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Mark Ruffalo defends Joss Whedon and says who he’d like to play She-Hulk

May 7th, 2015 by Marc Comments

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All the talk of abuse that Joss Whedon is getting online over Age Of Ultron (here) has reached the star of the movies and they’re starting to talk out about it.

Last night, in a Reddit AMA the Hulk himself, Mark Ruffalo, was asked about his thoughts and he summed up the feeling of Whedon’s fans wonderfully:

“I think it’s sad. Because I know how Joss feels about women, and I know that he’s made it a point to create strong female characters. I think part of the problem is that people are frustrated that they want to see more women, doing more things, in superhero movies, and because we don’t have as many women as we should yet, they’re very, very sensitive to every single storyline that comes up right now. But I think what’s beautiful about what Joss did with Black Widow – I don’t think he makes her any weaker, he just brings this idea of love to a superhero, and I think that’s beautiful.

“If anything, Black Widow is much stronger than Banner. She protects him. She does her job, and basically they begin to have a relationship as friends, and I think it’s a misplaced anger. I think that what people might really be upset about is the fact that we need more superhuman women. The guys can do anything, they can have love affairs, they can be weak or strong and nobody raises an eyebrow. But when we do that with a woman, because there are so few storylines for women, we become hyper-critical of every single move that we make because there’s not much else to compare it to.

“So I know Joss really well. I know what his values are. And I think it’s sad, because in a lot of ways, there haven’t been as many champions in this universe as Joss isand will continue to be. And I know it hurts him. I know it’s heavy on him. And the guy’s one of the sweetest, best guys, and I know him – as far as any man can be a champion for women, he is that.

“So it’s been a little disheartening.

“But I also see how much people love that aspect of it. There’s an equal amount of people who find the love interest between Banner and Black Widow to be a big standout. And it’s very satisfying to people. So it’s a movie. People are going to have their opinions. And that’s actually a great thing. The fact that this is a debate that’s coming out of this movie is probably a positive thing.

“I just don’t think that people should get personal with Joss, because he really is – of anyone – an advocate for women. He’s a deeply committed feminist.”

Interestingly, he was also asked who he’s like to see cast as Jennifer Walters, She-Hulk, in the Avengers movie (we’re not aware of any plans to introduce here at this stage) and, although put on the spot, Ruffalo brought up two names -one which can’t happen due to here being Gamorra in Guardians of the Galaxy – however, the second name is someone we’d love to see in the MCU:  “I think Zoe Saldana would be a great She Hulk,” Ruffalo said.

“It’d be nice to see someone like her join the Avengers. Or someone quiet and demure like Emma Stone would be nice. But it would be up to the powers that be.”

In the comics, Walters was seriously injured in an accident and her cousin Bruce gave her a blood transfusion which resulted in her getting the Hulk’s strength but still being herself… albeit greener.

We’re big fans of Stone here at FTN and would love to see here in the MCU. We love Zaldana too… but we like here just where she is, alongside Starlord and the crew.

Source: Reddit AMA

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….