Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law had its red (er, purple) carpet premiere this week in Hollywood, with lots of photo ops and interviews with the cast. One interview in particular is feeding the Marvel “Phase 6” rumor mill. Did Mark Ruffalo leak that She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) will be joining the Avengers?
She-Hulk, a 9-episode legal comedy, introduces Bruce Banner’s cousin Jennifer Walters, who gains the ability to hulk out when their blood mixes after a car crash. As She-Hulk, Jennifer will walk the tightrope of her career, her romantic life, and her new identity as a superhero, representing supervillains in court while coming to terms with her new powers and the fame that comes with them.
Although She-Hulk will be limited in scope, focusing on the daily life of a superhero instead of the cataclysmic events in Marvel properties like Eternals or Doctor Strange, it’s one of many projects that are building up to the two new Avengers movies coming in 2025. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will presumably focus on Jonathan Majors’s Kang the Conquerer, first introduced in Loki, as he starts a multiversal war by trying to destroy other realities. Avengers: Secret Wars will likely continue that story, adapting the comic book run of the same name, in which the Avengers try to stop the world from being destroyed in an incursion, or a collision between realities.
But in order to have an Avengers movie, you have to have some Avengers. And at the She-Hulk premiere, Mark Ruffalo may have let slip that She-Hulk herself will be joining the team’s roster.
Mark Ruffalo: “There’s not going to be another Avengers without [She-Hulk]”
On the purple carpet, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Ruffalo and Maslany. When asked about their characters’ places in the MCU—specifically the fact that Ruffalo has never had a solo outing as the Hulk, despite being involved with Marvel for 10 years—Ruffalo revealed a surprising bit of information about Maslany’s She-Hulk. Here’s what THR said:
Joking with Ruffalo to “give me one year” of being the central Hulk after he’s played the character for a decade, Ruffalo agreed, “All right, you can have a year. No, she’s in now, there’s not going to be another Avengers without her.” That seemed a surprise to Maslany, who inquired, “What?” as Ruffalo confirmed, “That’s what I’m hearing.”
Translation: Ruffalo has heard, from some source somewhere, that She-Hulk will be in the next Avengers film.
Is it true? We don’t know yet, but it wouldn’t be a shocker. Marvel’s Phase 4 has been heavily focused on introducing new characters, just as Phase 1 introduced the original Avengers. Among the new heroes that Phase 4 has debuted are Sam Wilson’s Captain America, Shang-Chi, Yelena Belova, Ms. Marvel, and Kate Bishop, all of whom will be joining returning heroes like Thor and Doctor Strange. She-Hulk is a natural addition to the team.
But Secret Wars is still years away. In the meantime, we can enjoy She-Hulk’s adventures in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law on Disney Plus.
(featured image: Marvel)
