re: Infinity War Rewatch - 2 points of contention

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it was the first time hulk got thoroughly whipped. the hulk side of the banner/hulk mentality is that of a child. so he was scared. Remember this is before the proper merger into professor hulk.

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I think I've read that the idea is that yes, that was the biggest beatdown Hulk had experienced, but that he was more tired of being used by puny Banner.

LINK

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"A lot of people had interpreted that the Hulk was scared of Thanos. The Hulk has had his arse kicked before, and so it wasn’t like the minute he gets his arse kicked he’s going to run and hide. It’s really the notion that the Hulk and Banner have a very dysfunctional relationship, which was explored even further in Thor: Ragnarok. And I think that relationship is starting to strain between the two of them and the Hulk is not interested in playing the hero to Banner anymore," Joe Russo said. "I don’t know if the Hulk sees the value in the relationship. They both want to control Hulk’s body. The Hulk brings fighting and strength to the table and he’s not quite sure what Banner is bringing yet. So, I think this is becoming a stubborn push and pull between two very despaired personalities stuck in one body."

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As Russo pointed out, Hulk was the dominant personality in Banner's body from the time Avengers: Age of Ultron ended until the events of Thor: Ragnarok, when he saw Black Widow on a screen in the Quinjet and reverted back to Banner. At that point, Hulk had been in control for two years, and it was made very clear early on in that film that there was no love lost between the green guy and his science-minded alter ego.

By the end of the film, Banner gave himself over to Hulk in order to try and defeat Hela, and Hulk was back in control at the time of Infinity War, but as Russo points out he was being used as a wrecking ball yet again. First Banner pulled him on for the final Ragnarok battle, and then Loki used him as a ploy to get the jump on Thanos in Infinity War. All of that, combined with Hulk's childlike level of intelligence, would be enough to make him stubbornly refuse to fight anymore, particularly if he couldn't fully comprehend the stakes of the film.

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