Mark Ruffalo Reveals He Got Pranked Into Smoking a Real Joint on Stage: "That's Where I Found the Hulk"

Mark Ruffalo is the second actor to play the Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He may be bringing the character to Disney+ for the streaming service's new She-Hulk series. He'd also like to be Professor Hulk again in a movie with Wolverine. But before any of that, Ruffalo found his voice as the Hulk in a surprising place. On Sunday at the C2E2 convention in Chicago, Ruffalo fielded questions from fans during a spotlight panel. One fan asked about the best and worst pranks he's had played on him while working with other actors. Ruffalo recalled one prank that brought out his Hulk-ish side.

"I was doing a play and during the play, I had to smoke a joint on stage and one of my cast members actually put a real joint," Ruffalo said. "It's wrong on so many levels. I came off stage and that's where I think I found the Hulk for the first time. But I was also very slow so I couldn't catch him. That was the worst thing."

Hulk became "smart Hulk," merging Bruce Banner's personality with that of his alter ego, in Avengers: Endgame. This was after the Hulk took a beating from Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. The Hulk never got the proper rematch with Thanos that fans were expecting. Undoing the snap is the closest he ever got to payback for what happened in Avengers: Infinity War. Concept artwork confirmed that there were plans for Hulk to get a second shot at Thanos that never came to fruition.

In an interview, writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus explained why the rematch didn't happen. "The battle had all sorts of stuff in it. I don't know how long that battle is now, but it's not as long as you might think," McFeely said. "I know a lot of people were saying they can't wait for [Hulk and Thanos'] rematch. Well, that would've made sense had he not become Smart Hulk. He's a whole different thing, and that's not what drives him. So we never thought, "Oh, he really is trying to get a crack at Thanos now."

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1st, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6th, WandaVision in 2020, 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. Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk are also in the works for Disney+.