Why did Tony never even attempt to look for Bruce?

I never really gave any thought to it, but after watching Infinity War again, and hearing Tony say that him and Bruce haven't caught up in a while, I can't stop thinking about how odd it is, that Tony never even tried to find Bruce after the events of Ultron.

I personally don't like the idea that the Avengers aren't all family, or that some dynamics in the team stronger than another, bc that should be the entire point of a team, but it's especially weird considering that at the point of Ultron, the Avenger Tony has the strongest dynamic with is actually Bruce, not even Cap really. He gets along with him immediately, treats him like regular person and engages him in intellectual dialogue, and I believe even hires him to work for his company in the first movie. By the end of Iron Man 3, we learn that he is so close to Bruce, that he uses him like his therapist to address his existential issues, and then by Ultron, we learn that Tony not only trusted him to help him develop Ultron in the first place, but Bruce was close enough with Tony to trust him to develop a weapon that could rival the Hulk.

So why then when Bruce goes radio silent and jets away, the only person on the entire team who gave af that one core member of the team was gone, wasn't the leader Cap, wasn't his punching buddy Thor, and or his intellectual buddy Tony, it was Natasha! I understand they had a lil romance, i'm not bothered by her being sorta worried about him, but i thought it was really dumb that Tony never even tried to look for who was for all intents x purposes, his best friend on the team.

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Commentaires

stallion84262025-11-16 20:57

Stark has an AI combing the internet for any mention of him. Friday just didnt find anything because he wasnt on the planet

No_Imagination_24902025-11-16 21:08

And Tony probably figures that Banner spent years hiding from the authorities so he's got *very* good at it

xreddawgx2025-11-16 21:44

Or galaxy

ubutterscotchpine2025-11-17 03:48

This.

Also on another note, they are a family, OP. Natasha makes a point of that multiple times in Black Widow.

Etticos2025-11-17 17:04

Plus it probably never occurred to Stark that Banner ended up in space in the first place.

paintpast2025-11-18 02:04

Or iirc that a wormhole took him so far away.

IndominusTaco2025-11-19 07:32

comb the ~~desert~~ internet!!!

Dmonney2025-11-16 20:58

A) space is big. Like really really big.
B) I always assumed that they understood he wanted to be alone and let him.

Good_old_Marshmallow2025-11-16 21:01

Space is big and Tony clearly is outclassed by the vastness of space. Hence his “suit of armor around the world” and ultimate fear of an alien army coming to earth and knocking their teeth in

igby12025-11-16 21:20

Is that a trait he has in the comics too - that he’s an “earth-level” superhero and for whatever reasons he doesn’t bother with space threats unless they become threats to earth?

Good_old_Marshmallow2025-11-16 21:47

Sometimes but not really, in the comics he literally builds a sun powered Death Star to kill an entire alternative dimension. And not only can he track hulk in space but he’s the one who sent him there so that he can blow him up in a secret act of betrayal to kill a threat to earth. Comic Tony is kinda an asshole. Also he makes a clone of Thor that kills a bunch of avengers if they disobey Tony.

MCU Stark is possibly the biggest improvement over the comics other than the way they cut out his alcoholism journey and how he went public with that information as a way to show that heroes should be accountable to the public and not untouchable gods.

igby12025-11-16 23:10

Interesting point you make about how Tony was public about his alcoholism in the comics but not in the MCU.

So Disney only agreed to alcoholic Tony Stony in the MCU as long as he was a closet alcoholic never revealing his alcoholism to the public.

That's pretty messed up for Disney to do that.

Federal-Captain11182025-11-16 23:37

That's new I literally never heard that

Good_old_Marshmallow2025-11-17 00:33

It’s not literally true but is accidentally true. One of iron man’s biggest solo stories is about his alcoholism. RDJ also of course, had his own history with substances. So they did set up to tell that story. Iron man’s one has him drinking all the time, and Ironman two was supposed to be about his drinking problem. But at the last minute Disney said no so instead it becomes about “panic attacks”. The effect is tho that there is so much subtext that he’s an alcoholic and so much in the background about it but it’s never addressed or explicitly mentioned.

igby12025-11-17 02:41

Anything that’s accidentally true is also literally true

HuskyLogan2025-11-17 02:48

IM3 was the panic attacks, IM2 was the reactor poisoning him.

AnonymousFriend802025-11-17 04:53

There was no alcoholism in the MCU. Tony was heavily drinking to deal with the side effects of his poisoning. The moment Shield gave him medication for it, he stopped drinking so heavily.

VelocityGrrl392025-11-17 05:43

I thought he was drinking green drinks. The only time we explicitly see him drinking alcohol is at his bday party.

