Mark Ruffalo Likens ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ to ‘Midnight Run’

Mark Ruffalo recently spoke to Empire about his role in next year’s Thor: Ragnarok.

Ruffalo will be reprising his role as Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Hulk, who was last seen going into seclusion at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron. He will co-star opposite Chris Hemsworth, returning as Thor for the fifth time, whose apocalyptic vision in Age of Ultron laid the seeds for his next solo title. Ruffalo commented briefly on what can be expected in the film:

“There’s a little bit of Midnight Run, with [Charles] Grodin and [Robert] De Niro,” Ruffalo told Empire. “I feel like that’s kind of where we’re heading with this relationship between Thor and Banner.” So is it a road movie? “It is a universal road movie – that’s where we’re heading,” he says, adding cryptically: “It’s not where you’d think it will be, so it’s not your classic road movie but it has that structure, I think.”

Ruffalo acknowledges that he hasn’t actually read the script for Ragnarok yet, but he bases his description on conversations he has had with others working on the film.

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It’s interesting that the Academy Award nominee chose Midnight Run as a comparison, since the 1988 film is more “buddy comedy” than action/adventure, but that may have been his intended meaning. Here he comments on the new Thor taking a more “smart-comedic” route:

“I love Chris [Hemsworth], and it’s not an accident that we’ve been put together because we have a good time together and we goof off. The fact that we’re moving towards the smart-comedic bent plays into our relationship.” And Banner will be heading to Asgard. “[Am I looking forward to that?] Hells, yeah.”

Thor Age of Ultron

Thor: Ragnarok is scheduled for release in the US on November 3, 2017.

Anthony Composto - EIC
Anthony Composto - EIC
Editor-in-Chief for Monkeys Fighting Robots. A lifelong fan of Spider-Man and the Mets, Anthony loves an underdog story. He earned his B.A. in English because of his love for words, and his MBA because of his need for cash. He considers comics to be The Great American Art Form, and loves horror movies, indie dramas, action/thrillers, and everything in between.