Mark Ruffalo’s confirmed return in Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) isn’t just another superhero team-up – it could be the key to solving the MCU’s most complex continuity puzzle. After Doctor Strange’s memory wipe spell erased Peter Parker’s identity from everyone’s minds, one question remains: what if Bruce Banner’s savage alter ego is the only person in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe who still remembers that Peter Parker is Spider-Man?
Recent toy industry leaks and casting announcements suggest we’re getting the classic Savage Hulk, not the Smart Hulk from Avengers: Endgame. This creates a fascinating scenario where the most dangerous personality in Bruce Banner’s mind might hold the key to Peter Parker’s lost connections.
What Is the Savage Hulk’s Role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
The Savage Hulk represents Bruce Banner’s original, uncontrolled transformation – the primal, emotionally-driven monster we knew from The Incredible Hulk through Infinity War. Unlike the integrated “Smart Hulk” personality that Banner achieved during the Blip, the Savage Hulk maintains a completely separate consciousness with distinct memories.
Hasbro’s 2026 Marvel Legends lineup reportedly features a Savage Hulk figure, which typically corresponds to on-screen appearances. This tracks with industry speculation that Brand New Day will revert to the classic Banner/Hulk internal conflict that made the character so compelling in earlier MCU phases.
Key Savage Hulk characteristics:
- Separate consciousness from Bruce Banner
- Distinct memory storage independent of Banner’s experiences
- Potentially unaffected by magical mental alterations
- Dormant since Banner’s Smart Hulk transformation in 2018
How Does Doctor Strange’s Memory Wipe Spell Work in the MCU?
Doctor Strange’s spell from Spider-Man: No Way Home operates on four specific principles, as established by screenwriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna:
- Memory Erasure: Everyone alive who knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man no longer remembers
- Relationship Reset: All personal connections to Peter Parker were severed
- Reality Alteration: Physical and digital records were magically redacted
- Selective History: Spider-Man remains in historical records, but his unmasking was erased
The spell targeted conscious memory and reality within the 616 universe. However, the screenwriters deliberately left gaps in the spell’s mechanics, promising to address them in future films. Brand New Day appears positioned to fulfill that promise.
Why Might the Savage Hulk Remember Peter Parker’s Identity?
The Savage Hulk’s unique psychological status creates several scenarios where Banner’s alter ego could have retained memories of Peter Parker’s identity:
The Dormancy Loophole Theory
When Banner integrated his personalities during the Blip, he essentially buried the Savage Hulk consciousness so deep it became dormant. If Strange’s spell only affected active, conscious minds within the 616 universe, a completely suppressed personality might have escaped its effects.
In Thor: Ragnarok and Infinity War, Marvel explicitly established that Banner and Hulk maintain separate memories. Remember Hulk asking Thor, “Do I know you?” – this wasn’t confusion, it was genuine separate consciousness recognition. If that separation extends to magical mental alterations, the dormant Savage Hulk could retain pre-spell memories.
The Gamma Spider Connection Theory
Here’s where the timeline becomes crucial for MCU continuity. Peter Parker gained his powers approximately six months before Civil War, placing his spider bite around early 2015 – right after the Avengers relocated from Stark Tower to their upstate compound.
During Age of Ultron, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner collaborated extensively, likely establishing some form of gamma research facility in Stark Tower. When the Avengers moved out, Peter Parker – the ultimate Tony Stark fanboy – could have explored the abandoned tower and encountered a gamma-irradiated spider.
This theory explains several MCU mysteries:
- How Tony Stark knew to find Peter Parker
- Why he was so invested in Peter’s development
- The connection between Banner’s work and Spider-Man’s origin
- Why the Savage Hulk might have unique knowledge about Peter’s identity
The Avengers Compound Briefing
Infinity War includes a crucial line where Bruce Banner learns about “Ant-Man and Spider-Man” during his off-screen time at the Avengers compound. The Avengers maintained files with Peter’s face among the dusted heroes, visible in Endgame‘s opening sequence.
The question becomes: did the Savage Hulk surface during any of those briefings? If Banner lost control even briefly during those compound meetings, the Savage Hulk could have seen Peter Parker’s face and name together, storing that information in his separate consciousness.
When Did Bruce Banner First Learn About Spider-Man?
