Earlier today, Variety posted one part of cover story interview with Mark Ruffalo discussing his career as an actor, including The Hulk. In this interview, Ruffalo noted the uncertainty of whether or not he would appear in any future films as the character. Ruffalo did propose an idea he had that would explore the character's life and "fill in the blanks" as he put it.
“There's an idea that I think could be really interesting... We've never really followed him into his life. He's always kind of off on the side. He's like the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the Avengers. It'd be interesting to fill in all the blanks about what happened to him in between all these movies.”
This suggestion is a similar concept to what Black Widow is potentially doing for the character of Natasha Romanoff, as it "fills in the blanks" in her past and what she was doing in-between multiple movies. However, in a later part of the interview, Ruffalo clarified his possibility of returning to the universe as Bruce Banner and the actor's other desires for the character.
NEWS
In a second post for their cover interview with Mark Ruffalo, Variety revealed clarifying comments by Ruffalo in which he says that the most likely, and only, option for Hulk to return would be in She-Hulk.
"There's some talk of having Banner/Hulk show up in [the Disney Plus series] She-Hulk. If we come up with something good, that would be really interesting. Right now that's about it. That's all there is on the table."
This could further indicate Mark Ruffalo's involvement with the show, based on the casting call for Jennifer Walters (aka She-Hulk) in which the sheet made reference to Bruce Banner making an appearance.
Additionally, Variety was able to get a comment from co-star Don Cheadle, who plays War Machine in the MCU, about their shared experience in wearing their motion-capture suits on set for their characters.
"Mark and I get to share that misery. Everyone else is walking around in their cool clothes. Mark and I are walking around in these unitards with symbols and dots and balls attached all over them. Mark has it worse than anyone because he has to wear that rig over his face."
As he speaks more about his role, Ruffalo talks about how Joss Whedon and Robert Downey Jr. convinced him to take it and his why he was apprehensive:
"I did try to talk them out of casting me... I said, 'I don't know if I'm the right guy, I've never done anything like this.' Between Joss and Robert, they were pretty convincing that I could do it. I was scared. I was really scared. I'm still scared. The technological aspect of it makes it really hard to work that way. I struggle with it all the time. But my motto is make fear your friend. Just keep pushing yourself into those places where you feel scared or challenged."
However, with each successive movie appearance of The Hulk, the facial capture technology improved to the point where Ruffalo was able to play basically a slightly bigger and greener version of himself in Avengers: Endgame .
Finally, Mark Ruffalo once again expressed his desire to have his Hulk crossover with the X-Men, specifically Wolverine.
“Maybe Hulk and Wolverine could hook up."
WHAT THIS MEANS
The most prominent piece of news in this interview was Mark Ruffalo specifically pointing out that the only property right now on the table for Hulk to make another apperance at the moment is She-Hulk . Unfortunately, this means that it is less likely that he will appear in Thor: Love and Thunder , despite his jovial conversation wth Taika Waititi less than a week ago on Instagram.
Interestingly, Ruffalo's wish for his character to have a team-up with Wolverine has been a recurring one as he has said this multiple times over the course of his tenure as the character of Bruce Banner. However, this possibility is may still be a pipedream, as his character's drastic Avengers: Endgame change and his seemingly permanent arm injury caused by his Infinity Stone Snap may have put his character out of commission on the front lines of battle.
