When production started onCaptain America: Civil Warlast May,Marvelreleased acast listthat confirmed almost all of the heroes fromAvengers: Age of Ultronare appearing in the firstPhase Threemovie. There were two notable exclusions, though,Chris Hemsworth’s Thor andMark Ruffalo’s Hulk, who will be teaming up inThor: Ragnarok. While there had been rumors during the production that Hulk actually does appear in the film, we never got confirmation of his appearance. During an interview onBBC Radio 1’s Movie’s With Ali Plumb podcast,Anthony Mackierevealed that he has seen the movie, where he praisedMark Ruffalo’s performance, and teased that it may be good enough to be nominated for Best Picture.
“Having seen the movie, it’sMarvel’s best movie so far. And I’m being honest - if aMarvelmovie sucks, a movie in theMarveluniverse, I’ll tell you it sucked.(Captain America:) The Winter Soldierand (the first)Iron Manare probablyMarvel’s two best movies, and I feel like (Civil War) beats both of those movies. It’s really, really good. It’s because it’s more of an acting movie than an action movie. I feel like the story is very concise and interesting, and you get to seeRobert Downey Jr.andChris EvansandScarlett JohanssonandMark Ruffaloand everybody just do really, really good ACTING. And then there’s action in it. I think it might be the firstsuperhero moviethat might be up forBest Picture.”
Back in October, it was confirmed that Hulk will return inThor: Ragnarok, where he will go on a cosmic road trip with Thor. We last saw Hulk at the very end ofAvengers: Age of Ultron, where he took off in a Quinjet for parts unknown, after the Green Goliath caused so much damage on Earth.Marvelhasn’t released any official story details forThor: Ragnarokyet, but it has been rumored that Thor is banished from Asgard by the villainous Hela, rumored to be played byCate Blanchett. Thor eventually lands on a planet filled with gladiators, where he is forced to fight the planet’s champion, Hulk.
Of course, those details haven’t been confirmed, but if they’re true, it certainly would explain why Hulk wouldn’t make an appearance inCaptain America: Civil War. It’s worth noting that Hulk wasn’t featured in the Civil War comics, so it would make sense that he wouldn’t be included. Even ifAnthony Mackie’s statement is true, we don’t know how large or small a role the Green Goliath may have in this superhero movie. AndMark Ruffalomay just have a quick cameo as Bruce Banner. We didn’t see Hulk in the first trailer or theSuper BowlTV spot from earlier this month.
Anthony Mackie’s praise forCaptain America: Civil Warfalls in line with a report from last month, which claimed that the movie had the best test screening scores inMarvelhistory. It’s also worth noting that the movie had reshoots last month, so it’s possible thatMark Ruffalocame aboard to film his scenes during these reshoots, but that hasn’t been confirmed. Do you think Hulk will show up inCaptain America: Civil War, hitting theaters on May 6? Chime in with your thoughts, and you can visitBBC Radio 1to listen toAnthony Mackie’s entire podcast interview.
