We hope you've got health insurance, because we're about to blow your minds.
Those who have seen 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and its 2019 sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home
will remember Roger Harrington, the slightly dorky, more-than-slightly bumbling, well-meaning
science teacher played by Martin Starr.
In Homecoming, Mr. Harrington instructs the students of Midtown School of Science and
Technology and oversees the school's Academic Decathlon Team, of which Tom Holland's Peter
Parker is a member.
And in Far From Home, the teacher tries his hardest to make his students' summer trip
across Europe as wonderful as possible, but proves hilariously incompetent.
To be fair, it's not entirely his fault.
Mr. Harrington is a memorable MCU character, but Homecoming and Far From Home aren't the
only Marvel movies he's been in.
As several sharp-eyed fans have pointed out, Mr. Harrington made his MCU debut way back
in 2008, when he cameoed in The Incredible Hulk - which, despite what your one friend
might insist, is indeed part of the MCU.
Remember the student who smiles and waves a slice of pizza at Edward Norton's Bruce
Banner in the chemistry lab at Culver University?
Yeah, that's Roger Harrington, credited in the film simply as "Computer Nerd."
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed the fact during an AMA session on Reddit.
One fan wrote,
"Martin Starr was both in the Incredible Hulk (very briefly in the computer lab) and in
Spider-Man: Homecoming as Peter Parker's debate coach.
Can we assume these are the same people?"
Feige replied with a simple observation, saying, quote, "I do."
It makes sense that the book-smart student became a not-so-street-smart teacher - and
a science teacher, at that.
It also makes sense that a character from an old film was retconned into also being
a character in a newer film, considering Marvel also did that very thing with Peter Parker
and the young man dressed as Iron Man at the end of Iron Man 2.
"Nice work, kid."
So Feige's confirmation makes this a nice bit of Marvel trivia to share at your next
dinner party.
However, the admission that Starr's characters from The Incredible Hulk and the Spider-Man
movies are the same person arguably puts a tiny wrinkle in the overall Marvel canon,
particularly regarding a tie-in novel that accompanied the release of The Incredible
Hulk.
As many fans have noted, the Incredible Hulk novelization takes a different approach to
the character Starr played in the film, identifying him as being a Korean-American genius named
Amadeus Cho, who was first introduced in Marvel Comics in 2005.
Since Starr is definitely not Korean-American, like Cho is, the two characters are more like
analogues to one another than anything else - but we digress.
In the novel version of the story, Banner meets Cho when he sneaks into the computer
lab, finding the student studying for his final exams.
Much like movie Banner does with Martin Starr's character, Banner offers Cho some pizza, and
that's the end of that.
A scene like this was actually supposed to be included in the movie as an extended version
of Starr's actual scene in the final film.
The deleted scene sees Banner trying to trick his way into the lab with the promise of free
pizza, with the excuse that someone in the radiation lab called for it and then bailed.
The tactic works like a charm, getting Banner easy access to use the computer and search
for the data he needs.
"You, my friend, are a hero.”
Interestingly enough, the Cho character referenced in the novelization actually ended up with
a meaty role in Marvel Comics years later, going on to succeed Banner as the Hulk as
the star of the 2015 comic series The Totally Awesome Hulk.
The connection between Martin Starr's Incredible Hulk character and the book's Amadeus Cho
is pretty undeniable.
But since Feige has since stated that the computer nerd in The Incredible Hulk movie
is actually Roger Harrington, that means he's not Amadeus Cho.
So in case you were wondering, that means that the Incredible Hulk novelization officially
isn't canonical.
This isn't to say that Marvel fans won't ever see Cho in the MCU one day, becoming the Jade
Genius after Banner somehow passes the torch.
He just probably won't be played by Martin Starr.
"As you know, we made it out alive and that's the important thing.
Couldn't bear to lose a student on a school trip.
Not again."
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