When Tim Roth made his epic return to the MCU in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, he took the opportunity to hilariously roast Mark Ruffalo for replacing Edward Norton's The Hulk.
Other than a voiceover in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the last time anyone saw the Reservoir Dogs star in a Marvel property was 2008's The Incredible Hulk, where fans were introduced to his iteration of the villain Emil Blonsky, aka Abomination.
Though the movie is still part of MCU canon, Ruffalo replaced Norton as Bruce Banner in The Avengers and he's remained ever since, including in the Disney+ She-Hulk series which sees Tatiana Maslany take on the titular role.
With the finale fast approaching – October 13, folks, get it in the diary – UNILAD was lucky enough to catch up with Roth about his return to the Marvel franchise and what it was like working with a different Green Goliath.
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We did try our luck and asked him who's the better Hulk, and though it's not the question you want to be confronted with, Roth gave a hilarious answer.
"We were improvising in one scene and when I first saw him [Ruffalo], I was like, 'Have you... wait now, what?' We did a lot of mucking around – 'You really have put on weight,' and that kind of stuff."
Of course, it was all just friendly banter, with Roth adding: "We were just fooling around. But actually that's just the thing – when you work with Mark, and Tatiana's the same, they feel so comfortable in that world so it helps the other actors as they come through."
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Speaking about coming back to the MCU after all those years, he said with a smile: "Originally I did the film way back when for my kids. I just thought they find it fun, and also embarrassing – I think that's always good to embarrass your kids in that way.
"And then when they [the Marvel bosses] came to me, they wanted me to do a little bit of a voice thing for Shang-Chi, which I knew nothing about. And so I did a bit of that and then they said to me, 'Could you come in and we can have a chat?' and they told me what they fancied doing with She-Hulk."
After sending Roth the comic books and details of the project, he agreed to jump on board.
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"I didn't know really what they wanted to do with the character and then we got into a lot of discussions about it," he continued.
Despite being one of the most respected actors on the circuit, not least because of his experience in Quentin Tarantino movies, Roth admitted that he was nervous about reprising the role as Abomination and how Marvel stars interact on set.
"It took me a couple of days and Tatiana was just flying through it, incredible work, and then Mark Ruffalo came in a couple of days after I started and I was doing a scene with them," he said.
"We were hanging around the set and I was watching Mark and Tatiana interact and I went, 'Oh, that's how it's done.' I had to find my feet by watching the actors do their thing. But then I had a lot of fun."
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The actor went on to point out that one of the writers, Jessica Gao, was able to use her experience on shows like Ricky and Morty to inject humour into the script.
Anyone who's seen She-Hulk will know what he's talking about, as the series serves up plenty of humour throughout.
If you haven't yet had a chance to check it out, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is available to watch on Disney+ now, with the finale dropping in just a few days. Popcorn at the ready!
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Topics: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Film and TV
Daisy Phillipson