As the old adage go, “Even a broken clock is right twice a day”.
In echoing the opinion of many a fan, Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo has admitted that not only did the Marvel Cinematic Universe’ turn to Disney Plus lead to the loss of its overall “mystique”, but that he is also unsure whether or not the House of Mouse’s ongoing attempt at righting the franchise’s sinking ship will ever truly restore it to its former glory.
As previously reported, following a string of projects whose performance could be categorized as either absolute disasters or lukewarm CGI fests – namely Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, Secret Invasion, and of course She-Hulk, Attorney at Law – February 2023 saw the first admission from current Disney CEO Bob Iger that Marvel Studios’ overall quality had taken a significant plunge, and as such its output plans needed to undergo a significant revamping.
“We have to be better at curating the Disney, and the Pixar, and the Marvel, and the Star Wars of it all,” said Iger during the company’s Q1 2023 earnings call. “And, of course, reduce costs on everything that we make. While we are extremely what’s proud on the screen, it’s gotten to a point where it’s extraordinarily expensive. We want all the quality. We want the quality on the screen, but we have to look at what they cost us.”
That same month, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that his team had already begun making working towards fulfilling Iger’s desire for content creation.
“We want Marvel Studios and the MCU projects to really stand out and stand above,” said the baseball-capped producer. “So, people will see that as we get further into Phase 5 and 6. The pace at which we’re putting out the Disney+ shows will change so they can each get a chance to shine.”
It’s reflective not a problem from a personnel perspective, but I think in our zeal basically grow our content significantly to serve mostly our streaming offerings we ended up taxing our people way beyond, in terms of their time and their focus, way beyond where they had been.”
And while these supposed course corrections have yet to bear any fruit – the first likely showcase of this effort will likely be Daredevil: Born Again – the aforementioned Ruffalo is unsure whether they will actually benefit the MCU in away.
Offering his thoughts on the current state of the MCU during a recent career retrospective interview given to GQ’s Olivia Ovenden, the franchise’s least-favorite actor to portray the Jade Giant opined, “I think the expansion into streaming was really exciting, but the thing about Marvel movies is you had to wait three years and that created a mystique.”
“These corrections could be really positive things,” he then opined of Marvel Studios’ ongoing creative restructuring. “Will it be what it was? I don’t know.”
Turning to his own future as Dr. Bruce Banner, while the actor did not comment on his future appearances as a side character, but instead admitted that in light of the massive spending reductions sought by Disney as part of this restructuring, it’s unlikely his Gamma-radiated alter-ego will ever receive another solo film.
“I’d love to do a standalone Hulk, I just don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” he told Ovenden. “It’s very expensive if you did a whole movie, which is why they use the Hulk so sparingly. I priced myself out!”
And yet, despite all the troubles the MCU has and will likely continue to through, Ruffalo closed out his thoughts on his time as a founding Avenger by declaring that, and the end of it all, “I’m really proud of it.”
“I’ve sat in movie theaters with the movies I’ve done with big directors,” he recalled. “I’ve also experienced these Marvel movies with an audience and the amount of community and expression… it touched every single emotion. That means something to me. I don’t look down on it.”
According to Ruffalo himself, his next appearance as the live-action incarnation of the Green Goliath will be in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, due to fly into theaters on February 14th, 2025.