Hulk’s son Skaar returned in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and director Destin Daniel Cretton confirmed the moment it happened. Skaar made his one and only MCU appearance in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's October 2022 finale, when Mark Ruffalo’s Smart Hulk came home from Sakaar and introduced the young warrior to a stunned Walters family. Stargirl actor Wil Deusner played the part in a single, silent scene. Since then, many have hoped that the character would be part of the studio's goal of building toward the Young Avengers. However, reports suggest that the crossover event will be postponed until after Avengers: Secret Wars. With the prospects of that team-up delayed, no other Marvel Studios project has mentioned the character again.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day quietly broke that silence, though most people who watched the film missed it. Peter Parker spends part of the film seeking out Bruce Banner, who now teaches at Empire State University, while a wrist inhibitor keeps his gamma side suppressed. During those campus scenes, Banner keeps a photo of Skaar on his desk, and the image is a still pulled straight from She-Hulk.
The detail flies by so quickly that fans put on their investigative caps, analyzing the movie frame by frame in a bid to spot the Easter egg. One viewer on X managed to find it and circled the frame, a small printed picture propped beside a binder on the desk at the front of Banner’s lecture hall.
Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton settled the debate in an interview with The Wrap. The director refused to explain why the photo exists or whether it teases something bigger, though acknowledged the hunt: "I’m glad people are finding it."
Expanding on The Hulk's role in the film, Cretton also spoke to Filmfare about the care that went into bringing the Savage version of the character to screen:
"To many, the most iconic pairing in the comics is Spider-Man and The Hulk. When we brought back Mark Ruffalo, we gave careful consideration as to what iterations of the character we would see and how to put these two icons together, and what – or who – would cause Bruce to become savage again."
Talking to The Movie Podcast, Cretton noted how he wanted the Hulk to properly factor into the story rather than just acting as fan service:
"I find that it's important for me to try to separate the excitement of trying to get a cameo into this, or trying to get The Punisher, or trying to get the Hulk into this movie, because if it was just that… I know that the audience would see right through it, that it was just a marketing ploy, so we could have the Hulk on billboards all over the country. But what you will find, when you see this movie, is that every one of these characters is in this movie for a very clear reason. And every character, in a way, is going through a different version of what Peter Parker is going through… They're a reflection of Peter. They are teaching him something about where his trajectory might go if he continues down the path of rejecting his humanity, of rejecting the parts of him that make him Peter."
The director also spoke to Variety, revealing that Ruffalo himself has ideas for where Bruce Banner could go in a solo movie:
"Mark has a few pitches. They are pretty good."
Perhaps Banner's son could factor into the equation, expanding his role before he joins a group of young heroes.
The comments come during a massive moment for the web-slinger. Brand New Day opened in cinemas on July 31 and earned $360 million domestically over its first weekend, the biggest domestic debut in box office history. Beyond Skaar, another interesting Hulk detail in Brand New Day is Bruce Banner reuniting with his Savage Hulk side, a turn of events that could have massive implications in future MCU films.
Will Skaar Appear Again in the MCU?
Naturally, Skaar's appearance in Brand New Day has fans wondering whether Hulk’s son will return in the MCU and possibly play a significant role. If Skaar does resurface, his father’s crumbling life offers the most natural doorway. Brand New Day leaves Banner in awful shape. Jean Grey, played by Sadie Sink, seizes control of his mind partway through the film and forces the Hulk out to break into a Damage Control vault.
The scrambled aftermath unleashes a savage version of the giant who no longer listens to Banner and fights Spider-Man. The story ends with the scientist hospitalized and his quiet teaching career destroyed. Marvel also left Banner out of the sprawling cast announcement for Avengers: Doomsday, which arrives on December 18, so his path through the rest of the Multiverse Saga remains wide open and could make room for his son.
Avengers: Secret Wars looks like the likeliest place for this reunion. Leaked concept art tied to the upcoming Avengers movies surfaced in early 2025 and showed Hulk and She-Hulk in medieval clothing, speaking with a wounded, long-haired young Hulk that fans naturally assumed was Skaar. The village around them resembled Greenland, the Battleworld domain from the Secret Wars comics, where gamma-powered beings run their own society.
The Russo Brothers, who are directing both Doomsday and Secret Wars, denied that the artwork was a part of their two-part finale, but that hasn’t quieted the chatter surrounding the image. As recently as this summer, industry insider Alex Perez told fans the whole Hulk family could plausibly gather in that part of the story, while admitting he could not say for certain.
A Battleworld nation packed with Hulks would solve the Skaar problem in one move. The character needs no She-Hulk revival and no project of his own, just a place inside a crossover already bringing together every corner of the franchise. Avengers: Secret Wars hits theaters on December 17, 2027, and it's the likeliest place fans will see Skaar again.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
