Mark Ruffalo is once again making headlines for his political activism, but his latest appearance could create an uncomfortable situation for Disney and Marvel Studios ahead of one of the company’s most important upcoming releases.
During Sunday’s “Hands Off Our Vote” event in New York City, Ruffalo delivered a fiery speech against President Trump and Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections. But the actor didn’t leave his Marvel career out of the proceedings.
When someone in the audience shouted, “You tell ’em, Hulk,” Ruffalo embraced the reference.
“I’m gonna Hulk out,” Ruffalo responded before declaring, “You won’t like me when I’m angry.”
Liberal actor Mark Ruffalo: “They are going to try and stop us! Hands off our f****** vote! I’m gonna Hulk out. You won’t like me when I’m angry.” https://t.co/uoxWoY2JPz
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 5, 2026
Then Ruffalo went even further.
“Hey, I’m still here! They thought I was out for the count — I’m still here, I’m still playing the Hulk,” he said.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Ruffalo also incorporated another piece of Marvel imagery into the speech, adapting Thanos’ language about being “inevitable” as he encouraged the crowd to continue its political efforts.
Ruffalo Makes Hulk Part of His Political Message
Ruffalo is, of course, free to express his political views. But explicitly incorporating a Disney-owned character into a partisan political speech creates a different issue for Marvel.
This wasn’t simply Ruffalo appearing at an event as a private citizen and being identified in media reports as the actor who plays Hulk.
He embraced the character from the podium, quoted one of Bruce Banner’s most recognizable lines, and then specifically emphasized that he is “still playing the Hulk.”
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That comes at an important moment for Marvel Studios.
Ruffalo has already returned as Bruce Banner this year in Spider-Man: Brand New Day (after being kept conspicuously off the promotional tour), and Entertainment Weekly reports that he’s slated to appear again in December’s Avengers: Doomsday.
Doomsday represents Marvel’s return to the kind of enormous Avengers crossover events that once made the MCU Hollywood’s dominant franchise. Whatever audiences think about Ruffalo’s politics, Disney has little obvious commercial incentive for one of the characters associated with that movie to become intertwined with partisan campaigning.
And Disney has already experienced what can happen when an actor’s political activism begins dominating discussion surrounding a major release.
Disney Has Seen This Before
Rachel Zegler created a similar headache for Disney during the troubled rollout of Snow White.
Shortly after promoting the movie’s trailer in 2024, Zegler added “free Palestine” to the same social-media thread. Variety later reported that people inside Disney were shocked that the actress had mixed promotion of the company’s $270 million tentpole with a political statement.
Rachel Zegler singing the original song “Waiting on a Wish” from Disney’s Snow White live action remake – YouTube, Disney
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The situation became so concerning that a Disney executive contacted Zegler’s representatives, producer Marc Platt spoke with her personally, and Disney later paid for a social-media consultant to work with the actress before Snow White reached theaters.
There are clear differences. Ruffalo wasn’t attending a Disney promotional event, and the initial Hulk reference came from someone in the audience.
But Ruffalo could have left it there. Instead, he enthusiastically made Hulk part of the political moment.
Does Disney Really Want Hulk Entering Politics?
There is no evidence that Disney or Marvel approved Ruffalo’s use of the character during the event, and Ruffalo’s political opinions should not automatically be interpreted as representing either company.
The problem is perception.
Ruffalo has played Bruce Banner since 2012. For millions of moviegoers, the actor and character have been closely associated for more than a decade.
That makes Ruffalo’s decision to explicitly bring Hulk into a partisan speech considerably different from simply endorsing a candidate or expressing his own political beliefs.
Mark Ruffalo speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for “Thor: Ragnarok” Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Disney is preparing to sell audiences another massive Avengers event. Its goal is presumably to get as many people as possible excited about those characters, regardless of their politics.
After the controversy surrounding Snow White, Disney hardly needs another expensive tentpole becoming entangled with its star’s political activism.
Mark Ruffalo can bring whatever politics he wants to the podium. The question for Disney is why Hulk needs to come with him.
How do you feel about Mark Ruffalo involving The Hulk in politics? Sound off and let us know!
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