MCU profile: A look at Mark Ruffalo's career

Edward Norton still has the honor of starring in the only solo Hulk movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he is also one of the few actors to have their role replaced in the series that spans over 30 movies and 10 canonical shows. Ruffalo began his MCU journey a dozen years ago in the first Avengers blockbuster; where he “incredibly” captured the duality of Banner/Hulk better than any prior performer. Ruffalo managed to pull off the feat in a team-up event, whereas Norton, and a pre-MCU Eric Bana, had an entire feature dedicated to the hero.

Ruffalo immediately connected with audiences more than any of his predecessors, which raised the bar for how compelling this hero could be in live-action, while also rounding out the Avengers ensemble wonderfully. He gave the Marvel Cinematic Universe a big green hand to help lift the franchise to stratospheric heights. Without individual projects to focus on, Ruffalo poured everything he had into the Avenger epics.

In Age of Ultron, Ruffalo showcased various angles of his persona, hinting that Bruce would want something more than the hero life when he starts to fall for Natasha Romanoff. Ruffalo’s Hulk also doubled down on his fear that his monstrous side will end up hurting people. Scarlet Witch puts a spell on Hulk, causing him to rampage through an African city, putting citizens' lives at risk, and actively attempting to take out his science bro, Tony Stark.

Ruffalo’s motion capture work is exquisite, constructing a Hulk whose ferocity is centered around a dubious internal nature – Ruffalo’s Banner has a consistent anguish that is sympathetically palpable. At the end of Age of Ultron, he dejectedly flies away from humanity. Ruffalo’s most prominent participation in a non-Avengers movie is in Thor: Ragnarok. With his engaging rapport opposite Chris Hemsworth even more in the spotlight, Ruffalo’s supporting role does a great service toward branding Ragnarok as the best film in the Thor sub-franchise.

It is in Ragnarok where Banner starts to get stuck in his individual manifestations, allowing Ruffalo to continue to modify this role and truly transform the protagonist in clever and thoughtful ways. First, Banner is trapped inside of his Hulk identity, as a gladiator on Sakaar. When Thor breaks him free of this hold, his dual struggle evolves and it is confirmed that he can no longer change at will. Eventually, his Hulk half shows up for the fight against Hela on Asgard.

When we next see him, Hulk is still big, green, and mean when facing off against Thanos in Infinity War’s opening sequence. Losing the match, Heimdall transports him to the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York, where he changes back to Bruce. Residing as Bruce for the remainder of Infinity War, Ruffalo conveys more of his character’s ongoing internal conflict, completely losing control of his ability to bring Hulk back out.

He continues in his Bruce form for the Endgame preamble, suiting up in the Hulkbuster Mark to put Thanos down for good. By the time the Avengers set off on their time travel mission, five years later, Bruce had figured out a way to meet his two sides in the middle, permanently remaining as Smart Hulk. Once again, Ruffalo splendidly takes on his responsibility of developing the hero further; acting as Bruce while in Hulk’s body.

Along with those significant MCU contributions, Ruffalo fit in some cool cameos in Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, and he even revisits his Smart Hulk narrative in the She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Disney Plus series. He is as humorous as ever opposite Tatiana Maslany in the series premiere, where Hulk teaches his cousin how to navigate the superpowered world.

Mark Ruffalo was a big name in show business even before he joined The Avengers. He started out in the 1990s taking small parts, most notably as Ryan Phillipe’s friend in 54 and as a Union soldier in Ang Lee’s Civil War Western Ride with the Devil. His breakout performance was indisputably in Kenneth Lonergan’s 2000 drama You Can Count on Me. Ruffalo rolls into his sister’s life with uninhibited candor and unwelcomed parenting tactics when interacting with his character’s nephew.

While not all of his earlier movies were as indelible as You Can Count on Me, he proceeds, in the 2000s, to build up his resume by working opposite Robert Redford and James Gandolfini in The Last Castle and Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater in Windtalkers. Ruffalo’s visibility broadened with romantic comedies 13 Going on 30, Rumor Has It, and Just like Heaven, however his prowess is effectively on display in film festival fare like My Life Without Me, falling for a terminal woman played by Sarah Polly and We Don’t Live Here Anymore, having an affair with Naomi Watts' character.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was an important movie for the rising star. The Michel Gondry/Charlie Kaufman creation is difficult to categorize yet easy to fall in love with and everyone involved in the project was afforded the chance to bring something unique, including Ruffalo, who chooses to infuse his memory erasure technician with a punk rocker vibe.

