Marvel Cinematic Universe · What If...?: Season Three

What If... the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers? — S03E01

TV · 2024 · 29 minutes · Phase Five · alternate

In a reality that splits from the mainline timeline after the Hulk's fused Banner-and-monster identity settles in following the Blip, Bruce Banner instead bombards himself with a massive overdose of gamma radiation in a desperate bid to purge the Hulk from himself for good. The experiment backfires catastrophically, birthing a rampaging kaiju-sized creature called the Apex, which is fought off and driven away in an initial battle. A decade of uneasy peace follows, during which a haunted Banner withdraws into seclusion on a remote island. When the Apex resurfaces years later with a larger force, the surviving heroes — including Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, Monica Rambeau, Marc Spector, Red Guardian, Melina Vostokoff, Nakia, and Shang-Chi — build giant mech suits to fight back against the invasion. Banner is drawn out of hiding to confront what he unleashed, ultimately transforming into a colossal "Mega-Hulk" to defeat the Apex, ending the new invasion but setting himself up as ruler of the gamma monsters he now controls on his island.