Mark Ruffalo began playing the Hulk from The Avengers and has since been an irreplaceable part of the MCU. Though the actor has yet to get a solo film, his appearances in the Avengers films and Thor: Ragnarok have made him a fan-favorite and one of the best live-action versions of Hulk.
The highlight of Ruffalo’s scenes in Avengers: Infinity War is his opening fight with Thanos as the Hulk. The green monster loses the fight but escapes through Heimdall’s Bifrost and goes to Earth, warning the rest of the Avengers of Thanos’ arrival. He also develops anxiety, which is part of his character arc in Avengers: Endgame.
Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk Needed To Be Beaten By Thanos In Avengers: Infinity War
The Russo Brothers delivered a perfect film with Avengers: Infinity War. The film perfectly balanced the superheroes’ storylines from Marvel’s roster, a task that could have been easily messed up. The film broke several box office records at the time, all of which would then be broken by its sequel Avengers: Endgame.
In a film filled with high points, one of the highlights of the film and one of the most anticipated moments that was teased before its release was the fight between Thanos and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. Two powerful monsters going at it in hand-to-hand combat was a treat to watch on screen.
Hulk’s loss in the fight leads to him developing a kind of performance anxiety and the Hulk refuses to come out of Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, who uses the Hulk-buster to fight in the war at Wakanda. This motivates him to deal with his issues with the Hulk and results in his transition to Smart Hulk in Avengers: Endgame.
From struggling to be on good terms with the raging monster inside to the point of self-harm (as implied in The Avengers) to being completely in control of his other persona, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk needed to have that defeat to get to this point.
Thanos’ Victory Against Hulk Was Not The Result Of The Power Stone
At the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos is revealed to have acquired the Power stone from Xandar. The film is essentially a journey for Thanos, who goes from planet to planet to retrieve each Infinity Stone as the Avengers try to stop him. He meets Thor, Loki, and the Hulk in Asgard and destroys most of them.
While the fight between Thanos and Hulk results in the former’s victory, it is not because of the Power stone but due to pure skill. Hulk is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe but he is also more of a rage monster who charges at things than a skilled fighter. The Russos themselves said to Collider,
Hulk is obviously very powerful but he’s a little mindless in his fighting style. It’s aggressive…Thanos is the Genghis Khan of the universe he’s a very skilled fighter equally as strong. So when you put those two up against each other, the more skilled fighter is going to win ultimately which is why Hulk has a moment where he overpowers Thanos but ultimately Thanos is smarter.
This proves that Hulk’s defeat against the Mad Titan was destined to happen regardless of whether he had the Infinity Stones or not.
Avengers: Infinity War is available to stream on Disney Plus.
