Hulk Channels Banner In New Thor: Ragnarok Trailer

Last weekend at SDCC a whole bunch of trailers were dropped by a number of studios, but the one that stood out the most for me was the new Thor: Ragnarok trailer.  The reason?  We got to hear Hulk have an actual conversation with Thor. Full sentences, too, not just grunts.  So are we seeing the MCU move towards an intelligent Hulk like we saw in the comic books back in the 80's?  Too early to say, but the director for the film had a lot to say on the matter.

Taiki Waititi sat down with IGN to talk about the upcoming film over the weekend, and gave his thoughts on the Hulk's evolution.

“I was always fascinated by the duality of Hulk and Banner, and seeing how their brains could be interconnected. Could we sometimes see Hulk and could we have a bit of Banner’s voice in there? Could we see Banner and have Hulk’s personality through there?”

He continued:

“I think in this film we’re going to see that for the first time, where the two are fighting — really fighting this time — for control of the body. And Hulk talking, this idea of a more cognitive Hulk who can say sentences — that obviously has existed in the comics, but I think it’s something the fans want to finally see. It’s exactly what fans want to see, and what I wanted to see too.”

While Hulk isn't quite as "intelligent" as Bruce Banner is at this point, I think it's a smart move to have him start to think, so to speak.  The reason?  From what I understand, after Hulk left at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron and was picked up by Valkyrie, he was taken to Sakaar to fight in the gladiator arena.  While he's been there, he hasn't been able to change back into Bruce Banner, so he's been Hulk for the last...what, two years?  I guess time is relative in different parts of the universe, so it might seem longer to Hulk.  Banner hasn't stayed in the Hulk form for this long of a period of time before, so it stands to reason that Hulk starts to become aware, while still raging when he needs to.  However it happens, I think the "smart Hulk" is going to be a fun change for the movie.

Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters November 3, 2017.