Lately, the characters ‘A6’ have been making their way into the hashtags of some of the major Phase 1 players of the MCU in reference to the six original Avengers. It’s a sweet sign of the solidarity felt between these stars, some of whom will see their arcs conclude in the upcoming Avengers 4. And to really prove their loyalty to one another, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner all got matching A6 tattoos earlier this year. Mark Ruffalo, on the other hand, wasn’t too keen on the idea.
We last saw the Hulk in the recent Avengers: Infinity War, in which Bruce Banner’s alter ego refused to come through and help out his fellow heroes. And so life imitated art when Ruffalo backed out of getting his tattoo done with the rest of the gang. The actor was called out for his lack of ink when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and these were the excuses he had to offer:
“First of all, I’m afraid of needles. So there’s that. But also I kind of have a punk rock soul. And I felt like ‘Dude, everyone has tattoos. I’m gonna be punk rock and not get the tattoo.”
Just as the Russo Brothers have clarified that the Hulk’s refusal to come out was an act of defiance rather than cowardice, Ruffalo claims that he was simply rebelling against the popular behavior of the group – though we’re betting that the fear of needles had a lot more to do with it.
Ruffalo’s appearance on Fallon ended up getting more attention than he probably anticipated, too, when he accidentally revealed the name of next year’s Infinity War sequel. Since then, a censored version of the moment has been broadcasted, and while fans have subsequently managed to uncover his actual words, there remains doubt as to whether The Last Avenger is the legitimate title.
In any case, we’ll see if Bruce can show some allegiance to his comrades when Avengers 4 comes out on May 3rd, 2019.
