Despite being left out of "Captain America: Civil War," Mark Ruffalo will return as the Hulk in the upcoming "Thor: Ragnarok," alongside the titular hero Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Speaking to ET Online, the actor promised fans that they will be getting a lot more scenes with the Hulk to make up for the character's lack of a solo movie.
"It's an intergalactic buddy road movie with Banner and Thor," the actor stated in the interview. "I think it will be smashing. You'll see a lot more Hulk. The Hulk gets Hulk-ier. The Hulk Hulks out. Hulk-ier and bigger."
Fans of the Marvel comic books and of the animated films that were released on DVD point out that there is a "Hulk VS" animated movie where one segment sees the Hulk separating from Bruce Banner, with the former becoming a rampaging monster that attacks Asgard on behalf of Loki.
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is confirmed to return for the third "Thor" movie but it is undetermined if he will be mind-controlling the Hulk akin to the plot from the animated plot. However, even if this does not play out in the movie Ruffalo does reveal that the Hulk and Thor will have their hands full with the new villain Hela, played by Cate Blanchett.
Hela, in both Norse mythology and in the Marvel comic books, is depicted as Loki's daughter and the ruler of the realm of the dead. In the "Hulk VS" animated film she served as both an ally and enemy to Loki and the Asgardians and it is speculated she shall play a similar role in the live-action film.
How the Hulk reaches Asgard is still a mystery given that the Bifrost Bridge that connected Earth to Asgard was destroyed in the very first "Thor" movie. Thor has since had to use other magical means to travel between the planes and it is uncertain as yet how Bruce Banner gains access to one of these methods.
"Thor: Ragnarok" opens in theaters on Nov. 3, 2017.
