New Avengers International Poster; Mark Ruffalo Discusses Hulk's "Maturation" and How the Movie is an "Allegory" For America
Posted 01.03.12 by Ryan
2012 is going to be filled with plenty of movies for comic book fans to devour; but May's superhero team-up of The Avengers is clearly one of the most anticipated. With the first (and only) trailer released in October, the recent arrival of a German-dubbed trailer and a Russian-dubbed trailer, each only revealing snippets of new footage (but new footage nonetheless) was a welcome addition to Marvel's fervent fanbase.
The start of 2012 sees the reveal of a new international poster for The Avengers, which is mostly comprised of drawn poses taken from a promo poster released last June and a promo image released last August.
Getting short shrift in most Avengers' promotional materials is the Hulk, this time played by Mark Ruffalo, who is following in the giant green footsteps of Edward Norton (2008's The Incredible Hulk) and Eric Bana (2003's The Hulk). Only featured briefly in the trailer (English language), Ruffalo told The Wall Street Journal (via Comic Book Movie) in a new interview that the character is in a different place than in previous installments and looking to be a hero rather than hiding from what he has become.
I don't think Bruce Banner's any longer trying to run from the inevitable, which is his voice, and that's a kind of maturation that all of us go through. At this point, I think he's ready to turn and face this beast that he's partially created and try to integrate it into his life and use it for the good that he intended it to be used for.
There's a lot of world-weary charm in the character, a lot of sense of humor about himself and where he finds himself. He has this maturation that I think makes him ready to accept whatever his fate may be.
Naturally, in The Avengers the Hulk won't be alone, there's also Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) on the team — all assembled by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) — to battle the evil Loki (Tom Hiddleston). In a separate interview with the Wall Street journal, Ruffalo revealed that the The Avengers is an "allegory" for America and the recent economic troubles the country is currently experiencing.
You have all these disparate egos, superheroes in this and that, and they refuse to give up some of their positions in order to make a more perfect union and to join the team. That’s really what the whole movie is about: subjugating your own best interest momentarily to further that of the whole. I didn’t know it a year ago that it was going to speak to so many of the issues we’re having here in the United States and throughout the world, the same kind of theme.
Perhaps that's what writer-director Joss Whedon had in mind, or perhaps superheroes represent that theme even when the real world isn't in such desperate times. "These movies reach a lot of people, they’re our modern mythology," Ruffalo said. "I think a lot of the beliefs I have and cherish were fostered by the decency of our superheroes, and what they were about and what they were fighting for."
Next Showing: The Avengers opens May 4, 2012