak about the Hulk I instantly go to the MCU version of the Edward Norton version.
2. This might be controversial but Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce. Don’t get me wrong, I love this version. I just don’t see this Bruce doing much other than being shy and laid back. compared to Edward Norton’s version, This Bruce always allowed the Hulk to take care of things whereas Edwards’s version felt like he would dive into the action as well.
1. My favorite version is simply Edwards’s version. As previously stated, I felt like he would be involved in the action in his movie as well as the Hulk. I prefer this look for Bruce compared to the others as well. Even though he’s like on par with Mark Ruffalo’s version. This is simply my favorite.
Now that the three versions of Bruce have been ranked, let’s do the Hulk now. This will be different too. I’ll be doing it with Edward Norton’s Hulk, Eric Bana’s Hulk, and of course Mark Ruffalo’s, however, I’ll be doing three versions for Mark’s version as we’ve technically seen three versions, angry Hulk, Smart Hulk, and World War Hulk.
The Hulk Ranked
5. Eric Bana’s Hulk. I hate this design and overall look for the Hulk. I get it, CGI wasn’t great back then but every time I watch this movie I instantly get the thought that this Hulk is from a ps3 game. It looks horrible on screen and the overall face of the Hulk looks simply squished.
4. World War Hulk or Champion of Sakaar Hulk. One of the three versions we’ve seen from Mark Ruffalo. I like this design. I love the gladiator look to the Hulk and it debuted really well on-screen. I honestly hope we see more of this as I’ll explain later on.
3. Smart Hulk. Another one of Mark’s versions and one that debuted in Endgame. While I love seeing Smart Hulk I just think that it’s been overdone. I am growing quite tired of it. I do like how he looks more like Bruce though.
2. Edward Norton’s Hulk. I really like this design. It looks more real, it looked scarier and angrier. It looked like a great matchup against Abomination. It fit well with the height. I feel like if this was Eric Bana’s version, It would have been misplaced.
1. Mark Ruffalo’s version we saw in the Avengers movies before smart Hulk. I love this design. It was amazing, It felt big. What I mean by that is that when he fought, when he got hit, got more mad, angrier, it looked like it grew in size. Just as the Hulk should.
Now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we have been introduced to yet another version of Hulk. This time She-Hulk. This is a Disney+ series focused on Bruce’s cousin Jennifer. In this series, Bruce was a part of episode 1 and we saw him in space traveling again. What can this lead to? Well, let’s talk about my future wants and needs for Hulk.
As much as I love the Hulk, I feel it’s time to go back to the angry Hulk. Let the beast out. Give me, give the fans, and more importantly give Mark Ruffalo a standalone movie. Go balls to the wall on angry Hulk. Make him a true beast. Make him huge, make him even more dangerous, and more importantly, make him not care one single bit.
Set the story as Hulk and Bruce returning to Sakaar and give us World War Hulk where we see Hulk and Bruce work together, allow them to speak to each other, and come to the conclusion for Bruce to survive, he needs to allow Hulk to “hulk out”.
It’s time. Marvel DO IT. Please.
