Mark Ruffalo is in sort of a weird place, in that his version of the Hulk is one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there seems to be no immediate plans for Bruce Banner/Hulk to star in a new solo movie. Ruffalo recently sat down with Empire to discuss what Hulk will be up to Avengers: Age of Ultron, the possibility of a new solo movie, and more.
First up, Ruffalo spoke a bit about what’s up with Hulk’s alter-ego Bruce Banner in Age of Ultron…
“I think he’s definitely matured a little bit since the last one. He’s become more acclimated to this thing and to being part of the team. I think he feels more a part of them all. But in this particular take on it, it’s a much more character-driven version of The Avengers than the first one. It gets a little deeper into each character. S.H.I.E.L.D. is not happening anymore, so there’s not that much time spent with the S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff. I feel that every character has their own cool little thing happening. I had great stuff in the last one but there’s even more stuff in this one.”
And what about the Hulk himself?
“Hulk is the kind of wild card. He’s the loose cannon of the group. He’s more like an atom bomb. You could guess where he’s going to go but he could go either way. I think that there is, obviously, the day when everyone expects it to go wrong and that day comes. And they’re ready. And Bruce designed the contingency plan.
There’s a moment in here where he, begrudgingly, decides to go back to Banner. Who knows where these things will go, but as Bruce is able to impress his will on the Hulk, going into The Hulk and being inside the Hulk when he’s raging, The Hulk’s will is also growing and able to impress upon Bruce. That makes for some wild things. We’re laying the groundwork for that here. It’ll be interesting to see if that ends up being what would be the next Hulk movie.”
Hmmm, did Ruffalo just mention a new Hulk movie? Why don’t you elaborate on that, Mark?
“Nobody has talked to me about that yet. It seems people want it, but it’s tough. They’ve already done two of ‘em, and they’ve only done two Thors, they had a nice run on Iron Man. I feel like they have their plates full. There’s probably other people they’re keen on doing but I think people have shown that they’re ready to see another one.”
A new Hulk movie is probably happening eventually, but Ruffalo astutely pinpointed why past Hulk movies haven’t really worked all that well…
“It’s a tough nut to crack. Traditionally you’re watching a guy who doesn’t want to do the very thing that you want him to do. It’s hard to take for two hours. I don’t know how many times you can use that same framing for it, but now he’s maturing and there’s a cool dynamic growing between Banner and The Hulk.”
Finally, Ruffalo again admitted his love of the Science Bros. meme and some of the more, um, interesting fan expression he’s inspired.
“I’ve seen all of it. I think it’s really cool that there’s this kind of open source riffing based on these pop culture references. I get a kick out of it, I didn’t think it was going to turn into that. It’s become quite a, let’s say, fetish for some folks. Science Bros Plus.”
I wonder how much Tony Stark/Bruce Banner slashfic Ruffalo has in his browsing history. Sounds like it might be kind of a lot. Never change, you charmingly rumpled man.
Via Empire