Bruce Banner’s limited exposure to Peter Parker creates an interesting continuity challenge. Banner was off-world during Civil War when Spider-Man joined the Avengers, trapped on Sakaar living as a gladiator champion.
Their first potential meeting occurred during Infinity War‘s New York attack, but Banner was knocked unconscious early and never directly interacted with Peter. However, during his time at the Avengers compound between his return and Thanos’s arrival, other Avengers briefed Banner on new team members.
Timeline of Banner’s Spider-Man knowledge:
- 2016-2017: Off-world during Spider-Man’s MCU debut
- 2018: Brief compound briefings before Infinity War
- 2018-2023: Savage Hulk dormant during Blip period
- 2023-2025: Smart Hulk active, affected by memory spell
- 2026: Potential Savage Hulk return in Brand New Day
How Could This Impact Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Story?
If the Savage Hulk retains memories of Peter Parker’s identity, it creates unprecedented storytelling opportunities for the MCU’s street-level narrative direction.
The Perfect Secret Keeper Scenario
Imagine Peter Parker discovering that the one person who remembers his true identity is locked inside Bruce Banner’s psyche, only accessible when Banner loses control. This creates a complex dynamic where Peter needs the dangerous Savage Hulk to surface to access those memories.
Potential story implications:
- Peter must trigger Banner’s transformation to access memories
- Savage Hulk becomes an unreliable but crucial ally
- Banner struggles with allowing his dangerous side to emerge
- The team must manage both Peter’s identity crisis and Hulk’s unpredictability
MCU Phase 5 Connectivity
Brand New Day‘s cast includes Frank Castle (Punisher), Mac Gargan (Scorpion), and other street-level characters, suggesting a grounded approach. However, having the Savage Hulk as Peter’s unwitting confidant adds cosmic-level stakes to personal storytelling.
This setup could also explain how other characters from alternate dimensions or realms might retain Peter Parker memories, as Strange’s spell only affected the primary 616 timeline.
What Does This Mean for the Future of the MCU?
The Savage Hulk’s return represents more than just fan service – it’s a potential course correction for Bruce Banner’s character development. Many fans felt the Smart Hulk resolution removed the internal conflict that made the character compelling.
By reverting to the classic Banner/Hulk dynamic while giving it new purpose through Peter’s memory crisis, Marvel could restore the psychological complexity that made the character fascinating while serving the broader MCU narrative.
Industry Impact and Box Office Implications
Entertainment industry analysis shows movie-related keywords generate significantly more search value than comic-only terms. Brand New Day‘s combination of Spider-Man’s popularity with the return of a classic Hulk interpretation could drive massive audience engagement.
The film’s 2026 release positions it perfectly within MCU Phase 5’s focus on consequences from previous phases, making the memory wipe aftermath a central theme rather than a side note.
Expert Predictions for Brand New Day
Having followed Marvel’s continuity obsession since the early MCU phases, I suspect Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios story group have been planning this connection since No Way Home‘s development. The level of detail required to make this work demonstrates the kind of long-term storytelling Marvel excels at.
The casting of experienced street-level actors alongside Ruffalo suggests Marvel is building toward a more grounded narrative while maintaining cosmic-level character dynamics. This balance between intimate character work and universe-spanning implications represents Marvel at its storytelling best.
What to expect from the Savage Hulk’s return:
- Classic Banner/Hulk internal conflict restoration
- Unique solution to Peter’s identity crisis
- Deeper exploration of gamma radiation’s effects on consciousness
- Setup for future multiverse memory retention rules
Why This Theory Makes Perfect MCU Sense
Marvel Studios has spent over a decade carefully tracking continuity details that casual viewers might miss. The question isn’t whether they’ve considered the Savage Hulk’s memory retention – it’s how they’ll use it to maximum emotional and narrative impact.
The beauty of this scenario lies in its complexity. Peter Parker needs connection to his past, but he can’t have it easily. Making that connection dependent on Bruce Banner’s most dangerous personality creates the kind of high-stakes character development that defines the best MCU storytelling.
Whether this theory proves correct or not, the return of the Savage Hulk represents a fascinating opportunity to explore the psychological aftermath of No Way Home while returning one of Marvel’s most compelling internal conflicts to the forefront.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day releases in 2026, and if these theories prove accurate, we’re in for one of the MCU’s most psychologically complex team-up stories yet.