Banner's behavior


Any strong feelings about Ruffalo's performance as Banner?

He struck me as unusually whiny ... but then I learned how Taika encouraged improvisation on set and I re-thought it.

This guy is functionally invulnerable and potentially immortal, yet constantly struggling for control of himself. Sorta makes sense that everything not-himself would just be annoying to him. His self-pity has reached hulk-level proportions after two years being green.

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that's his character. A man tormented.

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I took it more as he was upset that he'd been Hulk for 2 years.

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Yeah that was made quite clear. He even said, "it felt like each of us [banner and Hulk] had one hand on the wheel". This time he went completely away and had no clue what had happened unlike before.

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I thought his whining made sense. He doesn't like Hulk and was essentially in a coma for two years (or likely more as time flows differently on Sakaar) with Hulk in charge. He's now on a strange planet, is in the middle of a warzone, and the most familiar faces are Thor (who is probably the least relate-able Avenger for him) and Loki (who tried to take over the world and made him attack his teammates). With all this craziness coupled with his fear that he'll become too upset and Hulk will come back, one can understand why he'd be a little on edge.

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Definitely more vulnerable, but that made him more relatable and interesting than when he is being stoical.

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Thor: “Why are you acting so weird?!?” A super frustrated Bruce then tells him why almost turning into the Hulk.

First, he realized he was Hulk for two years straight. Second, he heard of some of the events that have happened (last thing he remembers is the Sokovia events which is old news by now) and he was left baffled. Third, he found himself in a bizarre alien planet. Now add the fact that he felt as though he had lost all control and turning into the Hulk again may possibly be the end for him, and it’s no mystery why he became so vulnerable/whiny that he began to panic. He was overwhelmed by all of this information.

So Banner’s behavior after he was brought back was completely realistic. As for Ruffalo... he couldn’t have done a better job! His take on Bruce Banner has been my personal favorite for years, but after his performance in T:R my appreciation for Ruffalo as said character has grown significantly.

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Look, I'm no whiner, but if I found myself on a strange planets with two years of my life gone... I doubt I'd take it as well as he did.


And o wouldn't have to worry about what id killed or destroyed during those years either!

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Don't rationalize Taika Waititi lazyness

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I was expecting Mark Ruffalo to be annoying since I think he naturally exudes insecurity so isn't right for the Hulk, but in this flick I felt the way he behaved was totally justified and he was actually taking it very well. You have to remember how anxiety ridden he is about being the Hulk in general

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Joss Whedon said that Ed Norton's Banner wouldn't hurt a fly, where Ruffalo's Banner COULD hurt a fly, but CHOOSES not to.

I thought it was pretty apt; Ruffalo does exude insecurity, but also a kind of suppressed hostility that fits MCU just fine, in my opinion

And, in any case, he won me over with one line in Avengers. You know the one.

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Yeah, I like Ruffalo in the role - nice and harmless on the surface, deeply repressed under the surface... God knows what under the repression. Quite the opposite of Marvel Films Stark, who puts everything on the surface whether we want him to or not, even if he has to dig it out of the depths.

I don't know if Ruffalo's Hulk is interesting enough to star in his own film, though. Agree or disagree?

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Hard to imagine, and since Universal apparently still owns Hulk solo movie rights, guess we'll never know.

Honestly, I thought both the Bana and Norton films were meh anyways. Norton's Hulk probably ties with Iron Man 2 for my least favorite MCU flick

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Suppressed hostility in a whiny kind of way, not in a thousand yard stare kind of way so I don't take it seriously. Overall, I wholly agree with your stance, just not in this film.

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