Mark Ruffalo holds a unique position in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he replaced Edward Norton as the Hulk after the latter had already headlined the character’s first outing in the franchise. You see, Bruce Banner has been established as a key part of the Avengers and one of the most popular figures in the shared universe, but he still hasn’t gotten the chance to star in a solo movie of his own.
The only way we’ll see Ruffalo get his own feature length effort is if Marvel strikes a similar deal with Universal to the one they have with Sony, or if the rights eventually fall back into Kevin Feige’s hands. And while we’ve heard reports that Feige and his team have indeed managed to get those aforementioned rights back, we’re still waiting on confirmation of that to come directly from the studio.
In any case, a solo film still hasn’t happened yet even almost a decade after Ruffalo inherited the role, but of course, that hasn’t stopped the 52 year-old from becoming an integral part of the MCU in the meantime. However, in a recent interview, he admitted that he still feels like he could be thrown out of the franchise at any moment, saying:
“Yeah. Every time I’m whining like, ‘God damn, how long are we waiting for the set up?’. I’m like, ‘Hey, Remember you’re not even supposed to be here’. I just remember to be grateful because I still can’t believe it. I still keep thinking, ‘They’re going to throw me out of the club. I never belonged here in the first place and they’re all going to find out’.”
Seven appearances so far isn’t a bad return for someone who hasn’t had their own movie yet, and it feels like just a matter of time before the eighth is confirmed as part of Disney Plus’ She-Hulk. Keeping Banner in the background has only helped increase his longevity in the MCU, too, although there’s every chance Ruffalo’s Hulk could soon find himself being phased out along with the rest of the original Avengers.
