The Incredible Hulk Had A Wolverine Easter Egg:
The Incredible Hulk may be the film that Marvel doesn’t really like to refer to a whole lot. But it still is one of the most underappreciated movies of the MCU as it laid the groundwork for the future movies to come. For instance, it tied with Captain America: The First Avenger by showing us a different version of the Super Soldier serum. But there were several setups in the film that Marvel is yet to revisit.
Most of those set ups were for Hulk’s future stories. For instance, we’re yet to hear about the Leader or the Abomination. We don’t know the whereabouts of Betty Ross. While these are the topics that may be addressed in the She-Hulk series, there’s one particular set up that will now tie in with Wolverine & The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
When General Ross provides Emil Blonsky with a counterpart Super Soldier serum, we get a shot of the Weapons Plus program. Under this program, the American government creates enhanced living weapons. In the MCU, it is the next version of the Super Soldier program that created Captain America. As you can see above, the developer is named Dr. [Josef] Reinstein, which is actually an alias for Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci). In the comics, Captain America’s creation was really the start of it all. He is usually called “Weapon I,” and Wolverine is referred to as “Weapon X” as he was the 10th subject of this program. Several other individuals have been created through the Weapons Plus program. For instance, Deadpool is also a result of this program.
Weapons Plus is one of the programs that is yet to be explored (like Project Exodus). We believe that it will be revisited in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where we will get to see the history of the Super Soldier program. Carl Lumbly has reportedly been cast as Isaiah Bradley. He could turn out to be one the products of MCU’s Weapons Plus program that was led by Howard Stark, after the successful outcome of the Super Soldier program during WWII. Rumor is that Isaiah Bradley could be the first Black Captain America of MCU, and he could’ve been active sometime during the 20th century.
After him, there might have been several test subjects of the Weapons Plus program, and it will all tie in with Wolverine’s origins in the MCU. We can tell that this was always the plan because back in Iron Man, Kevin Feige & co shot an alternate post-credits scene which teased Spider-Man and the mutants. Because Marvel didn’t have the rights to those characters, they couldn’t have included that scene in the MCU. But if they would have had the rights, then this scene and the Weapons Plus program would have already led us to Wolverine.
Back in May, scooper Roger Wardell tweeted that a Weapon X Disney+ show is in works & it will take a deep dive into the Weapons Plus program. It will be a prequel/sequel to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and will explore other subjects of the Weapons Plus program along with Wolverine. So, let’s see how The Incredible Hulk ties in with the arrival of Wolverine in the MCU.
Until Weapon X is announced, here’s how the Phase 4 & Phase 5 schedule of MCU looks for now – Black Widow on November 6, 2020, The Eternals on February 12, 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on May 7, 2021, Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 on December 17, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on February 11, 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022, Black Panther II on May 6, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022. As far as the TV shows are concerned, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier & WandaVision are supposed to hit Disney+ later this year (but we’re not sure now). Loki, What if…? & Hawkeye will arrive next year, and Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight & She-Hulk will possibly arrive in 2022.