XandyCandyy2025-11-17 22:33

tastes like coconut!

fredagsfisk2025-11-17 02:33

> Also he makes a clone of Thor that kills a bunch of avengers if they disobey Tony.

That's the same comic that has Thor absolutely shitstomp Tony with zero effort and rip off his mask with one hand like it's wet tissue paper, right?

misterwheelson2025-11-16 21:19

You may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.

neckbeardMRA2025-11-17 14:57

Kudos for the Douglas Adams quote 😉

Dmonney2025-11-17 15:36

I remarried recently and just introduced my wife to hitchhikers guide to galaxy last weekend.

thecricketnerd2025-11-16 20:59

Bruce was on a garbage dump planet where time works differently. It's not easy to find in the vastness of space

slavelabor522025-11-17 01:08

Oh yea well Thor found it on his 1st try falling randomly out of the bifrost! Tony Stark doesn't care about Hulk people.

thecricketnerd2025-11-17 01:25

Thor didn't find anything and he certainly wasn't trying to - he was discarded there like trash in a space garbage chute. Tiny had no chance at ever finding something that random

AndarianDequer2025-11-16 20:59

Are you one of those people that thinks that if we don't see it on screen, it didn't happen?

igby12025-11-16 21:23

Yes so how are superhero’s able to survive without ever using a bathroom?

monsieur_cacahuete2025-11-16 21:25

They don't brush their teeth or even sleep.

igby12025-11-16 22:55

Shut the front door!

Federal-Captain11182025-11-16 23:39

We do see Tony sleeping actually. Sleeping does exist in the MCU

Pooping however, not sure.

WiFiForeheadWrinkles2025-11-17 06:18

We know peeing exists (Iron Man 2, when Tony pees in his suit)

Jenkes_of_Wolverton2025-11-17 11:26

And in GOTG3 Gamora was using the bathroom on Quill's ship

lendxn2025-11-16 21:35

im one of those people who thinks that if a core member of a team (who actually contributes to the team beyond just punching stuff) goes missing, there should be a consensus on screen to find him beyond just restoring his utility to the team, but also bc they're all basically family. especially considering that the most intelligent man on that team who has the means to find him, was his best friend

Calligrapher_Antique2025-11-16 22:01

Yeah for all they know he's missing and in danger... which he is. Basically kidnapped and trapped for 3 years. By that time they should have assumed he was dead.

Dlh20792025-11-16 21:59

Yep. Thats what this is

clocktickmakemecrazy2025-11-16 21:00

That dialogue with Nat shows us that he is infact tracking him, just hasn't found him

TylerHyena2025-11-16 21:03

What’s to say he wasn’t doing that in between movies? It’s not like we were following him every single moment of the day. More importantly, Tony might’ve also thought that Bruce didn’t wanna be found and thought that he’d come back when he wanted to.

lendxn2025-11-16 21:31

The latter part makes sense. People are saying that he did (even though theres no evidence of that, but that i'm also wrong for thinking that he didn't, even though we aren't shown this at all), but personally would've preferred that the movies had shown him attempting to look for him, only cuz they were so close.

TylerHyena2025-11-16 21:51

But that’s the thing, them all being close would mean that Tony would know if and when Bruce wants to come back, and his reasons for choosing not to stick around. Don’t forget that halfway through Age of Ultron Bruce raged out, became the Hulk and wrecked a lot of Johannesburg, no thanks to Wanda getting in his head.

FX1142025-11-16 21:03

Tony doesn't have the means to find Bruce where he was. Despite all his tech, he's still very earthbound.

lendxn2025-11-16 21:28

That makes sense, though i don't know, if my best friend went missing, I would've went searching for him immediately (after the mission was over at least), before the Quinjet left orbit. I personally don't beleive that Tony Stark in his infinite intelligence would actually have been completely blocked by his own stealth tech.

VelocityGrrl392025-11-17 05:44

Bruce turned off the tracking in the Quinjet.

27Rench272025-11-17 19:22

I’ll also point out the myriad of things the US puts on our stealth planes to make sure we can see them during normal operations.

If a combat F-35 turned off its transponder, we for the most part wouldn’t be able to track it, we’d just get occasional mach-1 bees showing up for a second or two on radar. And those aren’t magical Quinjets

NightmareChi1d2025-11-23 08:05

> (after the mission was over at least)

You know what else was over once the mission was over? The movie. We don't see what Tony did after that movie ended. And really, a city was lifted into the air and almost dropped onto the people below. And a large amount of shit *was* dropped on them. There's going to be a LOT of injured people buried under rubble. If Tony decided to run off looking for Bruce (a man who didn't *want* to be found) a lot more innocent people would have died than already had.

