10 Inescapable Plot Holes In Avengers: Endgame

We were told that Infinity War and Endgame would give us the continuation of the Hulk’s narrative arc that began in Thor: Ragnarok. Well, Endgame provided us with a resolution - but one that made no sense given what had come before.

In Age Of Ultron, Banner planned to leave the Avengers because he was frightened and humiliated after the world saw the savage Hulk for the first time in Johannesburg. He runs away as the Hulk because he’s angry with Black Widow for seemingly betraying him. He remains the Hulk because he’s still angry.

Come Ragnarok, and two years of being more than just a lapse of control or the superhero go-to-guy have given the Hulk agency and a voice in his own future. Embarrassed by Thanos in Infinity War, Hulk refuses to come out and fight, and Banner realises that he’s “got a lot to figure out” with Hulk to move forward.

This is all steady, consistent character development based on sound psychology. Naturally, we expect to see this continue in Endgame.

Instead, we’re presented with a merged Hulk as a fait accompli, with an offhand explanation that after “eighteen months in a gamma lab, [Banner] put the brains and the brawn together”. No character development, no psychology: he just scienced the sh*t out of it off screen.

Worse, there’s no whisper of the Hulk’s persona in this new Smart Hulk, just the physicality. Yet again, the poor guy was treated like he didn’t matter.