Marvel’s Science Bros Come Together For Candid Avengers Set Pic

Bruce Banner and Tony Stark, partners in crime…or should that be partners in nuclear physics?

For all of their authentic and at-times effortless chemistry, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo’s Avengers haven’t shared the same screen since the release of Age of Ultron three years ago. But that all changes on May 4th, which will herald Avengers: Infinity War and its incredible, 76-person cast.

At the heart of that ensemble are two bona fide mainstays of the MCU: Downey Jr. and Ruffalo. And thanks to the former’s latest Instagram post, today brings forth a rather candid picture of the two Marvel heroes on the set of Joss Whedon’s superhero sequel, sharing an embrace. It came bearing the caption: “Humbled by the class act that IS @markruffalo. #sciencebros #ageofultron.”

It’s unclear exactly when this photo was taken, but RDJ’s hashtags narrow the window down to Age of Ultron‘s production cycle – so around 2014/15, then. One thing’s for sure, it’s not from either of Marvel’s unreleased Avengers movies, as the studio is likely keeping everything under lock and key in anticipation of release.

Nevertheless, all throughout the back-to-back production of Joe and Anthony Russo’s two-part epic, Downey Jr. and Ruffalo were pictured in the company of Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) and Benedict Wong (Wong), which tells us that Thanos and/or the Black Order will be facing an encounter with all four of Marvel’s so-called science bros. Let them fight!

Marvel’s Infinity War begins in earnest on May 4th and it’ll spill over into 2019, where the so-far untitled Avengers 4 is scheduled to release. Caught up in between that one-two punch are Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel, the latter of which will bring about the introduction of Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers after years – nay, decades – of pent-up demand.