She-Hulk made a pretty meta reference to the MCU's early, Hulk-related beginnings – and Mark Ruffalo is all for it.
Warning: She-Hulk episode 2 spoilers ahead!
Many know that Iron Man is the first official installment within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but what you might not know is that The Incredible Hulk is considered the second ever MCU film – even though it starred an entirely different Bruce.
Though Mark Ruffalo made his debut as Bruce Banner in 2012's The Avengers, Edward Norton first played the big green guy in 2008. Though Norton declined to go on with the role, two characters from the film made their way into official MCU canon: William Hurt's Thaddeus Ross and Tim Roth's Emily Blonsky, AKA the Abomination – the latter of which is a central character in She-Hulk.
The new show, which takes many a playful jab at the MCU, decided to address this directly in its second episode: Jen (Tatiana Maslany) is asked to act as Blonsky's attorney during his parole hearing, but she initially says no because she considers it to be a conflict of interest considering that Blonsky tried to kill her cousin Bruce all those years ago. Jennifer decides to get Bruce's advice, in which he ends up revealing that Blonsky apologized and the two made amends. and he reveals that Blonsky actually sent him a really heartfelt letter (and haiku) a while back, so they've both put that whole issue behind them. "That fight was so many years ago, I'm a completely different person now — literally," Bruce says. Jennifer turns directly to the camera and laughs.
"I think it's really funny. It's just the reality that we all are often dancing around, but it's true," Ruffalo told Entertainment Weekly. "I actually joked with Ed about this. I was like, 'It's like our generation's Hamlet. Everyone's going to get a shot at it.' And there'll probably be another couple before it's all over. People will be like, 'Remember when the Hulk used to look like Mark Ruffalo? Now it looks like Timothée Chalamet.'"
Stay up to date with the new Disney Plus series with our She-Hulk release guide, or check out our guide to all of the upcoming Marvel shows and movies on the way.
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