2 Avengers Members Had A Movie Team-Up 24 Years Before The MCU"s Movie

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The Avengers was the first time the biggest heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the time teamed up, but two Avengers members actually joined forces in a TV movie 24 years before The Avengers came out. After introducing each member of the original Avengers team either in their solo movies or in the movies of fellow team members, these superheroes finally worked together in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, where they joined forces to stop Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the Chitauri army as they invaded New York City.
Although each Avengers member brings different and useful skills and traits to the team, their personalities initially clashed and it took them a while to get used to working together, but with time, some of them became close friends and even went on adventures together aside from their missions with the Avengers. Such is the case of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who went on to fight together in Thor: Ragnarok after a rough start in The Avengers, but these two heroes had already met in another movie, two decades before the MCU began.
Thor & Hulk Teamed Up In The Incredible Hulk Returns

In the MCU, Thor and Bruce Banner/the Hulk met for the first time in The Avengers, and they even starred in one of the movie’s most memorable scenes, where the Hulk punched Thor after they successfully took down a Leviathan. As mentioned above, Thor and the Hulk went on to become close friends, but these two Marvel heroes had already appeared together two decades before The Avengers in the TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns. Directed by Nicholas Correa and released in 1988, The Incredible Hulk Returns is a continuation of the 1978-1982 TV series The Incredible Hulk, starring Bill Bixby as David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as Hulk.
In The Incredible Hulks Returns, Banner believes he has found a potential cure for his condition, but the inexplicable arrival of Thor (Eric Kramer) delays his plans. Banner comes across Donald Blake (Steve Levitt), a former student of his who reveals to him that, on an expedition to Norway, he was bound into possession of a magical hammer that contained the soul of Thor, an immortal Viking warrior banished from Valhalla, who reluctantly compelled to serve Blake. Although in the comics (and in the MCU) Donald Blake is one of Thor’s identities, in The Incredible Hulk Returns Thor and Donald were two separate characters, and Thor wasn’t exactly the charming superhero everyone now knows.
How The MCU Made Thor & Hulk Better

Before the MCU started, Thor and Hulk weren’t exactly the most beloved and popular characters from Marvel Comics, though the latter had already had his own animated and live-action TV shows as well as a couple of movies. The MCU’s more grounded and realistic tone helped it better develop the characters of Thor and Bruce Banner/the Hulk, boosting their popularity. Thor went through much-needed changes in Thor: Ragnarok, where he finally showed his personality and sense of humor, becoming one of the most beloved characters in the MCU and the first one to get four solo movies, and while Banner/Hulk has also won over the hearts of the audience, the MCU hasn’t taken the time to explore his story, yet he’s definitely a much better Hulk than the one in the TV shows and movies before The Avengers and the MCU.
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