It’s been assumed for some time that Tony Stark is responsible for the titular robotic villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron. But Bruce Banner might also have a hand in his creation…
It’s no secret that Avengers: Age of Ultron is going to deviate from the comic books when it comes to Ultron’s creation. Originally built by Hank Pym, it looks as though the updated Ultron will be assembled by Tony Stark. But now it looks as though Bruce Banner could also be involved.
During an interview with Total Film, the 47-year-old Avenger teased that Banner may be linked to Ultron’s creation.
“Banner’s been living in Stark Tower,” he said. “They’ve been working side by side and Bruce has his own lab now. He’s doing work that augments Tony’s own, which could lead to an experiment going wrong…”
Of course, this certainly seems to suggest that Stark and Banner have worked on Ultron together. And that might just explain some of the more action-packed scenes from the Age of Ultron trailer… more specifically, why Iron man and The Hulk come to blows.
Obviously, Marvel fans have been dying to see Iron Man unveil his infamous Hulkbuster armour. And those scenes when he goes head-to-head with The Hulk are just brilliant. But while Banner has obviously Hulked out (and Stark needs to stop him) there might be a more personal reason behind the carnage.
I can’t help thinking that Tony Stark might have tried to blame Banner for Ultron’s actions and inevitable turn to the dark side and he’s probably trying to shift the blame to ease his own guilty conscience. And perhaps that’s what makes Banner angry… Stark wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.
But that could be a bigger problem in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
“He does feel more comfortable with himself,” Ruffalo explained. “His confidence is getting better. But, you know, that gets shaken. His ability to handle the Hulk really gets thrown into question in this film. The hard part is coming back. Hulk doesn’t want to cede his place. It’s much harder to come back from being Hulk than it is to get into him.”
But is there a bit more to it than that? Ruffalo admits that there’s a lot more to Banner’s emotional state than meets the eye… and it might not be a simple case of anger management issues.
“I think there’s a whole other chapter we haven’t seen yet where you find the other nuances within him,” he said. “The battle of identity going on between him and Banner is all about establishing dominance. The only thing that Hulk is really afraid of is Banner. That’s an interesting dynamic.”
How that turns out on the big screen remains to be seen… but it looks as though Bruce Banner and The Hulk will be struggling to co-exist more than ever. And with Iron Man and Cap starting to feel a strain on their relationship, it might just setup some uneasy alliances ahead of the upcoming Civil War.
But which side will Banner take? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
Do you think Bruce Banner has a hand in Ultron’s creation? Do you think Ant-Man should have been involved? Let us know in the comments below…