'Tis I, The Hulk

Abstract

In this note, I take a look at the actor Mark Ruffalo's invocation of Hamlet while promoting his role as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) television series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, released on the streaming platform Disney+ in the autumn of 2022. Referring to a joke on the show that references his predecessor in the role (Edward Norton), Ruffalo quipped that the Hulk is "like our generation's Hamlet. Everyone's going to get a shot at it" (Bucksbaum n.pg). Rather than reading for Shakespearean allusions in Marvel films, this note is more interested in why actors like Ruffalo reach for Shakespeare as a comparison instead--and whether such comparisons actually fit.