Why Hulk’s Phase 4 Changes Could Redeem The Fat Thor Storyline
While it's not yet clear what plans the MCU has for the Hulk in Phase 4, Marvel Studios has an opportunity to redeem the «Fat Thor» storyline by showing that they have listened to audience concerns. Marvel has been characteristically tight-lipped about what Bruce Banner or the Hulk's next outing might be but chose to include Bruce, played by Mark Ruffalo, in a Shang-Chi post-credits scene. Back in human form, his appearance there is changed from how he looked previously, in Avengers: Endgame, and it's not fully clear why that is.
In Endgame, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Bruce undergo perhaps the biggest changes of any of the Avengers, with Thor having retreated into a sedentary lifestyle following his last confrontation with Thanos, and Bruce having undergone extensive gamma therapy to meld the Hulk and himself into a single being, «Professor Hulk.» Thor's state is heavily suggested to be caused by unhealthy coping mechanisms as he seeks to deal with the traumatic events of Avengers: Infinity War and killing a weakened Thanos after having arrived too late to retrieve the Infinity Stones. Bruce's new look is suggested to be about self-acceptance and coming to terms with who he really is.
Related: Why Is Bruce Banner No Longer Hulk In Shang-Chi (Endgame Retcon)?
The trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder suggests that writer-director Taiki Waiti may be avoiding Endgame's Thor mistake. Still, Marvel has an even bigger opportunity in the MCU's Phase 4 to show that they are listening to audience concerns and growing more conscious of these issues. While the insensitive jokes made at the expense of Thor's grief and the arguably fat-phobic way the character was used can't be retconned away, the way the MCU treats the Hulk going
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