Needless to say, there are going to be spoilers in this article, so only proceed if you want to know some secrets.
At the end of Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron, the team as we knew them was fractured. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returned home to investigate the Infinity Stones, and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) borrowed a Quinjet to facilitate his own escape. A few new members joined Captain America (Chris Evans) on his reconfigured team, but Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), through the brash and egotistical creation of Ultron, had started to drive a wedge between key Avengers team members.
That rift was ripped apart when Captain America: Civil War introduced the Sokovia Accords, but Bruce Banner wasn't around for that. So during CinemaBlend's trip to Atlanta to visit the Avengers: Infinity War set, we asked Ruffalo where his character stands with his fellow, brilliant scientific mind and were surprised by the answer. Ruffalo admits:
Well, coming out of Thor 3, Banner's had a life changing experience in Thor 3 that makes him much more expressive and not so internalized, you know? So, it's not combative, but [Bruce and Tony are] not so in-sync as they were. Plus, Banner doesn't understand Civil War. He just doesn't get it.
Bruce Banner probably still distrusts Tony Stark for lending his hand -- inadvertently -- in the creation of Ultron, a menacing program that took sentient life and threatened our entire planet. Tony still seeks a way to protect Earth from a threat that he knows is coming from above. But as Mark Ruffalo says, his character has now seen things that Hulk was never privy to while contained to our planet, and his world-view... er, universe-view has been drastically altered. Hulk went to Asgard, for God's sake. He's not going to go along with whatever Tony says as Avengers: Infinity War is getting underway.
That being said, when we asked Mark Ruffalo if the rift between Banner and Stark would threaten the team, he deferred to the popular Science Bros. meme to assure fans that Iron Man and Hulk would put aside any differences -- and any Hulkbusting armor -- to settle their own grudge against Thanos. Ruffalo joked:
There's great Science Bros. stuff. There's good Science Bros. stuff. We're paired up again.
We kind of knew this, having seen Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in the New York abode of Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), but now we need to see what's happening in Manhattan, and how the Avengers plan to stop it.
The incredible Marvel Cinematic Universe expands once Avengers: Infinity War opens in theaters on April 27. We will have PLENTY more from the set in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, bookmark our Upcoming Marvel Movies guide to stay up to date on all of the latest MCU happenings.
