Here's What's Up With The Hulk In Avengers: Infinity War

After losing an initial confrontation with Thanos in the opening scene of Avengers: Infinity War, Hulk refuses to emerge and help the Avengers take on the Mad Titan throughout the rest of the film. Fans have speculated that Hulk's unwillingness to fight is because he's scared of losing to Thanos again, but the writers and directors behind Infinity War have denounced such speculation. Turns out Hulk isn't scared; he's angry.

Spoilers for Infinity War follow.

On the commentary track of Infinity War--the movie is available right now for digital download--writer Christopher Markus said the movie is "the beginnings of Bruce's issues" and the continuation of the character's story arc. For the first time since becoming Hulk, Bruce is being forced to deal with threats on his own--even having to rely on his own ingenuity to defeat Cull Obsidian with Tony's Hulkbuster armor. Hulk doesn't want to help in Infinity War because he's tired of Bruce only relying on the scary green monster when there's trouble to be dealt with. The Hulk wants a life that's more than smashing Bruce's problems.

"What makes [Bruce Banner] unique as a character is that there's a host body that is being fought over by two distinct personalities who hate each other. Both want control of the host body," director Joe Russo said. "So, the relationship is becoming increasingly dysfunctional and that's what's going on here."

We saw Hulk begin to express his individuality in Thor: Ragnorok, and now Infinity War is driving home the point that Bruce and Hulk are two different people with their own wants and needs. Whether or not Bruce learns to accept the Hulk as an equal in time for Earth's strongest hero to join the final battle in Avengers 4 remains to be seen. Regardless, Bruce is right, the two need to start talking to one another--especially if they want to move forward and have a healthier relationship.

The extra stuff that comes with buying Infinity War is full of goodies, like a hilarious deleted scene that features the Guardians of the Galaxy and Nebula and learning that Happy Hogan was supposed to be in the movie.