Mark Ruffalo has revealed that Marvel boss Kevin Feige almost quit his job in 2012 over the studio’s lack of representation.
The actor shared the revelation in a new interview with The Independent after being asked about Marvel’s historic lack of LGBTQI+ representation.
“When we did the first Avengers, Kevin Feige told me, ‘Listen, I might not be here tomorrow’,” he said.
“And he’s like, ‘Ike [Perlmutter, Disney’s largest shareholder at the time] does not believe that anyone will go to a female-starring super movie.’ So if I am still here tomorrow you will know that I won that battle.”
“That was the turning point for Marvel,” Ruffalo added. “Because Kevin wanted black superheroes, women superheroes, LGBT superheroes. He changed the whole Marvel universe.
“We now have gay superheroes, we have black superheroes, we have female superheroes – Scarlett Johansson has her movie coming out, we have Captain Marvel, they are doing She Hulk next. No other studio is being that forwardly inclusive on that level.
“They have to, though. This is the fucking world. The culture is way ahead of the politics.”
Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo could be set to star in a HBO TV adaptation of the Oscar winning movie Parasite.
The Avengers star is reportedly being lined up for a role according to Collider with sources claiming there “is interest on both sides of the negotiation table.”
It is thought Ruffalo may portray Kim Ki-taek – played in the film by Song Kang-ho – the embattled patriarch of the lower-class family in focus.
