New ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Concept Art Reveals the Wild Alternate Looks Hulk Almost Had

Marvel’s art books have become something of a treasure trove for fans eager to see the road not taken, offering glimpses into character designs and story beats that never made it to the final cut. Few reveals generate quite as much discussion as concept art tied to a character as iconic as the Hulk.

That excitement has only grown since the release of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ which finally brought Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner back into the spotlight after years away from the character’s more savage side. With the film’s companion art book now making its way into fans’ hands, new details continue surfacing about just how differently this version of Hulk could have looked.

Newly shared concept art from the book showcases early designs for Bruce Banner and his transformation into Hulk, with artist Wesley Burt reportedly developing multiple takes on the character before Marvel settled on its final look. Among the abandoned concepts was a version of Hulk rendered in gray rather than his signature green, an idea explored early in the design process before ultimately being scrapped.

According to producer Emily Fong, the decision to stick with green tied directly to keeping the character recognizable to longtime audiences. She explained that while this version of Hulk looks different from what fans have seen before, the green skin remains connected to the part of him that stays true to Bruce, making it important to preserve that visual link.

Beyond color exploration, the art book reveals that concept artists deliberately worked to distance this version of Hulk’s design from Ruffalo’s actual likeness, giving the character a more monstrous, comic-accurate appearance. Artist Ryan Meinerding reportedly explored designs that leaned further into classic comic book depictions, specifically drawing inspiration from John Romita Sr.’s original artistic take on the character.

That shift ties into the film’s broader creative direction for Hulk’s role in the story. Rather than continuing the more restrained “Smart Hulk” persona introduced during ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ ‘Brand New Day’ allows Bruce to embrace his Savage side once again, reportedly staging one of the film’s biggest set pieces as a horror-tinged sequence built around a predator-versus-prey dynamic between Hulk and Spider-Man.

Other early concepts reportedly included a bearded take on Hulk, along with variations showing subtle traces of Ruffalo’s own facial features layered beneath the character’s more aggressive new design. While none of these specific looks made it into the finished film, their inclusion in the art book offers fans a rare glimpse into just how much experimentation went into finalizing Hulk’s return.

Ruffalo’s return as Bruce Banner marks his first major appearance in the role since 2022’s ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,’ making his comeback one of the more anticipated elements of ‘Brand New Day’s’ overall marketing push. Alongside Hulk, the concept art has also revealed alternate designs for other characters, including Frank Castle’s Punisher and Michael Mando’s Scorpion, giving fans plenty to dissect ahead of and following the film’s release.

For a character with as much visual history as Hulk, seeing the different creative paths Marvel considered before settling on his final look adds an extra layer of appreciation for the decisions that shaped his on-screen comeback. Whether future MCU projects revisit any of these scrapped concepts remains to be seen, but for now, fans finally have a clearer picture of the road Hulk’s design took to reach theaters.

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