Iron Man was the formative and the first Avenger out of the original six to feature a film by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other than his witty humor, genius mind, and ability to care about things around him, he is known for his memorable post-credits scenes. In the early stages of this franchise, he made an appearance in a post-credits scene of a couple of projects, including one that was completely different and unrelated to his character, that of The Incredible Hulk.

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in a still from Iron Man

What many might not know about the appearance is the fact that there is a very dark reason why his character showed up at the end of this movie. Initially, the MCU would have looked completely different if his character had not appeared here, with one of the first 6 Avengers having almost been a completely different person.

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Bruce Banner Wasn’t Supposed To Be A Part Of The Avengers

There is a short that was featured on the Blu-ray version of the first Thor film. Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant, showcases Agent Phil Coulson and Agent Sitwell getting informed of something completely unrelated to the plot of the Chris Hemsworth film and is completely related to that of The Incredible Hulk. They are informed that the World Security Organisation is looking to make Emil Blonsky, also known as The Abomination and the villain of the film, into a war hero.

Tim Roth as The Abomination in The Incredible Hulk

They want to release him from prison and make him join the Avengers Initiative, blaming the events that occurred in New York between him and Bruce Banner, on the scientist himself. This would have completely changed the trajectory of how The Avengers would have played out, considering Bruce Banner was such an integral part of it. The original six Avengers would have never gotten their green rage monster had not been for Iron Man.

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Iron Man Helped Stop This

Agent Phil Coulson and Agent Sitwell sought the help of the new consultant, the one and only, Tony Stark, who recently became Iron Man. They wanted his help to tip the scales in Bruce Banner’s favor and make sure he was considered instead of Emil Blonsky. As seen in the post-credits scene of The Incredible Hulk, Tony Stark visits General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross in a bar.

Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk

A conversation begins and eventually ends with Stark influencing his choice for who should be part of the Avengers Initiative, as he was in charge of deciding whether The Abomination would get released from prison. Thankfully, things went according to plan and Banner was recruited at the start of The Avengers by the Black Widow, though some persuasion was needed.