I'd also like to assume that the Avengers helped carry out search and rescue even though none of the movies even hinted that they did that. Because they'd be fucking evil monsters if they didn't help the people they directly hurt. And with their powers it would be a hell of a lot easier for them to rescue those people.

So no, movies don't need to explicitly state what characters have done after the movie ended. Audiences should use their brain and common sense to help bridge the gap sometimes. It's in character for them to help out after the battle. And it's in character for them to have searched for Bruce.

NightmareChi1d2025-11-23 07:57

Especially since even Thor didn't know that planet existed until he was dropped there accidentally.

j1h152332025-11-16 21:04

How do you know he didn’t?

lendxn2025-11-16 21:25

I'm only expressing the information given to me, is it possible that he did, i guess so, but based on how their first conversation was when they got back, Tony doesn't say "dude we tried looking for you" or nun like that he's just like "man we haven't caught up in a min" like it wasn't super serious that his best friend at the time went missing.

j1h152332025-11-16 21:35

So instead of discussing Thanos and the universe ending threat you wanted them to talk about the small details of the previous 3 years. Got it.

lendxn2025-11-16 21:40

no im not suggesting messing with the pacing, i understand that there were more dire things to discuss, im saying you're assuming he did with no evidence for so, and im expressing that given the context for their relationship it would've been cool to see or at least know that Tony tried looking for his best friend

Dlh20792025-11-16 21:58

And youre assuming with no evidence that he didnt...

There were much more important things that we needed to be shown.

Xygnux2025-11-17 04:23

That movie had to balance like 20 characters who were all major characters in their own movies before in 2.5 hours. They didn't even have time to put Hawkeye in the movie despite being a founding member.

So they really don't have time to put unnecessary lines in the movie like that.

lendxn2025-11-16 21:40

Dlh20792025-11-16 21:58

So youre just assuming...

Got it.

Federal-Captain11182025-11-16 23:38

>best friend

![gif](giphy|tEQ8aAOh60us0)

revolutionaryartist42025-11-21 10:45

That’s also Tony’s style to just respond with a quip.

Gorguf622025-11-16 21:05

Fury and Nat explicitly say that even with Tony's tech, they can't track Hulk because the jet was in stealth mode.

YellowEgorkaa2025-11-16 21:05

Tony might have had other things to do.

Ranos1312025-11-16 21:06

They did try looking for Banner. It’s even stated at the end of Age of Ultron. And just because you didn’t see them talking about it on screen, that doesn’t mean they didn’t care.

How is it that you can assume Tony gave Bruce a job even though that isn’t shown anywhere and yet you can’t assume that the Avengers were missing Banner?

lendxn2025-11-16 21:18

Tony invites him to work for him in A1, I never mentioned that he didn't miss Banner, i'm just saying the only person who discussed banner being gone was Nat, once, at the end of the movie, and beyond that no one else including Tony, discussed the fact that a core member of their team went missing, which as I said is odd considering this was his best friend at the time.

I guarantee that if Tony or Cap were ever declared missing from the group, there would've been a consensus on screen to find them. I mean Captain Marvel shows up at the end of her movie, and the teams immediate thought, is not to have her find the Thanos, not to find the guantlet, but to have her go look through the vastness of space to find Tony who was declared MIA.

Ranos1312025-11-16 21:47

The problem is that you are conflating what happens on screen with all that happens in universe. There are things that happen off screen that we don’t get to see. That’s made clear in every single movie.

What is shown in the movie is what the directors want us to see to establish feelings or set up the next movies. So yes, there was more emotion put into Tony’s and Natasha’s deaths and Steve’s choice to go back in time. Because they wanted to set up emotional feels in the audience.

Bruce’s disappearance was never that way. The Hulk and Bruce are not as beloved as the other characters. His disappearance wasn’t going to have the same impact on the audience or the other characters.

Again, it’s shown that Tony had Friday looking for Bruce. He obviously cared. Steve talks to Natasha about the situation. So he obviously cared. We can assume that the other characters cared about Bruce too. But because of the Hulk, they did have mixed feelings.

Hulk is a huge asset but also a huge liability as is shown in the comics and the movies. He can’t be controlled, only aimed. They had to create a psychological trigger and tie it to Nat so they could turn him back into Bruce. And Hulk resented it. They created an entire suit to fight him in case he went on a rampage. So while they miss Bruce, they don’t miss the risk of the Hulk.

Audiences also don’t care about the Hulk as much. The Incredible Hulk came out six weeks after Ironman and when summer had actually started. Yet it grossed less than half of what Ironman did. Why? There are a lot of people who are triggered by angry men.

