We've known for a while that Bruce Banner is a key part of "Thor: Ragnarok," the third film in the Marvel Studios franchise, which borrows elements from the popular "Planet Hulk" comic book storyline by Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan.

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When an encounter between Chris Hemsworth's thunder god and Cate Blanchett's Hela ends with Thor sent to Sakaar, a barbarian planet ruled over by one of the Elders of the Universe, Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), he encounters a Hulk who's not only that world's most successful gladiator but also very different from the teammate he last saw in "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

“He’s much more of a character than the green rage machine you’ve seen in the Avengers movies,” Mark Ruffalo told Entertainment Weekly. “He’s got a swagger. He’s like a god.”

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That's certainly a departure from the previous depictions of the Banner/Hulk dynamic in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Earlier films have seen Ruffalo's mild-mannered scientist at odds with his chaotic, barely contained alter ego. Perhaps a coliseum filled with the applause of bloodthirsty aliens has gone to his head.

Directed by Taika Waititi from screenplay by Eric Pearson, "Thor: Ragnarok" also stars Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins, Tessa Thompson and Karl Urban. The film opens Nov. 3.