We’ve heard from just about everyone so far – Joss Whedon, Robert Downey Jr. – on the recent confirmed casting of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk in Marvel’s The Avengers movie. One person we haven’t heard much from yet is Ruffalo himself, but Entertainment Weekly got the chance to ask him a few questions and they made damn sure to ask about the Hulk. Given that his deal was literally just signed that night, Ruffalo hasn’t had much time to dwell on the role, but he’s got Edward Norton’s blessing and is quite excited to take on the big green guy in Avengers. “I was very, very nervous. I didn’t know what to expect.”

I’ve heard from others saying that they thought Ruffalo looked nervous, and he definitely was. “It was very exciting — and I realized I had some pretty big shoes to fill. Those were my heroes up there! I was a comic book fan growing up. I loved The Hulk and The Avengers — it’s just strange to be entering that world as an actor. I never would have imagined that before.” As for his inspirations/connections to the role, he adds:

“He’s a guy struggling with two sides of himself — the dark and the light — and everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control. I grew up on the Bill Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human way to look at The Hulk. I like that the part has those qualities.

I’m a friend of Ed’s, and yeah, that wasn’t a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation’s Hamlet.”

In fact, Ruffalo’s deal for Hulk is so fresh he doesn’t even know when they’re shooting it yet. “Sometime in the winter. I’m not sure,” he says. That gels with what we’ve heard recently about Marvel gearing up to start shooting The Avengers early next year after things wrap up with production on Captain America and Thor. That’s all Ruffalo had to say before topics switched to The Kids Are All Right (which is highly worth seeing) but I will say it’s great to hear him talk so enthusiastically about the character, especially after the negativity surrounding Norton’s replacement. Of course, there will still be some backlash especially once we see him in character, but I’m happy with Ruffalo and I’m looking forward to seeing The Avengers with him in the cast.