So yes, they missed Bruce. Yes, Nat missed him most due to a budding romance. They did try looking for him. They were also busy at the time getting Avengers compound up and running and doing cleanup post Sokovia.

The directors also wanted to make the feelings of people in universe clear. The Hulk was a useful tool but a huge liability. This is why we didn’t see more mourning for Bruce in the movie.

Buhos_En_Pantelones2025-11-16 21:11

Where is it ever implied that he didn't? Your question is phrased as if you are certain that a thing didn't happen because it wasn't shown on screen.

Kind of a strange post haha

dpittnet2025-11-16 21:11

He did

IniNew2025-11-16 21:12

He made an armor specifically to fight Hulk. Honestly, he probably thought it was better he was off planet

Dames_to_DIE_for2025-11-16 23:09

He didn't know he was off planet.

Informadron2025-11-16 21:14

I think Tony tried but Bruce was really good at hiding, remember he did it for years before becoming an Avenger

Calligrapher_Antique2025-11-16 21:16

you got a point. You'd think one of his ships couldn't really just get lost forever. I know it's in stealth mode and can't be tracked but still. you'd think stark would have some tech built in to find it if he had to

I had the same issue with the end of captain america. I don't quite buy Stark would have abandoned the search for steve in the ocean.

Federal-Captain11182025-11-16 21:18

How do you know they weren't looking

Calligrapher_Antique2025-11-16 21:20

Well maybe they were but they seem to give up trying to find their friend who's lost in space and possibly in danger.

Federal-Captain11182025-11-16 21:21

>they seem to give up

Where did you get that?

Calligrapher_Antique2025-11-16 21:25

Because Tony isn't looking for him in Civil War or Homecoming

Wirenfeldt2025-11-16 23:35

How do you know they were?

Federal-Captain11182025-11-16 23:36

Because that would fit Tony's character to keep looking.

Wirenfeldt2025-11-16 23:53

Great.. But "because some people thinks he would do so" isn't proof.. It's also such crap storytelling that it pretty much isn't storytelling.. If there's no mention of something happening than it is insane for us to assume that it is...

Federal-Captain11182025-11-16 23:54

>If there's no mention of something happening than it is insane for us to assume that it is...

But there was?

Go re watch the end of Ultron. Widow and Fury literally discuss as well.

>"because some people thinks he would do so" isn't proof.. It's also such crap storytelling that it pretty much isn't storytelling..

20+years of the MCU, character act is storytelling. Knowing Tony's character, you really think you just okay never mind?

Wirenfeldt2025-11-17 00:39

\>Go re watch the end of Ultron. Widow and Fury literally discuss as well.

Yeah, they mentioned that he swam to Fiji and didn't want to be disturbed.. Still doesn't make it unreasonable to want to see or hear a mention of Tony actually pitching in somehow..

\>20+years of the MCU, character act is storytelling. Knowing Tony's character, you really think you just okay never mind?

I never said Never Mind anything.. I even agree that, by rights, he probably would turn the world inside out looking for Banner... But unless they make mention of something somewhere then it's borderline nonsensical to assume that it happened off screen.. Otherwise we could all collectively agree that Green Goblin spent most evenings before being pulled into the MCU in No Way Home dressing in drag and drowning kittens for jollies..

Federal-Captain11182025-11-17 00:41

>eah, they mentioned that he swam to Fiji and didn't want to be disturbed.. Still doesn't make it unreasonable to want to see or hear a mention of Tony actually pitching in somehow..

They mention Tony's tech and mention that they are looking.

>Otherwise we could all collectively agree that Green Goblin spent most evenings before being pulled into the MCU in No Way Home dressing in drag and drowning kittens for jollies..

Again. Character. It makes sense for Tony to keep looking. Why would Norman do that in character?

Actually speaking of character why am I even arguing with you you made up your mind by not paying attention and being upset that they don't show every single little detail

I guess no one shits in the MCU. Pissing though, Clint takes a piss in Hawkeye! In case you needed to know that happens. Jfc

Wirenfeldt2025-11-17 00:56

If you can't see the difference between the minutiae and general monotonous nonsense of daily life, and stuff that is relevant to the active and ongoing plot, and how either would/would not impact the plot of a movie, than i feel like that's a you problem.. Jesus Fucking Christ, yourself..

depastino2025-11-16 21:48

Who says he didn't?

Wirenfeldt2025-11-16 23:34

Because we heard nothing about \*anything\* being done, and we can only go by what we are being told, or shown.. A throw-away line from FRIDAY, or unnamed Stark Employee #375 that search is still ongoing, but so far without any progress would be \*something\*..

