Mark Ruffalo is not sure the Marvel Cinematic Universe will ever be what it once was. Over the last year, the MCU has experienced box office flops like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels.” The latter title became the lowest-grossing Marvel film in history with just $84 million at the domestic box office and $206 million worldwide. The MCU has also maximized its output in recent years with an onslaught of Disney+ television series. In 2022, for instance, there were nine MCU shows and films released. Some fans believe the franchise has became exhausting.
“I think the expansion into streaming was really exciting, but the thing about Marvel movies is you had to wait three years and that created a mystique,” Ruffalo said when asked by GQ magazine about Marvel’s diminishing returns as of late. “These corrections could be really positive things. Will it be what it was? I don’t know.”
Ruffalo’s future as Bruce Banner/Hulk in the MCU remains unclear. Variety recently clarified that Ruffalo will not be reprising the role in the upcoming Marvel tentpole “Captain America: Brave New World” after the actor misspoke at a recent Q&A. He told GQ that whatever his Marvel future ends up being, it probably won’t include a standalone Hulk movie because it would be too expensive.
“I’d love to do a standalone Hulk, I just don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” Ruffalo said. “It’s very expensive if you did a whole movie, which is why they use the Hulk so sparingly. I priced myself out!”
Ruffalo also confronted criticisms about joining the MCU in the first place. He said he’s “heard it a lot from my peers” that giving years of your career to Marvel is not necessarily the cool thing to do as an actor.
“Sometimes I think it’s jealousy, a little bit,” he said. “Because then I see them run off and do it.”
He shared a story about one actor who was considering joining Marvel, so the two met so that Ruffalo could answer some questions. The actor asked Ruffalo: “You know, man, aren’t you worried no big directors are going to want to work with you?”
“I’m really proud of it,” Ruffalo said about making a career for himself that includes several Marvel movies and such Oscar-nominated projects as “Poor Things.” “I’ve sat in movie theaters with the movies I’ve done with big directors. I’ve also experienced these Marvel movies with an audience and the amount of community and expression… it touched every single emotion. That means something to me. I don’t look down on it.”
Ruffalo is an Oscar nominee this year in the supporting actor race for his work in “Poor Things.” Head over to GQ’s website to read Ruffalo’s profile in its entirety.
