Mark Ruffalo Once Shared Why Another Hulk Film Wouldn’t Be Made

Mark Ruffalo has become synonymous with the Marvel superhero Hulk over the years. But unlike some of his predecessors, he doubted he’d ever get his own official Hulk film.

Why Mark Ruffalo felt a solo Hulk movie was unlikely

Ruffalo has been playing Marvel’s Hulk since 2012’s The Avengers movie. But unlike Eric Bana and Edward Norton before him, Ruffalo’s monstrous counterpart has only been seen in superhero team-up films. In an interview with Empire (via Contact Music), Ruffalo asserted that he wasn’t against doing a Hulk solo feature. He even shared what he wanted to see in a potential Hulk sequel.

“Who knows where these things will go,” Ruffalo said. “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… It’ll be interesting to see if that ends up being what would be the next Hulk movie.”

But out of all the Marvel heroes, focusing a movie solely on Hulk might’ve been a hard task.

“[A new feature-length Hulk movie is] a tough nut to crack,” Ruffalo said. “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.”

Earlier this year, Ruffalo once again revisited the idea of doing a possible solo Hulk movie.

“I’d love to do a standalone Hulk, I just don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” Ruffalo told GQ. “It’s very expensive if you did a whole movie, which is why they use the Hulk so sparingly. I priced myself out!”

‘Thor Ragnarök’ answered questions Mark Ruffalo always wanted to ask about his Hulk

Although Ruffalo hasn’t gotten his solo Hulk film yet, Thor Ragnarök might’ve been the closest thing to it. The 2017 Marvel feature saw Hulk co-starring alongside Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, with the movie taking place on another planet. Thor Ragnarök revealed another side of the Avenger that hadn’t been tapped into before. Hulk was smarter than he was in previous movies, appearing and functioning more human. It was unlike any other version of Hulk that’d been shown in live-action.

“In this story Banner’s been basically inside the Hulk for two years when we find him. During this time, all of the traumatic things in his life that have been making him afraid, making him doubtful, making him unable to enjoy his life, have been erased. His neurotransmitters and neuropathways have been completely re-wired. So when he comes awake, he’s like an eight-year-old or 12-year-old boy,” Ruffalo once told Daily Tribune.

But Ragnarök felt like it was also made for Ruffalo’s own curiosity. The blockbuster hit addressed a few questions about the character that Ruffalo had.

“Hulk can be sad or happy. He’s speaking. He’s not only alive because of rage, so we can start to have more geography in the character’s emotional life, his intelligence, what he does, what he eats, if he sleeps – all the questions I’ve been dying to ask for years since playing this part. It’s a different Banner and a different Hulk. So I get to play two totally different characters in this movie, which is really fun,” he said.

Why Mark Ruffalo felt added pressure playing Hulk in 2012’s ‘The Avengers’

Ruffalo felt a lot of pressure playing his Hulk character compared to his Avengers co-stars. The other actors, like Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson, had already been seen in films prior to Avengers. Meanwhile, Ruffalo’s Hulk would be seen for the first time in the 2012 superhero team-up film. Additionally, he was succeeding Norton’s interpretation of the character, which only added to his concerns.

“Hell yeah. When I was at Comic-Con, I’ll never forget,” Ruffalo said in a 2012 interview with Collider. “Robert didn’t help me with this, but when he introduced me and he said, “Now reprising the role of The Hulk,” and they all went, “Yeah!” because they thought it was going to be Ed Norton, then Downey’s like, “Mark Ruffalo!” And they’re like, “Yeah! Huh?” And it’s been like that ever since. I made the mistake of going online one day and reading the fanboys’ take on me playing the Hulk and it was not encouraging.”