We may as well assume that Iron Man spent a week doing strafing runs on the refugee camps we saw in Iron Man 1, to international acclaim and applause, because how do you know he didn’t?.. .. Assuming that something happens in universe with no proof is nonsense..

lendxn2025-11-20 02:15

Reddit is tryna make me think I’m insane for thinking something this important doesn’t have to addressed on screen

ryantyrant2025-11-16 21:53

If they really needed to find him they would’ve gone to heimdall

Dlh20792025-11-16 21:57

Why do you assume that Tony didnt look?

I swear I dont get how some people come up with their takes.

Wirenfeldt2025-11-16 23:32

Dlh20792025-11-16 23:35

Assuming something didnt happen with no evidence is also nonsense...

Wirenfeldt2025-11-16 23:49

No.. It’s the default position of anything in storytelling.. If we aren’t being told about something in a story it does not exist.. Which also means that for the purposes of the story, Hulk literally vanished from existence for several movies.. Which is the overall issue people have with this, as far as I can see..

DukeofDC2025-11-16 22:05

Couple of things.

Post Civil War, Tony had bigger issues. Tony probably looked for Bruce but didn't devote all his resources to it for a bunch of very good reasons

1.) He didn't really trust anyone after how he felt Cap & Nat betrayed him, how Vision caused Rhodey's accident. Zemo Played him & made him angry at everyone.

2. He just had the team break up & he had nobody else on it. Everyone on his side left or was out of commission. Nat left, T'Challa went back to Wakanda, Vision was seeing Wanda on the side, Rhodey was paralyzed. There was no Avengers.

3. He respected Bruce's need to be left alone after what happened in Africa. He knew Bruce knew how to stay off the radar.

4. Finding Bruce would have probably ment that he would have ended up in the Raft or worse. The accords were still very much a thing especially with Ross in charge. If you think Ross wouldn't have buried Bruce in the darkest hole & used him as a guinea pig after it's shown how much he HATES Bruce. Tony not finding Bruce kept him out of prison.

JoshTheBard2025-11-16 22:51

I think it's fair to imagine that watching Tony stare at satellite images NOT containing Bruce Banner for hours would be too boring a scene to put into a movie but maybe that's what he was doing between movies.

Wirenfeldt2025-11-16 23:21

Then put a throw-away line in somewhere that something is being done.. I don’t think anyone is demanding 10 minute montages.. But we got complete radio silence regarding a main Avengers member, being MIA, last seen in a friendly vehicle..

Truthisreal212025-11-16 23:26

He wasn't on the planet, Starks tech is so good that even he can't find it without the proper resources. Not to mention he was on another planet so stark had no way of finding him

Abides19482025-11-17 00:54

If Tony had the willingness and ability to search the universe, including the pocket dimension of Sakhaar, it would probably lead to Doom.

Overall-Gaming782025-11-17 01:00

I think he tried. The fact that Banner was off world was a big reason, but the other likely was that Banner wanted to be left alone.

JERRYJEFF1502025-11-17 01:50

Think you’re overthinking how much thought they put into the script. Still entertaining movie 🍿

Mountain-Ad13502025-11-17 03:34

In all honesty, the last time Hulk was seen, he bailed on them after killing Ultron. Plus, as dangerous as Hulk is….would u really want him around?

IamJohnnyHotPants2025-11-17 05:05

What are you talking about? How do you know they didn’t do anything?

NightmareChi1d2025-11-23 07:39

A movie where they all search for Banner (even after SHIELD itself couldn't find him) only to end the movie with "Well... we tried. Let's go get some shawarma!" after not finding him for 2 hours (because he's on another planet... somehow) would be pretty boring. So yeah. Glad we didn't get to watch that.

Able_Resident_12912025-11-17 12:47

Due to his PTSD from experiences with space portals, Tony found himself unable to pass through the Devil's Anus

spidervenom6192025-11-17 22:39

1. Natasha's whole shtick ever since she was first introduce in the MCU was to keep the family together no matter what. Even if you somehow ignore the whole Brutasha thing (which is like impossible to do), it's makes sense why she would be the one who cared about and is looking for Banner the hardest out of the Team.

2. For better or worse, the best friend side of Tony that Banner had was almost gone cause of his PTSD and his fear of Thanos. In all honesty, they were really only "Best Friends" for Avengers 2012 and maybe you can say Infinity War when Tony finally got his head out of his ass. Again, Tony is one of the few characters who has like 3 or 4 different personalities lol.

djangogator2025-11-17 23:48

Don't forget that the writing in Age of Ultron and Civil War was pretty shit. Don't expect those two movies to cover prior plotholes or do much good in building the universe.