Mark Ruffalo was sounding more Bruce Banner than Hulk when he offered a sheepish response to the news that directors Anthony and Joe Russo had ‘fired’ him from Avengers 4.
Of course, contrary to the incensed tweets of certain fans, the Russo Brothers were clearly joking when they notified Ruffalo via Twitter that he had been dismissed from his role. This online mock-drama all started when the actor publicly admitted that he had accidentally dropped a huge Avengers 4 spoiler on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, prompting the Russos to tweet, “Mark, you’re fired.”
Naturally, Ruffalo wasn’t too pleased to hear this, but while you’re generally not supposed to make Bruce Banner mad, the guy who plays him apparently isn’t one to lose his temper, meekly messaging the Russos with the following request:
“Guys… can we talk about this?”
Since Ruffalo’s initial confession, the episode of Fallon has aired with the spoiler bleeped out. Audio-savvy Marvel fans, however, have revealed that the actor referred to the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War sequel as The Last Avenger. Though we’re still awaiting official confirmation that this is the true Avengers 4 title, it would certainly make for a fitting bookend to 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, especially since Chris Evans has made it pretty apparent in the last week that the movie will serve as Steve Rogers’ last hurrah.
At the same time, muddying the waters is a rumor making the rounds online that the film’s actual title will be Avengers: Annihilation, a name that also offers the image of something coming to an end, albeit more violently. Either way, you can expect Avengers 4 to wrap up some of the oldest character arcs of the MCU when it hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019.