Mark Ruffalo Officially Addresses MCU Retirement

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Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk in 'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'

Credit: Marvel Studios

Mark Ruffalo has played Bruce Banner/Hulk for a decade. He first played his now-iconic Marvel Cinematic Universe character in The Avengers (2012), alongside the rest of the original Avengers crew — Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans).

avengers ensemble scene
Credit: Marvel Studios

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Over the course of the last ten years, Ruffalo has gone on to appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). He is currently reprising his MCU role in Disney+ Original series, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, alongside star Tatiana Maslany (Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk).

In addition to Maslany and Ruffalo, the comedy-driven legal show also stars familiar faces like Wong (Benedict Wong) and Emil Blonsky/Abomination (Tim Roth). Marvel Studios newcomers include Nikki Ramos (Ginger Gonzaga), Mallory Brook (Renée Elise Goldsberry), and social media influencer Titania (Jameela Jamil).

Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk
Credit: Marvel Studios

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Recently, Ruffalo addressed his Marvel future in a Variety interview, discussing whether or not he intends to retire from Kevin Feige’s MCU soon with Phase 5 and Phase 6 looming:

“I mean, I’ll probably do it as long as they’ll have me, if people are interested, and I can bring something that’s interesting to me to it, and interesting to the fans. But I have no idea. I mean, you know, when you look at the comics, there’s some pretty grizzled, old versions of him. I’m like, OK, the 67-year-old Hulk, that would be interesting — if all of us are still here making movies and there’s a world that allows for us to do that anymore. With what we’re living in and heading towards, the future feels more precarious than any other time. So I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. But I hope I’m still around to do it.”

Mark Ruffalo as Hulk
Credit: Marvel Studios

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The star also went on to say that he is “always surprised that I’m still here. I mean, me and Ed Norton joke that the Hulk is like our generation’s Hamlet — we’re all going to get a shot at it. I keep waiting for the next version of it.” Furthermore, the Spotlight actor recently indicated that a new solo Hulk movie could be in the works.

Ruffalo’s sentiments echo those of Chris Hemsworth, who recently reprised Thor in the character’s fourth solo film, Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). Hemsworth shared that he, too, plans to continue his MCU career until “they kick me off the stage.”

What do you think about Mark Ruffalo’s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

You can stream Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and the eight series in Marvel’s Phase Four so far — Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany’s WandaVision, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Marvel’s What If…?, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight, Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel, and Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk — on Disney+ anytime.

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