Mark Ruffalo Wants Hulk And Bruce Banner To Get A Divorce

Just recently it was confirmed that the next time we'll see The Incredible Hulk will be in Thor: Ragnarok, the third film in the God of Thunder's own film franchise from Marvel Studios. It will mark the first time we see Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and the big guy outside of The Avengers franchise, but we're not entirely sure what role he'll have in the sequel's story.

But in a recent interview at the GQ's The Gentlemen's Fun Awards in New York City, Ruffalo proposed his own idea for what he would like to see happen with the mean green machine on the big screen and it involves a Bruce Banner Hulk separation.

The Huffington Post sat down with Ruffalo, where he was asked about his role in Thor: Ragnarok, and the actor boldly revealed, "I play Dr. Bruce Banner, and occasionally I turn into a big green, mean monster." Oh man, Marvel is going to be pissed about that spoiler. Continuing a little more seriously, Ruffalo said:

"I am excited to keep coming back to this role. I see a lot of space for it to grow. I feel like there's a lot of cool stuff to explore still, especially the relationship between Banner and Hulk. Hopefully, we'll see the two of them in a scene together. That would be cool!"

Indeed, having Bruce Banner and Hulk share a scene together as separate entities would be very cool. But is that even possible outside of some kind of dream sequence or hallucination? Well, after Ruffalo put this idea out there, Huffington Post did some research and determined that a separation of Hulk and Banner has a foundation in the comic books.

For example, in The Incredible Hulk #315 (see in the image above), ComicVine explains that Doc Samson (another hero exposed to gamma radiation) determined that Hulk was actually more of a conscious entity inside the mind of Bruce Banner rather than being inseparable from the scientist blasted with gamma rays. So Samson convinced the government to pay for a procedure to separate them.

The result was a Hulk without a reasonable mind that went on a rampage and was now unstoppable without Banner to help hold back his rage. Banner was forced to assemble a team of Hulkbusters to take him down and they had to become one again. And that would be something pretty exciting to see happen.

The question is whether or not this is something we'll see happen in Thor: Ragnarok. There's a chance that some kind of otherworldly magic, on Asgard or in one of the other nine realms, could help separate Banner from Hulk, and maybe it's that separation that results in Thor's home being threatened again. After all, the word Ragnarok in Norse mythology is a series of future events, including a great battle, foretold to ultimately result in the death of Thor, Odin, Heimdall, Loki and more.

Production on the next installment of the Thor franchise, which will be directed by Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows) begins in June of 2016 with shooting taking place in Chris Hemsworth's homeland of Australia this time, and Thor: Ragnarok will hit theaters on November 3rd, 2017.