It’s always heartening to see the stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continue to support each other, even though it’s not really much of a surprise when a lot of them have been working together on and off for at least a decade. Mark Ruffalo, always regarded as a wholesome dude, has now taken to social media and congratulated Scarlett Johansson on the phenomenal success of Black Widow.
The franchise’s Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner even share the same birthday, with Ruffalo being seventeen years older than his regular co-star and short-lived onscreen love interest. Cate Shortland’s prequel smashed pandemic-era box office records by debuting to $80 million domestically and almost $160 million globally, securing the biggest opening weekend for any Hollywood blockbuster since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released in December 2019.
It was always inevitable that the return of the world’s most popular franchise would give the flagging theatrical industry a shot in the arm, but that doesn’t make Black Widow‘s achievements any less impressive. As you can see below, Ruffalo shared a behind the scenes image of the pair while praising Johansson and the entire team.
$60 million in Disney Plus Premier Access revenue in the space of a single weekend is also a massive amount of revenue, and it’s looking like Black Widow might even turn out to be profitable by the end of this week, which is no mean feat for a project with a budget pegged to be hovering around $200 million that’s landed during a time where business is still yet to return to its former glories. It’s a win for Marvel Studios whatever way you cut it, and Johansson’s swansong is sending her out in suitably spectacular fashion.