‘Captain America’ director addresses Mark Ruffalo’s absence as ‘Hulk’ in new film

Julius Onah, director of Captain America: Brave New World has defended the absence of Mark Ruffalo as Hulk in the newly released film.

The all-new movie featuring Anthony Mackie in the lead role consisted of many characters from the Incredible Hulk, but the main role played by Mark was evidently missing.

To explain, director Onah stated that this movie had a story entirely based on Sam Wilson and hence, it was meant to be his film only.

He believed that adding 'Hulk' to the action sci fi would have diverted the attention of the viewers from Sam.

In conversation with The Playlist, the 42-year-old filmmaker added: “This is Sam's first cinematic adventure as Captain America. And you want it to be about Sam leaning into his superpower to overcome the odds.”

He continued: "So, you pull in Banner as great as Mark Ruffalo is and as exciting as it would be to have him and suddenly, the focus shifts away from Sam. The conversation obviously came up, but ultimately, it felt like this wanted to be Sam’s film."

2025 Captain America is running in theatres worldwide starring Mackie, who replaced Chris Evans in the titular role.