Mark Ruffalo Talks HULKBUSTER IRON MAN Contingency Plan, Internal Conflict & Hope For a HULK Solo Film



This is a mild SPOILER ALERT for fans who do not want to know some minor details for Avengers: Age of Ultron. You've been warned!

Trailers for Avengers: Age of Ultron have exposed quite a bit of the battle between Hulk and Iron Man's Hulkbuster armor. While I hope not all of this epic battle is exposed in the trailers, it's obvious the Hulk has lost control and Iron Man needs to bring in the heavy armor.

But who's idea was it to create the Hulkbuster armor? Many assume it was Tony Stark and he is obviously part of it because it is his Hulkbuster Iron Man suit, but actor Mark Ruffalo has revealed (via Empire) it was Bruce Banner who created this plan of attack if the Hulk went crazy.

"Hulk is the kind of wild card. He’s the loose cannon of the group. He’s more like an atom bomb. You could guess where he’s going to go but he could go either way. I think that there is, obviously, the day when everyone expects it to go wrong and that day comes. And they’re ready. And Bruce designed the contingency plan. As much as you feel Bruce has some mastery over it – certainly, with ‘I’m always angry’ and he can turn into it at will – I still feel that there’s some part of him that doesn’t completely trust it and doesn’t completely trust himself."

Ruffalo then teases the internal battle Banner and Hulk will have in Age of Ultron.

"There’s a battle going on between these two opposing egos that live inside him. He’s definitely worried that the day is going to come when the Hulk gets the best of him, and maybe won’t release him, maybe won’t give him back. The Hulk knows this too. There’s a moment in here where he, begrudgingly, decides to go back to Banner. Who knows where these things will go, but as Bruce is able to impress his will on the Hulk, going into The Hulk and being inside the Hulk when he’s raging, The Hulk’s will is also growing and able to impress upon Bruce. That makes for some wild things. We’re laying the groundwork for that here. It’ll be interesting to see if that ends up being what would be the next Hulk movie."

Before you get too excited about the potential for another Hulk solo movie — reminder that Universal still holds the distribution rights for solo movies and Disney wants that back before releasing another solo film — Ruffalo immediately douses that possibility... for now.

"Who knows, really? That’s such an amorphous thing. Nobody has talked to me about that yet. It seems people want it, but it’s tough. They’ve already done two of ‘em, and they’ve only done two Thors, they had a nice run on Iron Man. I feel like they have their plates full. There’s probably other people they’re keen on doing but I think people have shown that they’re ready to see another one."

With a full slate of films for Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in place, there is always a chance to add a Hulk film into the mix once/if Disney regains those distribution rights and it's not unusual to add another film into the mix either, see Spider-Man. Until those rights are acquired, it remains to be seen when Hulk will show up in Phase 3 outside of the two Avengers: Infinity War films. 



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