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Incredible Hulk director claims there was a cut that included Captain America, before he entered the MCU

The cut of The Incredible Hulk with Captain America was “darker” than the theatrical cut we all saw

An image of Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk — Image credit: Marvel Studios

News by Jules Chin Greene, Staff Writer

Published on Fri Aug 14 2026

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You would be forgiven if you admitted that you’ve kind of forgotten everything that happened in the 2008 Incredible Hulk film. You’d even be in the same boat as me. But as it turns out, there was originally more to the film directed by Louis Leterrier than any of us got to see.

In an interview with Collider, Leterrier revealed that there was a “darker” cut of The Incredible Hulk made that was ultimately thrown out. The “darker” cut was longer and was more integrated with the rest of the MCU: “it’s very interesting because The Incredible Hulk was the first movie sort of starting the MCU. So there were all these ideas that started many of the stories you’re following now, and that was in The Incredible Hulk,” Leterrier said.

Leterrier continued, “It was a little ahead of its time, so we didn’t do it. But Captain America was in it. Tony Stark was in it — he’s still in it. And the opening was actually quite interesting. It was set in the North Pole. It was cool. A little too dark.”

So, will we ever see any footage from these cut scenes? “Some [cut scenes] got out, some are still to be shown,” Leterrier said, which feels a bit ominous.

Given all of the medical transformation scenes in The Incredible Hulk, it isn’t too out of the question to imagine a cut of the movie with Steve Rogers in it. The only problem is that it would have spoiled the ending of Captain America: The First Avenger, which would come out in three years later in 2011.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

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Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, and Multiverse of Color.