2. Bruce Banner/Hulk The Avengers (2012)
Walt Disney StudiosThe announcment that Mark Ruffalo would be playing Bruce Banner/Hulk in 2012s The Avengers was met with a tirade of hate and abuse from skeptical fans. Choruses of hes just an indie actor!, go back to art-house and re-hire Ed Norton rang out online right up until the films release. In these situations the best thing an actor can do to silence the critics is deliver a phenominal performance and this is exactly what Ruffalo did not only did he deliver one of the best performances of his career to-date but he upstaged the ensemble cast which included such talented actors as Robert Downey Jr, Jeremy Renner and Tom Huddleston. Ruffalos portrayal of the big green mean machine was actually picked out by critics as a subject of praise for the film. In the past other performances of the Hulk had been limited in one way or another, often failing to capture the complex, Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde-esque relationship between the strongest beast in the Marvel-canon and the shy, retiring atomic physicist. Eric Bana had nailed the timid aspect of the character while Edward Norton managed to convey the repressed intensity of Banner but they both felt limited. Amid all the preening hunks on the team of superheroes, Ruffalos Banner was an oasis of calm and wry wit who knew when to step back and allow the rest of the team to flex their muscles. It almost felt like Ruffalo had reprised his role from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, though his palpable sensitivity helped to convey the internal war being waged inside the genius mind of Bruce Banner. After all the criticism he received before the films release, Mark definitely had the last laugh.
Sam Heard
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Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
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