Robert Downey Jr & Mark Ruffalo make hilarious MCU confession

MCU veterans Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo recently came clean about which aspect of the superhero franchise went over their heads.

Downey helped launch the MCU, headlining debut installment Iron Man back in 2008. He would go on to portray that film’s protagonist, Tony Stark, in several more projects, before exiting the MCU in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

Ruffalo joined the franchise a bit later in its run, replacing The Incredible Hulk star Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in 2012’s The Avengers. He’s since made the role his own across multiple movies and TV shows, and (unlike Downey) remains an active part of the MCU.

Marvel Studios leaned into Downey and Ruffalo’s real-life friendship throughout their overlapping MCU stints, frequently pairing Stark and Banner up as the so-called “Science Bros.”

Robert Downey Jr & Mark Ruffalo make hilarious MCU confession

This had its ups and downs, according to a joint interview Downey and Ruffalo just gave to Variety. Indeed, while the actors enjoyed their scenes together, they often struggled to make sense of Tony and Bruce’s jargon-heavy dialogue.

“[Ruffalo] and I, the Science Bros, we would [have] these long passages about absolute gobbledygook… But still, it’s important to us,” Downey recalled. “Because we know it’s important the characters.”

“Yeah, but, we didn’t know what that was, what that meant,” Ruffalo chimed in. “Yeah, it’d be really hard to dig in,” agreed Downey. “I mean, we would just drive each other insane on set going, ‘Why can’t I retain this?’ But again, we know when it’s time to tighten things up a little bit.”

Ruffalo also took a moment to recognize the role Downey played in convincing him to sign up for the MCU. “It was such a different world,” Ruffalo explained. “They didn’t really cast people like us. I’ll never forget, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m right for this.’ And [Downey’s] like, ‘Come on, Ruffalo, we got this.'”

Marvel Studios boss addresses Robert Downey Jr return rumors

Downey responded to Ruffalo’s anecdote by making a quip about how lucrative joining the MCU wound up being for his former co-star. That said, the Hollywood A-lister gave no indication he’s himself interested in milking the Marvel Studios cash cow again.

This tracks with recent comments by studio president Kevin Feige, who debunked rumors that Downey Jr might suit up as Iron Man again in a forthcoming film. “We all worked very hard for many years to get to [Iron Man’s death], and we would never want to magically undo it in any way,” Feige said.

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