As Ruffalo made a turn toward more demanding performances, some unfortunately came in movies that lacked conviction, such as the All the King's Men remake or Terry George’s misstep with his Hotel Rwanda follow-up, Reservation Road. David Fincher’s Zodiac, on the other hand, was sensationally strong all round. The mastery of tone is unparalleled and the trio of future MCU actors, Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr., along with Ruffalo, are utterly convincing.

Fernando Meirelles’ Blindness was almost as good – Ruffalo portrays a doctor who goes blind, with the rest of society, and endeavors to offer hope to the people around him despite personally dealing with the unexplainable crisis. He finished off the decade working with two respected filmmakers – Rian Johnson on Brothers Bloom and Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are adaptation. Sadly, the other aspect those movies have in common (aside from Ruffalo) is that they are the directors' most forgettable films in their respective oeuvres.

Nevertheless, Ruffalo clearly advanced his acting skills, since most of finest work came in the 2010s and into the 2020s. He was spectacular in The Kids Are All Right and Shutter Island, two roles that couldn’t be more different, yet both showcasing his immense commitment to his craft. In the former, his openness and enthusiasm is contagious, lighting a spark in Lisa Cholodenko’s sperm donor dramedy. In the latter, he is dedicated and unwavering in a mysterious role in Martin Scorsese’s thriller masterpiece.

Shortly after those wonderful works of cinema, Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret was released. He re-teams with the writer/director for a movie that was filmed many years earlier and he has a particularly poignant scene opposite Anna Paquin about the repercussions that a bus accident can have on him and his family. It was around this point in the early 2010s when Ruffalo joined the MCU. Even though he also featured in Thanks for Sharing, Now You See Me, and Begin Again around this period, Ruffalo’s huge cultural impact as Bruce Banner overshadowed his participation in those movies.

It was in the years that followed that he gave some of the best performances of his career. In the middle of working on Age of Ultron, Ruffalo found back-to-back success with Foxcatcher and Spotlight. The quality of the writing and direction in both call for acting of truly superior performers to execute at the highest level. In Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, Ruffalo’s transformation into an Olympic wrestler is astonishing in an overwhelmingly versatile display where he embodies the true-life athlete. In Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight, his emotional reactions could not be more on point as secrets of the investigation come to light.

Years later, he pushes forward with real-world meaningful storytelling in Dark Waters; Todd Haynes’ exposé of DuPont’s chemical contaminations. In the current decade, The Adam Project was serviceable science fiction, although Zoe Saldana leaves the biggest impression amongst the cast members. Then Ruffalo returns with a fury in Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos’ idiosyncratic Frankenstein-esque tale that features Ruffalo’s sleazy lawyer snickering, fornicating, vociferating, and dancing in ridiculous and glorious fashion.

Mark Ruffalo's Top 10 Movie Roles

1. Duncan Wedderburn in Poor Things
2. Dave Schultz in Foxcatcher
3. Mike Rezendes in Spotlight
4. Paul in The Kids Are All Right
5. Inspector Toschi in Zodiac
6. Robert Bilott in Dark Waters
7. Dr. Sheehan in Shutter Island
8. Terry in You Can Count on Me
9. Hulk/Bruce Banner in the MCU
10. Gerald in Margaret

Although the best of Mark Ruffalo essentially comes down to a three-way tie between Poor Things, Foxcatcher, and Spotlight, his interpretation of Hulk still ranks in his top 10. Recently, his cinematic output has slowed a bit, both in the MCU and among other projects, but he has made up for it with his television productivity.

In most cases, the shows Ruffalo has starred in would not be nearly as memorable without his presence. He led quite an ensemble in The Normal Heart. He gave a riveting dual performance as twin brothers in I Know This Much is True. In All the Light We Cannot See, which pales in comparison to other recent Holocaust miniseries We Were the Lucky Ones and The Tattooist of Auschwitz, lead actress Aria Mia Loberti, along with Ruffalo, bring much needed conviction to a tonally misguided account.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was another TV triumph, for both Ruffalo and the MCU. The legal comedy was particularly effective in the way it plays with genre tropes. Ruffalo was a pleasure to watch in the pilot episode. With the surprise reveal that Hulk became a father during his stay on Sakaar, we are likely to see Ruffalo reprise the role in future MCU projects. The Green Goliath could form a tremendous trio with She-Hulk and Skaar.