'Infinity War' Trailer Disproves Banner’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Hulk Theory

Between Avengers: Age of Ultron and Thor: Ragnarok, Bruce Banner spent two years stuck as the Hulk fighting in the gladiatorial arena of Sakaar, which led him to believe that if he ever became the Hulk again, the transformation might be permanent. Well, the Infinity War trailer has just called bullshit on that theory by showing several scenes with a very human Bruce Banner despite him “suiting up” for the final fight in Thor: Ragnarok.

The last we saw of Banner/Hulk, he was still stuck in green behemoth form on the massive ship with Thor, Loki, their gladiator friends, and the surviving Asgardians. Based on Banner’s worried theory earlier in the movie, we were led to believe that if he transformed again, we’d never see human-form Mark Ruffalo ever again. But the Revengers needed the Hulk to face Hela and her minions, so in one of the most WTF moments of Thor: Ragnarok, Banner plunged hundreds of feet to smack right into the Bifrost Bridge. And yes, he became the Hulk a moment later, but not before we heard the sickening slam and crunch of his mangled body.

Very quickly in the Infinity War trailer, Banner is back doing his signature “plummet shirtless from the sky as the Hulk and crash land through somebody’s ceiling”:

Looking down at him are Doctor Strange and Wong, which leads us to believe that the Hulk was probably doing something in New York City when he crash-landed directly through the Sanctum Sanctorum and reverted back to Banner. Or maybe he was conveniently blasted all the way there from across the universe.

We can’t possibly know how he gets there, but based on the post-credits scene of Thor: Ragnarok, it’s safe to assume that he and Thor get into some kind of confrontation with Thanos. Either way, we do know that Hulk can revert back to Banner still.

One way or another, Doctor Strange and Wong get Banner out of that hole, and Tony Stark arrives just in time for the four of them to unite and face … something.

There’s also a tense scene in the trailer between Banner and Black Widow, who were an item back in Age of Ultron, but he’s been MIA for more than two years by this point. Banner is apparently working on the arm of the Hulkbuster armor on what looks like the outskirts of the Wakandan city of Birnin Zana. It appears to be a prelude to what might just be the most epic battle scene to ever grace the MCU.

So there you have it: In Infinity War, Bruce Banner will still be able to revert to his human form and back into the Hulk, but there’s no telling if there’ll be any further complications for him.

Avengers: Infinity War will be released May 4, 2018.