Given how many characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe show up in Captain America: Civil War, it’s perhaps not that surprising there was little room left for one of the biggest. According to Mark Ruffalo himself, the Hulk will not be appearing in the film.
Out promoting journo drama Spotlight at the Venice Film Festival, Ruffalo told Badtaste.it (the site is Italian, but the translation is at Collider) that Bruce Banner’s hulking alter ego, last seen soaring into the sky in a Quinjet at the end of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, is not scheduled to grace our screens again just yet. “The reason is too great to be revealed in this movie. I was in the script but then they removed my character. They don’t want to reveal where is he and why. I don’t even know if Hulk will be back soon.”
Of course, there’s always the chance we might see him pop up in some post-credits scene to tease future Bruce time, but for now it looks like we’ll have to make do with (deep breath) Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Vision (Paul Bettany), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), James “War Machine” Rhodes (Don Cheadle), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Crossbones (Frank Grillo), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Baron Zemo, (Daniel Brühl) and a mysterious character played by Martin Freeman. They’re all in service to a story that finds our heroes falling out over how much regulation the government should apply to powered types, especially after a mission by Cap and his current Avengers leads to the usual collateral damage.
Captain America: Civil War arrives in the UK on April 29 next year. For all that we know so far about the sprawling superhero slug-fest, hit up our purpose-built guide.