What Hulk’s Possible Suit Tells Us About Avengers 4

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Hulk is going through perhaps his biggest change to date.

What appears to be promotional art for the upcoming Avengers 4 surfaced earlier today showing the surviving heroes of Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet-powered snap banding together, and the strongest Avenger is wearing not just black pants, but a black (or purple) top as well. Assuming the art in question is real -- it looks like it would be used for backpacks or a lunchbox, yet has no artist's signature -- it could mean a number of things for Hulk.

For most of Infinity War, Bruce Banner was unable to summon his other half when he needed it, including during the film's climactic battle of Wakanda. Whenever Bruce tried to transform, the change would actually stop midway, and it didn't seem like a solution with an easy fix. The choice of whether or not to be Hulk has never been up to Bruce fully, and the time without his other half has likely given him a new outlook on a side of himself he didn't think he wanted, and a solution to his transformation issue.

It’s possible that Hulk’s new outfit is laced with something capable of triggering a transformation when Bruce needs it. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility; with Stark still alive, he and Banner could easily conceive of such a suit for Bruce to use, one that combines the former's tech with the latter's gamma-focused research.

There also appears to be blue lines along the edges of his forearms, which could mean that if our Stark suit theory is true, Shuri may have had a hand in making it as well. After all, it would make sense to incorporate some Wakandan Black Panther tech into the outfit. Plus, with Hulk's mental state being somewhat fragile at the moment, the added protection a vibranium-laced outfit would provide could help boost the Jade Giant's confidence levels a bit for the next time he finds himself face to face with Thanos.

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There’s also the possibility that this is just a way to show that Hulk is an Avenger now rather than the menace the world has largely believed him to be the last three years. The suit looks fairly similar to what Hulk wore during the second season of the animated series Avengers Assemble, during which he joined Captain America’s team of Secret Avengers under the codename Gamma X and had to wear a S.H.I.E.L.D. shirt and pants.

With the heroes of the MCU whittled down to just a small handful, the world truly needs heroes now more than ever, and the remaining human population can’t afford to be picky. Earth needs champions to place their faith in, and the original Avengers--all of them, including Hawkeye... err, Ronin -- would instill some semblance of hope that everything will return to normal... eventually.

And then there's the chance that it's just Hulk's space suit. With Rocket and Nebula temporarily a part of the Avengers, it stands to reason that the team will be going into the cosmos at some point during the film, and the concept/promotional art's background looks a lot like Thanos' home planet of Titan.

Powerful as he is, it's doubtful that Hulk would survive too long in space; even in the MCU, in every instance we've seen of someone entering space, they've frozen and died almost immediately. A suit would be the best way of making sure he survives space if and when he winds up outside of whatever ship the Avengers use.

Thematically, giving the Hulk a shirt says a lot with a little. The character has always represented power unleashed at its highest form, and putting him in actual clothes symbolizes how restricted he is after spending so long living in his element on Sakaar as a gladiator. Getting beaten down by Thanos put Hulk in a new cage where he no longer believes he's as strong as he truly he is, and he's now learned that there is such thing as a limit, and that happens to be the Mad Titan.

Fortunately, Hulk being who he is, we expect he'll soon find that clothes -- much like limits -- can't hold him back for long.

In theaters now, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston, and Josh Brolin. Avengers 4 arrives May 3, 2019.

KEEP READING: Forget Infinity War, Hemsworth Says Avengers 4 Is "Even More Shocking"