Marvel fans are giddily awaiting the release of the first footage from the Russos’ Avengers: Doomsday, which Disney is reportedly showing in various forms ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash for the next four weeks. But before the epic scope of that film opens up, there’s a web of trouble coming to 2026’s movie releases in the form of Spider-Man: Brand New World. Spidey himself won’t be the source of the trouble, and a new rumor posits he’ll be facing a certain hulk-ing threat.
Not just that, but it’s one that MCU audiences have wanted to see on the big screen for years: Grey Hulk. This rumor comes from noted insider Daniel Richtman, who shared the alleged news that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher were paired together for the upcoming Marvel movie to square off against the elusive Grey Hulk.
Exactly how much of that particular Hulk we’d potentially see is unclear, but the report makes it sound like we’ll be getting the savage version as opposed to the more civilian-esque Joe Fixit persona who serves as a Las Vegas enforcer with far looser morals than his green counterpart. The non-savage version is also quite the clever S.O.B., which would make him an interesting minor antagonist for the brains and brawn of Peter Parker and Frank Castle.
It's been a full decade since Grey Hulk was conceived for an MCU introduction during Avengers: Age of Ultron, although that failed to come together after director Joss Whedon decided it might be too confusing for viewers. Not that he planned on actually utilizing the fully characterized version. The idea was just to tint the character's skin with a greyer tone to show the after-effects of Scarlet Witch's mind games earlier in the film. Hopefully his alleged arrival in Spider-Man: Brand New Day will go beyond that.
Earlier rumors pointed to Mark Ruffalo's Hulk showing up as a bridge to Avengers: Doomsday, stressed to high heaven about the idea of others being able to hulk out the same way he can. Perhaps that idea ties in with the emergence of Grey Hulk here.
Outside of Rufallo-ness, Daniel Richtman also claims that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will also include a major villainous group from the comics, giving the impression that this movie may be taking the kitchen sink approach to its rogues gallery. In this case, The Hand will allegedly make an appearance in the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed feature, which ties into bizarre past rumors about the webslinger facing off against ninjas. Maybe Electra can show up in that movie if it doesn’t ever happen in Daredevil: Born Again.
Now the wait is on to see if Funko has a Grey Hulk in whatever its tie-in line of Pops will be. Spider-Man: Brand New Day will hit theaters on July 31, 2026.
