Mark Ruffalo Says Kevin Feige Nearly Quit Marvel Studios While Making Avengers

Mark Ruffalo is best known for playing Bruce Banner/Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he’s also a climate change activist who is extremely vocal about politics. Recently, the actor was interviewed by Independent with his quote, “Hollywood has been white supremacist for 100 years,” making the headline. The actor discusses everything from the problems in Hollywood to his late brother and even calls Donald Trump “public enemy number one” during the interview. However, a moment in the article that stands out the most is a story about Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige. According to Ruffalo, Feige almost quit during the production of The Avengers (2012) due to the lack of diversity within the franchise.

“When we did the first Avengers, Kevin Feige told me, ‘Listen, I might not be here tomorrow.’ And he’s like, ‘Ike [Perlmutter] does not believe that anyone will go to a female-starring super movie.‘ So if I am still here tomorrow you will know that I won that battle.’”

“That was the turning point for Marvel,” Ruffalo added. “Because Kevin wanted black superheroes, women superheroes, LGBT superheroes. He changed the whole Marvel universe. We now have gay superheroes, we have black superheroes, we have female superheroes – Scarlett Johansson has her movie coming out, we have Captain Marvel, they are doing She-Hulk next. No other studio is being that forwardly inclusive on that level.”

“They have to, though,” he added. “This is the f***ing world. The culture is way ahead of the politics.”

You can read the full interview here.

Ruffalo will be returning to Marvel to voice Bruce Banner/Hulk in the animated series, What If…? in 2021, but there’s no word on whether or not he’ll be rejoining the franchise in a live-action capacity. Currently, fans are hoping he’ll re-team up with the Revengers in the upcoming Thor film, Thor: Love and Thunder.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1st, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in the Fall, The Eternals on November 6th, WandaVision in December, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Marvel Studios Disney+ series without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.