Mark Ruffalo Describes Existential Crisis in The Avengers 2 Age of Ultron

We've received a wealth of information about The Avengers: Age of Ultron thanks to Entertainment Weekly's Comic-Con preview special, but now actor Mark Ruffalo has offered some more info in an interview with USA Today. Interestingly, the Avengers might not be the triumphant, smiling heroes you might expect in this sequel.

"Joss [Whedon] is in his full height of his powers," he said (via Comic Book Movie). "This movie is much more sprawling and epic than the first one. They're really in an existential, dire crisis. It has a darker quality. The Avengers are really struggling with their own shortcomings and the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. and where they go and who they are in the world. There's a lot of negativity towards them."

Ruffalo also talked to EW about a solo Hulk movie and explained the problem is Bruce Banner doesn't want the Hulk to be there, and it's difficult to make a movie that way.

"So it gets a little frustrating as an audience, and there's only so much of that," he said. "I think they set it up nicely now that Banner's turning 46 years old, and there comes a point where it's like 'how much more running can I do for myself?'

The site then asked him about how age changes Bruce Banner. "Whatever you hate about yourself or you don't like, when you get to be 46 years old, you start to say 'okay, no.' Obviously, you can never really get away from yourself, so you start to live with some of the things you think are so bad. And maybe they're not that bad. Maybe those things are what you need to do whatever you were never able to accomplish."

Finally, the site asked if a solo Hulk film would be about Banner trying to come to terms with the Hulk rather than get rid of him.

"I think that's the ticket forward for Banner, to start to figure out where we go with him, to keep that story interesting. I think there's a whole relationship with Banner and Hulk that needs to be discovered. There's a very cool thing happening: Hulk is as afraid of Banner as Banner is afraid of Hulk."

What do you make of Ruffalo's remarks? Let us know in the comments below.