The Russo Brothers Have Finally Addressed Fans’ Most Important ‘Endgame’ Question
Fans wanting to learn every detail about Avengers: Endgame continues in a time when quarantine allows some new deep-dives. In some cases, some of that new reanalysis has refreshing and thoughtful ideas. Other times, it just turns into minutiae only the most ardent fan wants to know.
One of those recent details relates to Hulk. While it might give Hulk fans a good feeling to know people are still talking about him after being sent packing, this scene involves something he threw during an emotional tirade.
Case in point is the scene where Hulk throws a park bench into the air during a pivotal moment in Endgame. Fans want to know where that bench ended up falling. The Russo Brothers recently revealed who was likely on the receiving end.
Remembering back to Hulk throwing the park bench
Those who remember this scene will remember it involved five of the original Avengers team mourning the death of Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow). Following her seemingly sacrificial death in Endgame, these five members paid their respects in a park setting, with each displaying their own particular emotion.
A memorable meme of this scene likened the five Avengers to the five stages of grief. Thor represented denial, Hulk was anger, Clint was bargaining, Steve was depression, and Tony represented acceptance.
Because Hulk was about frustration, he subsequently picked up a heavy park bench and flung it into the air, landing somewhere in a nearby forested area. There was never a cutaway showing where the bench landed, though.
At the time, it was never considered important. Well, not until fans wanted to know who might have had the bench land on them. Only on social media would such a question be asked.
The Russo Brothers gave a halfway serious answer in a recent Q&A
Recently, a user on Reddit posted a thread about the Russos answering the Hulk/park bench question during a recent online Q&A chat. The Q&A occurred on Twitter where the Russos answered select questions directly.
When someone asked where the park bench landed, the Russos had a quick reply: It landed on…Frank Castle. Of course, Castle is The Punisher and was played by Jon Bernthal in the original Netflix series.
The answer of Castle being on the receiving end of the bench was likely taken in jest by most people. Others might consider it canonical since it came from the Russos themselves.
On Reddit, fans joked they could imagine hearing Frank Castle’s yell just as the bench hit him. Others wished this really was canon, even if no one knew whether Frank died in the snap.
Would this pave the road to Frank Castle returning later?
A lot of fans of The Punisher were sorely disappointed when Netflix canceled the series back in 2019. While the show never had Castle interacting with The Avengers, adding an Easter egg scene of Frank being hit by Hulk’s park bench would prove quite the reentrance.
Being a tough-as-nails vigilante as he was, he likely would have recovered fast after being hit by the bench. On the other hand, having the bench traveling at high speed could kill any other bystander. All the random things Hulk throws are seldom shown landing, proving severe injuries could happen with any normal mortals walking around the periphery.
The Russo Brothers’ response was maybe a subtle nod to the complaints about the Marvel TV/streaming universe never connecting with the MCU movies. Imagining Frank Castle entering the realm of The Avengers at some point would be at least one connective string.
If it ever does happen, it would likely just be a quick cameo to prove Frank was in the area. Should the bench knock him out, it may explain why he never took part in the NYC-based Battle of Earth.
