She-Hulk's New MCU Origin Risks Retconning Hulk's Endgame Story
The first She-Hulk trailer shows a glimpse of Jennifer Walters' origin, and it could retcon Smart Hulk's Avengers: Endgame story. Marvel Studios shared the first footage from the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe show as part of Disney+ Day 2021. The brief look at She-Hulk included a tease of Tatiana Maslany's portrayal of the superhero lawyer, but it also featured a quick look at Mark Ruffalo's return as Bruce Banner and Smart Hulk.
Hulk's MCU journey included several twists and turns as the Infinity Saga came to a close and Phase 4 began. Thor: Ragnarok saw Hulk mostly in control, while the Green Goliath retreated in Avengers: Infinity War following a beatdown by Thanos. It wasn't until during Avengers: Endgame's five-year time jump that Bruce Banner and Hulk merged to create Smart Hulk. This form of Hulk was able to use the Infinity Stones to bring everyone back from Thanos' snap, although it severely damaged his arm. He ended the movie wearing a sling, and Ruffalo's surprise return in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings showed Smart Hulk revert to Bruce Banner's human form. This raised many questions about Smart Hulk's story and how it connected to She-Hulk's MCU origin.
Thanks to the She-Hulk teaser trailer, it now appears that Jennifer Walters' transformation will retcon Hulk's Avengers: Endgame story in some regard. This is based on the one glimpse of Smart Hulk featured in the footage. He's in some sort of lab with Jennifer in a containment unit as they appear to be testing what triggers her She-Hulk transformation. Smart Hulk is shown in this scene to be in excellent health, as his right arm is not damaged at all. As long as this isn't one of the MCU's tricky trailer manipulations, that points to one of two possible Smart Hulk retcons. His appearance here as part of She-Hulk's origin would mean that he was either involved with Jennifer's transformations during Avengers: Endgame or that Bruce does find a way to fix his arm after the film and Shang-Chi.
Diving deeper into each of the possible Smart Hulk retcons, the possibility that She-Hulk's origin takes place during Avengers: Endgame is a fascinating one to consider. This would debunk the theory that Hulk reverts to Bruce's form after a blood transfusion with Jennifer. It would also raise more questions about what exactly Hulk was doing during the five-year time jump, as this could indicate he spent part of Avengers: Endgame training his replacement. If so, that would be a strange piece of information for him not to divulge to the Avengers. It also would be odd then for Bruce not to bring She-Hulk into the fight at the end.
The other possible retcon to Smart Hulk's Avengers: Endgame's story would deal with the fallout of his actions in the movie. Although Marvel never attempted to make this detail canon, the creative team behind Avengers: Endgame repeatedly said that Smart Hulk's arm was permanently damaged after using the Infinity Stones to reverse Thanos' past actions. His appearance in Shang-Chi showed that his arm was still not healed. If She-Hulk's origin takes place after Avengers: Endgame, it means that the MCU is changing the lasting effects using the Infinity Stones had on Smart Hulk and bringing back this form after quickly undoing the original transformation. Regardless of which outcome She-Hulk includes, the show is certainly set to unravel new pieces of Smart Hulk's Avengers: Endgame story.
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