The Russo Brothers Officially Confirm Hulk's Return in 'Avengers: Doomsday'

Published Sep 29, 2026, 9:20 PM EDT

In over three years at Collider, senior author Jake has now penned over 3000 articles covering a wide range of TV and film for the resources, lists, utilities, news, and interview teams. Alongside interviewing stars such as Selin Hizli, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Harlan Coben, and Chelsea Peretti, Jake was lucky enough to visit the set of Aardman and Netflix's Wallace and Gromit: A Vengeance Most Fowl in 2024, getting the chance to chat with four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Jake has also worked for other publications, including Agents of Fandom. You can also hear Jake every week as the resident film and TV journalist on Track Radio.

Although many expected the MCU to break records in 2026, all eyes were on the December 18 release of Avengers: Doomsday. However, the franchise's latest global juggernaut would arrive in the summer, courtesy of the exciting return of Tom Holland as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. A huge hit with audiences and critics, Brand New Day was being dubbed the best Spidey movie in two decades before it had begun its record-breaking box office run.

In a two-month theatrical run to date, Brand New Day has smashed all expectations, catching the box office competition in its web of ticket sales. The film has officially become the highest-grossing film ever at the domestic box office with a domestic haul that has surpassed the $950 million mark, as well as making more than $2.4 billion to become the third-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. Although its cast wasn't at the level of Doomsday, Brand New Day's success was certainly spurred on by the inclusion of several MCU favorites, such as Zendaya as MJ, Jacob Batalon as Ned, and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk.

But many have wondered if any of these favorite faces will make an appearance in Doomsday on December 18. Well, the Russo Brothers have now hinted at the possibility of Ruffalo's involvement in an interview with Empire Online. Joe Russo said, "I think [what] we could say is, [Banner] is certainly involved in the story that revolves around Doom. We will not confirm nor deny his appearance in Doomsday." Anthony Russo added, "The farthest we can go is to say, there are characters and actors who have not been announced, who are a part of Doomsday." Fans might love to see Banner involved in Doomsday, but is there room for the big green guy?

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which MCU Villain Do You Align With? Killmonger · Namor · Zemo · Thanos

Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you do about something unfair, how long you will wait for what you want, who you are really loyal to, how easily you let a thing go. Answer them and we will tell you which one of these four you have more in common with than you would like. Every one of them thinks they are the reasonable person in the room.

🐆Killmonger(Black Panther)

🔱Namor(Wakanda Forever)

🎭Zemo(Civil War)

🧤Thanos(Infinity War)

FIND YOUR VILLAIN →

How do you react to something you think is unfair? All four of these men started here.

ALoudly, and I want the whole thing torn down. BI protect whoever it hurt, first and fast. CI say nothing, and I start planning. DI look for why it keeps happening at all.

NEXT QUESTION →

How long will you wait for something you want? Patience separates these four more than anything else.

ANot long, since I have waited long enough already. BAs long as my people stay safe meanwhile. CYears, if years are what it takes. DTime does not really come into it.

NEXT QUESTION →

Who are you actually loyal to? Answer for the real one, not the polite one.

AThe people nobody else turned up for. BMy own, and nobody outside that. COne person, and they are already gone. DAn idea, rather than any group of people.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you win an argument? Everybody has one method and uses it every time.

ABy being angrier and more right. BBy making the cost of disagreeing obvious. CBy letting them talk until they trip over something. DBy explaining it until they run out of objections.

NEXT QUESTION →

How easily do you let something go? This is the question that makes villains out of people.

AI do not, and I can tell you exactly why. BOnce whoever caused it stops being a threat. CWhen the balance is settled, and not before. DInstantly, because it was never personal.

NEXT QUESTION →

What do you think about breaking the rules? Nobody on this list has ever felt guilty about it.

AThey were written by whoever benefits from them. BMine apply, and theirs do not reach me. CRules are a tool, and I use them precisely. DThe rule matters far less than the outcome.

NEXT QUESTION →

What do people say about you behind your back? You already know which one it is.

AThat I am far too angry about it. BThat I put my own above everybody else. CThat I am much quieter than I should be. DThat I am certain in a way that unnerves them.

NEXT QUESTION →

What would you do with real power? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your villain.

AGive it to the people it was kept from. BUse it to shut my own people off from the world. CUse it to make the guilty face what they did. DUse it to fix the thing everybody refuses to face.

REVEAL MY VILLAIN →

The Case Is Made You Align With…

Four villains, and four arguments the films were honest enough to actually let them make. Here is the one you lean towards, the part of it that holds up, and the exact point where it stops holding up.

Erik Killmonger

You align with the one who was right about the problem and wrong about the solution. Killmonger is the most persuasive villain Marvel has produced because the film never pretends his anger came from nowhere.

You notice who was abandoned and you cannot let it go, which is a moral instinct before it is anything else.
His argument lands because Wakanda really did watch and do nothing, and the film makes T'Challa admit it out loud.
Where it breaks is the method, since a man who was failed by power decided the answer was to hold more of it.
Michael B. Jordan plays him as somebody performing certainty over grief, which is why the last scene of that film still works.

Namor

You align with the protector, which is the most understandable and most dangerous position on this list. Namor is not chasing power or revenge, he is doing whatever keeps his people hidden, and he has been doing it for centuries.

Your loyalty has a hard border around it, and everything inside that border matters far more to you than anything outside it.
Talokan is the best realised world Marvel has built since Wakanda, and the film makes you understand exactly what he is guarding.
His logic is airtight right up until it requires somebody else's people to pay for his people's safety.
He would rather be feared by the surface world forever than trust it once, and history has given him reasons.

Helmut Zemo

You align with the patient one, the only man on this list with no powers, no army and no hurry. Zemo lost his family in Sokovia and then spent years working out that you do not fight the Avengers, you introduce them to each other's secrets.

You go quiet when you are hurt, and the quiet is where the thinking happens.
Zemo is the only MCU villain who completely won, and he did it with a notebook, a plan and a great deal of self control.
His grief is real, and the film is careful never to let you forget that he started as an ordinary man with a family.
Where it fails is the cost, since taking apart the people who hurt him meant hurting a great many people who did not.

Thanos

You align with the one who decided the answer was arithmetic. Thanos is not angry and not grieving in any way he will admit to, he simply reached a conclusion and never once revisited it, which is precisely what makes him frightening.

You are capable of holding a position that costs you everything, and you would call that conviction rather than stubbornness.
Infinity War works because it is structured as his film, with a goal, a journey and a sacrifice, and the heroes are the obstacle.
The flaw in the plan is not the cruelty, it is that he never seriously considered a single alternative to it.
Josh Brolin plays him tired rather than triumphant, which is the choice that turned a purple giant into a real character.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

Although it hasn't finished its initial box office run yet, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is reportedly already gearing up for a return to theaters, this time with extra footage. Capitalizing on the eye-watering success of its first run, this second run will shadow the new Avengers: Endgame Encore by offering some extra context that will likely prove crucial in the future. This includes an exciting Daredevil crossover with Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple, whose scene didn't make the final cut.

Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for all the latest stories.

Release Date December 18, 2026

Runtime 165 Minutes

Robert Downey Jr.

Victor von Doom
Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
Sue Storm / Invisible Woman

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