Eternals Continues The MCU's Hulk Endgame Betrayal

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The Eternals trailer reveals that its story hinges on Hulk's Snap in Avengers: Endgame, but it continues the MCU's problem in how it references the event. Five years after Thanos had wiped out half of all life in the universe, Hulk restored it with his own version of the Snap, bringing back those who had been lost (referred to as the Blip). While undoubtedly heroic, Hulk's Snap had some major consequences, both on himself and the wider world.

For Hulk, he was left injured, perhaps permanently, with serious damage to his arm from using Tony Stark's nanotech-powered Infinity Gauntlet. Earth, meanwhile, was thrown into chaos once again, as the Blip turned people into refugees and created a massive geopolitical crisis as borders went back up around the world. Still, even with that, Hulk's Snap deserves to be remembered as one of the MCU's most incredible acts of heroism to date - much like Iron Man's Snap and ultimate death is - but that's not what has happened in the wake of Avengers: Endgame.

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The issue with Hulk's legacy started with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Set after Endgame, it reflected upon the heroes who had fought to save Earth and bring back those who'd been snapped out of existence, but oddly it didn't honor Hulk for reversing Thanos' Snap. Despite lengthy tributes to the Avengers, there was no mention of either Bruce Banner or Smart Hulk, suggesting that his role in events wasn't widely known. That continues in the final Eternals trailer, which references the Blip with some curious phrasing, as Ajax says: "Thanos erased half of the population of the universe. But the people of this planet brought everyone back with a snap of a finger." The praise goes rather vaguely to "the people of this planet," rather than the one most directly responsible, which is Hulk himself.

Of course, it is possible that the MCU's world does not know Smart Hulk's role in undoing Thanos' Snap. After all, it happened inside the Avengers Compound, and a lot followed in its aftermath, including the final battle with Thanos and then Iron Man's sacrifice. At the same time, though, WandaVision showed the world knows many Endgame events, such as Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel's fights with Thanos, which makes the idea of Hulk's Snap being unknown a little less plausible. Similarly, Hulk himself may not have wanted credit for what he did, not least because he failed in his snap to bring back Black Widow (which is what made it such a struggle for him to do), but again there's a direct counterpoint in Avengers: Endgame, where Smart Hulk is a celebrity figure who commands (and enjoys) a lot of attention.

Either way, the idea of Hulk not being credited for his role in the Blip is something that has persisted post-Avengers: Endgame, and it doesn't feel right that he isn't given the recognition he deserves. The legacies of Iron Man and Captain America have both been explored in great depth (and rightly so), meaning at the very least Hulk should be known as and celebrated for being the one to bring everybody back, rather than simply attributing it to the people. The idea of delving into the more negative aspects of the Blip, as in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and now Eternals, is certainly a pertinent one, but there's no reason not to honor Hulk for his actions at the same time.

[Silent Watcher]

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