Credits: Mike Baker / ©A.M.P.A.S.
Sun 30 November 2025 8:30, UK
Mark Ruffalo is a bit of a dark horse. He doesn’t immediately crop up in lists of the ‘best actors’ or ‘actors with the best filmography’, but when you look at the data, he’s up there at the very top. He’s in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Poor Things, Foxcatcher, Spotlight, Shutter Island, and more. He’s rarely the main focus of these movies, but they’d all be much worse off if he weren’t a part of them.
What Ruffalo is most known for, by far and away, is playing The Incredible Hulk. He’s appeared as the big green rage machine and his alter ego Bruce Banner in eight different Marvel movies, mostly cropping up in post- or mid-credits easter eggs. He might be the only member of the original six Avengers to not get his own movie or miniseries, but he’s still a key part of the franchise’s ungodly success. Also, he’s probably earned more money for those 30-second cameos that you make in a year.
Ruffalo famously took over the role from Edward Norton, who fell out with Marvel after playing the character in his pre-Avengers solo movie. It’s hard to imagine Norton standing side-by-side with Iron Man or Captain America. Actually, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Ruffalo portraying this version of the comic book heavy hitter. However, in an interview with Vulture, Avengers director Joss Whedon revealed that his star was desperate not to wear the purple shorts.
“This is Mark every day for the first month of any shoot: ‘It’s not too late to recast. I know you have Joaquin Phoenix on speed dial. It’s okay. I won’t judge,’” the director said. In response to these claims, Ruffalo said, “I did and he would’ve been fucking great in the movie,” to which Whedon replied, “It’s only you, brother. Sorry.”
Phoenix was among the many names rumoured to step into Norton’s shoes for the 2012 team-up bonanza, though no official reports on the matter have ever come out. David Duchovny was in the running to play the character in the solo movie, which would have been absolutely fascinating. As Whedon said, though, it really was always Ruffalo. He was Louis Leterrier’s original choice for the role, so when the opportunity came around to recast the part, it was a no-brainer.
This wouldn’t be the first time Ruffalo’s insecurities got the better of him. He was convinced that David Fincher was going to fire him from Zodiac, which, given how stressful that production was, might not have been a bad thing.
He goes on to explain in that same interview that he felt a certain level of imposter syndrome stepping into the superhero realm. “I didn’t know how to make these movies,” the actor said. “I had never been in these kinds of movies and I didn’t really trust the process.”
In the end, Ruffalo figured it out and was absolutely brilliant as the Hulk. Don’t feel too bad for Phoenix, though. He eventually got his shot at a superhero film (sort of) and won an Oscar for it. Everybody wins.
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