MCU: Every Hulk Appearance Ranked Worst To Best

Picking up two years after Age of Ultron saw Hulk leaving the Avengers behind to places unknown, Thor: Ragnarok saw the God of Thunder stranded on Sakaar, forced to fight in the Grandmaster's gladiatorial games against the planet's popular champion: The Incredible Hulk, who - as it was revealed - had inadvertently been dumped on Sakaar not long after Age of Ultron, suppressing Bruce Banner the entire time.

What the Thor sequel achieved with the characters of Bruce Banner and the Hulk was pretty (ahem) incredible, as the duo was taken out of their earthly element to explore new angles for each of them.

For Bruce, we got to see Ruffalo's chemistry with Chris Hemsworth brought to the fore, the actor and character given more fun to take part in than ever before, while Hulk's two years of life on Sakaar allowed him to mature a bit, still childlike but able to hold conversations with Thor, such as Hulk acknowledging that Earth fears him, furthering the sense of agency Age of Ultron had teed up for him.

Their appearance in Ragnarok - which finally adapted the long-requested Planet Hulk storyline from the comics - also didn't feel gratuitous, complimenting Thor's story in a way that simply felt natural, both characters serving the story at hand rather than distracting from it, yet shining brightly nonetheless.

It pushed them both into fresh territory that was fun and exciting, showcasing just how well their dynamic with others (like Thor) only strengthens their role in the MCU, standing as the best, most clever use of the duo in the franchise to date.