The hottest new Marvel Rivals challenge is No-Hulk Bruce Banner - and everybody hates it

Hulk and Iron Man use a combo attack in this posed Marvel Rivals image
(Image credit: NetEase)

Some people have been playing what may be the most annoying challenge in Marvel Rivals yet – calm Bruce Banner, no Hulk.

I didn't know that Bruce Banner functioned a bit like D.Va in Overwatch 2, I assumed he was always in Hulk form because I haven't actually played Marvel Rivals yet. Turns out, he has to transform, and some people are trying to make the game harder for themselves and their team by playing matches purely as Bruce.

I applaud people for finding new ways to have fun in live-service games that can often feel repetitive and grindy when you play them for too long - one person, for example, managed to get all the way to Grandmaster as Rocket without dealing any damage. That being said, I can't imagine any of you would want to be on a team with a calm Bruce Banner.

Using only Bruce Banner in Marvel Rivals - YouTube Using only Bruce Banner in Marvel Rivals - YouTube
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Over on Reddit, people aren't happy. "Just lost a game because a guy was playing Bruce only, not Hulk," writes a player. "Why would someone only play Bruce and not transform into Hulk omg? This was in a Diamond Ranked Game! His name was 'A Bruce Main.'"

How I Became the BEST Bruce Banner in Marvel Rivals - YouTube How I Became the BEST Bruce Banner in Marvel Rivals - YouTube
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It turns out, even when people do transform into Hulk, they don't always do it optimally. "In ranked recently had a Hulk main who wouldn’t Hulk out until he started to take damage as Banner," another player writes. "So infuriating because while he was Hulking out the enemy team would shoot the healers instead and by the time he was hulked out we were all dead."

Hulk WITHOUT the HULK in Marvel Rivals - YouTube Hulk WITHOUT the HULK in Marvel Rivals - YouTube
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Other players complained that a lot of people don't utilize Hulk's jump or his ability to cling to walls, meaning he's slow and lumbering instead of a nimble damage dealer.

It's cool that people are finding new ways to play Marvel Rivals, but maybe only do stuff like this when you're playing with your friends. Otherwise, you'll make a lot of people angry.

If you want a break from Marvel Rivals, check out some of the best online games you can play instead.

Issy van der Velde
Contributor

I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.