Avengers' Mark Ruffalo talks "passing the Banner" to Tatiana Maslany in She-Hulk

Mark Ruffalo Marvel contract
(Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney)

Avengers star Mark Ruffalo has opened up about "passing the Banner" to Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany in She/Hulk.

Much like how Hawkeye introduced Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), whose archery skills could rival Clint Barton's and will probably see her adopt the superhero's alias one day, the upcoming Disney Plus series is set to welcome Bruce Banner's cousin Jennifer Walters into the MCU. 

"Tatiana Maslany is fricking legendary as the She-Hulk," Ruffalo recently told Access Hollywood. "I'm passing... the Banner onto her. There are some really good, funny, cool... long, long scenes between the Professor and her. We've never really seen the Hulk interact with people the way he does in that show. It'll be really interesting."

In the series, Maslany's Jennifer is a "normal lawyer" – or so she says in the show's teaser. But the pair soon discover how alike they really are, when they learn that the latter can turn into a super-strong, green-hued version of herself. Oh, yeah, and she struggles with similar rage issues, too. 

Fortunately, she has Bruce to teach her how to manage it ("These transformations are triggered by anger and fear," he says in the clip). Meanwhile, Ruffalo, who has played the Big Guy nine times now, says he's geared Maslany up to takeover as the franchise's Jade Giant off-camera.

Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black

(Image credit: BBC America)

Created by Jessica Gao, She/Hulk be released in mid-2022, and will consist of ten episodes. Josh Segarra, Anais Almonte, Ginger Gonzaga, and Renée Elise Goldsberry also feature, while Tim Roth reprises his Emil Blonsky/Abomination from 2008's The Incredible Hulk and The Good Place's Jameela Jamil brings Jennifer's enemy Titania to life.

Back in February, director Kat Coiro (Marry Me) explained to The Wrap that she had signed on to the project to "bring a mix of humor and heart" to the Marvel Studios' show. "That is what I love to watch, and it's what I love to work with," she said. So when I stepped into, you know, the Marvel playground – the cool thing about Marvel is that it is an ever-evolving universe. You have straight dramas, and you have very comedic films, and we are in that world where we're definitely playing with a more comedic world. But it also is still part of the Marvel land." 

While we wait for the first episode to land on the global streaming service, check out our Marvel timeline to get you up to speed on the MCU.

Amy West

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.