Of all the stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bruce Banner/ Incredible Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo is probably the biggest activist, as he frequently uses his celebrity to underline the environmental risks of hydraulic fracking. Well, while attending the Sundance Film Festival to promote his latest independent film Infinitely Polar Bear, in which he stars with Guardians of the Galaxy's Zoe Saldana, Ruffalo discussed spreading his political bent. "As artists we have an ability to reach a lot of people in a deep way, and we have a responsibility," he said. "What we have to do as storytellers is to take science and make it relatable. I think we have to tell the story of the positive & what we're going to try to do. Give them alternatives but don't make it a polemic."
When Mark Ruffalo was asked how he could spread his eco-friendly message to major studio films, he mentioned possibly reprising his role as Marvel's Jade Giant in another standalone film post-Avengers: Age of Ultron. "I think that's the way to go, and it's a trend that'll start to develop," he said. "As a culture, when we latch onto a fad, we're actually working something out in the creative subconscious. The fact that all these doomsday and end-of-times movies are coming out is because we're actually working that out in the culture. I'm in The Avengers, but if you took my screentime it would come to about ten minutes, along with the 12 other people I'm sharing the screen with, so my input's kind of limited on that. But if we get to a standalone Hulk movie, I'll have a much better chance to do that. I'm just learning now how to find my voice and bring it into the studio world." So, an eco-friendly Incredible Hulk movie? That may not work out especially if rumors of a Planet Hulk movie turn out to be true, but what do you think?
Though he was the first to declare the script was already near complete, maybe Mark Ruffalo could pitch green awareness to writer/director Joss Whedon when The Avengers sequel starts shooting in April. Nonetheless, we'll get to see the big four - Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor - together again in March when their actors assemble at the Oscars to celebrate real heroes in film.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Jeremy Renner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, with Samuel L. Jackson and James Spader. The anticipated film is set to release on May 1, 2015.