The new trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day has sparked excitement among fans, but it may also have raised a significant issue for the MCU’s continuity. The film starring Tom Holland—a new chapter in the Peter Parker saga—will continue to tie into the rest of the Marvel Universe and bring some highly anticipated returns to the big screen, including that of Bruce Banner, played once again by Mark Ruffalo.
The first trailer showed only the character’s human form, but the new footage has confirmed what many fans were hoping for: Banner will once again transform into the Hulk. The clip shows the Green Giant chasing Spider-Man and even using his famous sonic boom, promising a spectacular clash between the Hulk’s brute strength and the agility of the hero played by Holland. An exciting prospect, to be sure, but also a potentially problematic one.
The concern stems from the way the trailer seems to depict Bruce Banner’s transformation. At one point, Peter turns to him for help because of a mysterious physical mutation. Bruce shows him a device on his wrist and warns him: “If you see me without this, run.” Shortly afterward, the trailer suggests that Banner loses that very device and reverts to a raging, out-of-control Hulk.
On paper, the scene works perfectly: it’s immediate, spectacular, and brings back a wilder version of the character—the one many fans have been asking for for years. The problem is that this choice seems to conflict with what was established in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, one of the most talked-about and criticized series in the entire MCU.
In the Disney+ series, in fact, the device worn by Bruce Banner was introduced as an inhibitor designed to allow him to maintain his human form. Its function, however, did not seem to be to suppress a violent, separate personality. When the device malfunctioned, Bruce did indeed revert to the Hulk’s appearance, but he retained his intelligence and personality. In other words, it did not undo the arc already shown in Avengers: Endgame, where Banner had achieved a sort of balance between his two identities, giving rise to the version known as the Smart Hulk.
This is precisely where Spider-Man: Brand New Day raises a delicate question: has the MCU just pretended that She-Hulk never existed? If the Hulk reverts to being an uncontrollable creature simply because Bruce loses the inhibitor, then the film would seem to retroactively alter the purpose of that device and, consequently, an important part of the character’s evolution as well.
The risk is that the series starring Tatiana Maslany will be treated as a negligible detail—or worse, as an easily expendable piece when the cinematic narrative needs to take a different direction. And this is no small problem, because it touches on one of the most sensitive issues in the recent Marvel era: the relationship between the movies and the Disney+ series.
When Marvel Studios began producing television content for the platform, the implicit promise was that those series would carry the same weight as the films in building the shared universe. Ignoring or openly rewriting a project like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law would instead suggest that television titles are less binding—easier to tweak, shelve, or cancel depending on the needs of new films.
Of course, it’s worth noting that She-Hulk was one of the MCU’s most divisive productions. The series was criticized for its comedic and surreal tone, the quality of its visual effects, and certain narrative choices that divided the audience. However, the fact that a project was poorly received should not be enough to render it irrelevant within the official continuity, especially in a narrative universe that has always made the connection between its various elements one of its strengths.
However, there is also a more intriguing possibility: Spider-Man: Brand New Day might not ignore She-Hulk at all, but rather explain Bruce’s transformation within the story. The film could reveal that the relationship between Banner and the Hulk has fractured after years of control, or that an external force has interfered with his mind, bringing the character’s most instinctive and destructive side to the surface.
From this perspective, the mysterious character played by Sadie Sink could play a central role, especially if the theories linking her to a figure with psychic powers turn out to be true. Mental manipulation—or a trauma capable of disrupting the balance Banner had achieved—would allow the film to bring back a fiercer version of the Hulk without completely erasing what had been established previously.
It would be the most elegant solution: transforming a potential contradiction into a new narrative development. In this way, the MCU could bring the Green Giant’s most menacing side back to the screen without giving the impression that it simply wants to shelve an inconvenient storyline.
